Grand Cayman scuba diving....

[koko's_mom]

We have a day in Grand Cayman during our Panama Canal cruise in January, and are considering the ship's beginning scuba diving excursion. We are also considering the snorkeling excursion, but thought the scuba diving would be unique. Any votes yay or nay?! Thank you in advance.

[Grandpaul]

I know someone that did that at Grand Cayman and loved it. I've never done that myself because of my ears but he loved it. It's supposed to be one of the best ares for diving.

[koko's_mom]

Thank you Grandpaul.....looks like something unique and fun, but I wanted to gather more info before we spent the money.

[jfelano]

If your talking about Georgetown, you can walk a short distance (5 minutes) from the cruise pier to Eden Rock dive center and you can snorkel there free if you have your own gear or you can rent. They also have $65 single tank or $100 two tank dives with their equipment.

 

There is Eden Rock and Devil's Grotto just a short swim from the dive center. They also offer boat dives.

 

http://www.edenrockdive.com/default.html

[koko's_mom]

Jfelano....thank you for the information. We are looking at a beginning scuba diving excursion through our cruise ship which uses Don Fosters dive shop. Sounds fun and different. Looks like we could organize something on our own given your info.

[bearette]

As a discover diver you cannot rent equiment and go it alone. You need to be certified to dive. The discover scuba diving program is meant to give you an introduction to scuba diving in safe (pool like) conditions. If you do not want to go with the ship excursion you may book independently with one of the dive operators locally, but none of the places will rent equipment to you without a dive certification card unless you are doing the discover scuba dive through them. Even if they would you could kill yourself if you tried it alone. Not to alarm you, but their is a reason you need to be certified to dive.

 

As for the ship excursion, Grand Cayman is known as one of the best dive sites in the world and my family did the discover dive through the ship to try it out. 3/4 of my party decided to get certified afterwards, I was not one of them. I think if you are interested in getting certified this is the perfect way to try it out without the commitment/cost. Even if you are like me and decide diving is not for you, the expereince is worth trying.

[koko's_mom]

Bearette...thank you very much for your reply. When I mentioned making arrangements on our own, I did mean going through a dive shop for a "resort certification". I am happy to hear your group enjoyed their experience, as I have heard Grand Cayman is a beautiful place to dive. My husband did a "resort" program years ago at the Great Barrier Reef, and we thought it would be a fun and different experience. Looking at the prices I don't think the cruise ship excursion is much higher than booking something on our own. Looking forward to it...thanks again!

[Lefty Writer]

DW and I are newly certified divers (May of this year) and will be diving in Cozumel and Grand Cayman in December while on the Carnival Magic. We went with an independent dive operator in Cozumel and through Carnival for Grand Cayman, mainly due to the lack of availability of an independent dive op due to time constraints.

The point, though, is you may wish to consider getting your dive certifications before you cruise. It will most likely be a LOT cheaper and it will open up your options.

One of our classmates did the resort course first and said that, in her opinion, the actual dive following the training wasn't that much better.

Just something to think about....

[koko's_mom]

Lefty Writer.....thank you for the advice. I agree with you that getting certified before we visit Grand Cayman would be beneficial, but unfortunately I don't think the opportunity will present itself here in the California desert before our cruise! Have a wonderful time on your adventure!

[RunningHalfDead]

Most of the certified diving is done in a pool until you actually go to do your open water dives and they are often done at lakes for those of us who don't have an ocean close. I too recommend getting certified prior to going. We have places around us that certify far anywhere between $150-$250. So check the prices and I'd be willing to bet there is a place that is convenient to you that certifies. Good luck, and once you've been scuba diving, snorkeling just can't compare.

[mrsfuzzmo]

My husban and I are avid snorkelers. We've also done ship sponsored "Discover Scuba" or "Resort" dives. They are great and a perfect way to discover whether or not you will want to get certified. It gives you a great taste of diving, with only the basic class time and a lot of supervision. We have decided that we will stick to snorkeling, although we wouldn't say no to another resort dive. We like the freedom to just hit a beach and head out with our gear for a while and not have to schedule and book dives.

