Cayman Shore Diving ???

[sslkrissi]

Hi all,

I will be making a stop in Grand Cayman on my next cruise. I am interested in diving while there. I have been reading alot about the diving there and have a few questions. My husband and I are beginning divers (only have 6 dives under our belts). Can we expect to see as much on a shore dive as we would on a boat dive? What is the best shore dive site in Grand Cayman, keeping in mind that we would like to hire a DM to lead us?

 

Looking forward to your responses :)

[SCUBA Mark]

Hi all,

I will be making a stop in Grand Cayman on my next cruise. I am interested in diving while there. I have been reading alot about the diving there and have a few questions. My husband and I are beginning divers (only have 6 dives under our belts). Can we expect to see as much on a shore dive as we would on a boat dive? What is the best shore dive site in Grand Cayman, keeping in mind that we would like to hire a DM to lead us?

 

Looking forward to your responses :)

 

I have done shore dives with Eden Rock and it is pretty good, It is about 2 blocks from teh cruise ship terminal. There is a nice reef right in front of the dive shop and it has two major areas.

 

 

Since you only have 6 dives, I would recommend hiring a divemaster to show you around.

 

I really recommend that you do a two-tank dive from a boat. I know that carnival uses Don Fosters and they do a good job.

[Capt_BJ]

I prefer to head down the road a bit - 1 mile - and shore dive at Sunset House but you'll find the conditions very similar at either SSH or EDEN. Either place you'll find you can have a great dive or even two and not need to deeper then say 60 feet. Also the navigation here is really a piece of cake if you can read a compass at all. Head east and you run back into shore! Can't miss it. I'm confident you could have a good dive w/out a guide at either of these locations.....and build a little confidence along the way. The dive shops have a map of the local area and will give you a very good brief ... just ask.

 

IF you decide to go boat - expect your first dive to be a deep dive on the wall. 90 feet or more and that dive will be guided. On the second dive it will be shallow - a 40 for 40 profile has been typical in my experience and probably not guided (unless you make special arrangements). The sites you can shore dive are often the very sites you'd use for the second boat dive. Many times you see the better stuff on the shallower site. It depends. But many just want the 'deeper is better' entry in their log book.

 

Been diving Caymans since early 80's ... last visit was in May. Took DD 18 for her first dive ever at Sunset House.

 

Note the water is SO clear it is pretty easy to keep track of shore or your dive boat

[libertycall]

We did GC last year on a cruise, rented a car, went to Cracked Conch for a dive then to Eden Rock for a dive. If we did it again we would catch a taxi to Cracked Conch do our two dives, have lunch, drinks, taxi back to the ship.

[sslkrissi]

Thanks for the advice! I am going to research Eden rock, sunset house and the cracked conch to see which would be best for us.

 

As for the Cracked Conch, what is the name of the dive shop that offers the dives?

 

Thanks

[jimw]

Been to all 3 and my choice mostly is Sunset House, it's easy to get to--a very short taxi or walk if not lugging dive gear!! Very nice dive with variety of stuff to look at for the price of a tank. I also like up by the Turtle Farm-Divetech and it's usual school of Tarpon--ask Divetech since it's been a while for me. I believe Cracked Conch is the restaurant above Divetech--please correct me if I'm wrong..............also, Cayman is better shore dive than Cozumel although Scuba Club Coz has easy access to a shore dive down some steps and clear water--again for the price of a tank--I think it was $6. last December.