 

All that being said, out of all the places we've snorkeled and dove Grand Cayman is our absolute favorite.

[koko's_mom]

RunningHalfDead and Mrsfuzzmo..... I haven't checked this thread in a few weeks, so I enjoyed reading your responses. Thank you! It is a little hectic around here right now, but I may still look into a local certification course. With less than two months before our cruise we are beginning to get excited!

[koko's_mom]

Just returned from our two week Miami to LA Panama Canal transit. A major highlight was our "beginning scuba diving" excursion in Grand Cayman. We booked the excursion through our ship, and had a very professional and memorable experience with Don Fosters dive shop. The dive instructors were enthusiastic, patient, and professional---which really helped those of us who were a little nervous. A wonderful experience!

[John_Nebraska]

Here was my experience lately with a beginners dive on Grand Cayman. Whatever kind of excursion one chooses, the number of cruise ships in the harbor could impact your ability to get to the pier in a timely manner.

 

I booked 3 beginner's SCUBA dives through Island Marketing before our cruise ($99US each), along with a tag-along certified diver. I only needed to rent an air tank & weights, while I wanted the other 3 in the group to experience SCUBA diving.

 

The Carnival Liberty arrived in port on time, but it took us over an hour to get off the ship. There were about 4 other cruise ships in port this day, making it a slow process to get off the boat onto tenders. Unfortunately, Off the Wall Divers didn't know it was taking everyone a long time to disembark, and when we arrived at the excursion meeting place, nobody was there to meet us. We don't have international cell phones, and I couldn't figure out how to make a local call on their pay phones. A nice gentleman at a visitor's information booth used his cell phone and called Off the Wall. I was only able to get their voicemail and leave a message. Very frustrating! I found a taxi who didn't know where Off the Wall was located but the driver called the number also, and also got voicemail. I remembered we were going to be diving the Cheeseburger Reef and that the Reef was supposed to be across from the Burger King, hence the name, so I asked the taxi if she could take us there. The ~1 mile ride cost $14US. :mad:

 

We discovered that Off the Wall operates out of the Lobster Pot Dive Center across the street from the BK and right on the water. After explaining what happened to the dive instructor, Denise, at the dive center, she was able to accommodate our small group. They have you watch a video in a small room, then you walk out, suit up, and go through the equipment operation & safety in the water right off the beach. Once everyone had the hang of it, we then all swam a couple hundred feet out to the reef.

 

It was an easy dive, but a lot of fun. It averaged about 25' in depth, with a max. of 40'. We saw large Tarpon fish and other sea life. It was a very enjoyable dive and Denise K. made sure we saw everything we could.

 

What started off being a potentially bad day in the Caymans turned out to be a very good one thanks to Denise at the Lobster Pot Dive Center. It was a good experience and a good beginners dive. Although I'm a certified diver, I had a very good time too. I highly recommend the Lobster Pot Dive Center and the dive operators who work out of there. :)

 

After the dive we stopped at Hammerheads, an open air lounge on the water & next to the Royal Watler pier, for drinks (about $3US per Caybrew beer), then stopped at the little lounge inside the pier for one (~$8 for a Caybrew). I'd recommend just staying at Hammerheads until you are ready to take the tender back to the ship.

[agc291]

Thanks for your review! We may do a discover scuba dive in Grand Cayman.. we have done this previously through Carnival in St Thomas and had a blast!

[elinetw]

We booked through Royal Caribbean who offered a beginner dive course. It was through Don Foster's Dive Cayman. We went on March 14th. It was a fantastic experience. There were five cruise ships in port that day and tender was delayed a little bit. RC had our excursion meet on the ship so we were all together and would get to the shore together. We were probably an hour late but they were still waiting for us since everyone was from our ship. They have their own van they drove so it wasn't an issue. Plus they seemed to do dives all day. It was about a 5 minute drive to the place so it was really easy.

 

When we got there we had a short intro where one of the instructors went through some basic information. Then they fitted us for our equipment and made sure we had the right stuff. Then we got in the pool. It was about a 4 ft deep pool. You go through some basic techniques you will need. They are very helpful and encouraging. This took about 15-20 minutes and everyone passed the techniques. There were 3 instructors for the 9 of us. We had groups of 4, 3, and 2 so people could dive with their friends.

 

After the pool portion we walked about 10 ft and they had a place where you can either climb down or jump. We jumped in, which I recommend. And then we went out for our dive. It was about 30 minutes and we went down almost to 40 ft. There were things to see immediately. The coral and fish were great and the other groups saw a barracuda. There were no guide ropes and we started slow so everyone could get used to it. We even had some time to just go and explore.

 

We got out and they cleaned all the equipment, they had showers to get the salt off. They also had lockers, but I left my stuff out the whole time and the instructors do too because it was fairly secure. Then they offered a shuttle back, but we walked to see more of the island. We got done in about 2-3 hours total and had time for lunch, walking around, and then getting back about an hour early for the tender. The instructors recommended hammerhead bar which was very good.

 

I was very nervous about scuba diving but it was really worth it. I usually have trouble with my ears in pools but it was much easier to equalize. I think it was a much better experience than snorkeling too.

Long story short, Don Foster's was great for a first time scuba diver.

[hrmccoy]

My fiance and I just got back from our Celebrity cruise and we also opted for the ship's Discover Scuba course which went through Don Foster's. I give them super high marks all around!! Normally we avoid the ship's excursions as they are typically a little too rigid for us and we like the flexibility of planning our own and usually save money in the process, but in this case we didn't decide to do it until we were already on the ship and our ability to research other providers was a little limited. But from what I can tell, the price through the ship was nearly the same as what could be found independently. And there's definitely an added benefit that the operator will be there waiting - we had the same tender experience where we were about a half an hour late getting to shore, but of course the operator was waiting for us.

 

I'm an avid snorkeler and always wanted to try diving but was unsure how my ears wound do (I've never cleared my ears before and experienced a lot of pain when trying to free dive in the past). I was a little nervous, but the instructor was fantastic...very patient and encouraging with me. The dive was incredible. You couldn't pick a better place for a first dive and I thought the dive shop was top notch. My fiance is already certified, but hadn't dived since getting certified as a teenager so he agreed to do the Discover dive with me. The dive counted as a refresher course for him which he had been wanting to do anyway.

 

Great experience and now I plan to get certified before our next cruise so we can do more diving. Hope this is helpful for anyone considering it!

[Sonnydjoe]

Hey everyone!! We just got back from Grand cayman and wanted to share a new company that we found called JJ Divers..we found them through discount excursions and we did a discover or beginners scuba dive so you dont have to be certified or anything. my wife and myself are not certified and it only cost $75 all the scuba gear included and we went to a great site not just on port like eden rock and it was fully guided !!! I think they have a web site http://www.jjivers.com ... it waqs amazing !!! we saw sting rays and turtles and so many different fish that our guild/instructor taught us about !! after the dive he brought us to a wonderful beach and hooked us up with a free drink !!!! by far the best time in grand cayman we have ever had ! we are already planning on going back to get certified! they only charge $250 when all the others charge $500

 

My wife even left a review on trip advisor... ill copy and paste it cause after our trip i need more time on my couch lol

 

I couldn't have asked for a better experience for knocking scuba diving off my bucket list! It's been a dream of mine for many years and something I was saving for the perfect place (and great company, of course). I am frightened by large bodies of water and its' occupants, so needless to say, I was very nervous about "heading out to sea" without a boat, life jacket...... and being able to breathe normally (lol). However, Jacob took my hesitations to heart and took his time in the pool with us, coaching and reassuring us every step of the way. Without his help, I would have never been truly ready to go and explore the underwater treasures Grand Cayman diving has in store (and he surely knows his way around!) The dive was totally customized to our lack of experience but desire to see really cool things. I actually felt so comfortable and so relaxed under the surface that I wanted to go right back down once the dive was over. JJ practically takes you in as family, and the stories alone are worth the acquaintance. This dive was definitely the highlight of my trip (beating out jet-skiing, para-sailing, snorkeling, swimming with the dolphins ). I hope to go back and dive with JJ sometime soon and will be telling everyone about them