Grand Cayman Shore or Boat

[Tommyg74]

Which is the better experience on GC, the shore dives or boat. Has anyone done both with or without the excursion operators. Which has more to offer, I have read reviews on the shore diving, but have not found much on the boats dives, how deep are theirs dives, never did a wall, anything that great?

[Loves_Dogs]

My first time in GC we did a boat dive with Neptune Divers. The second time we did shore dives at Sunset House. If I were to go back I would absolutely do shore dives at Sunset House again.

 

You do not need to go out in a boat to experience great diving in GC. When we did the boat dive we had to catch a cab to 7 Mile. Traffic was awful. After they dropped us at 7 Mile we had to walk the beach to get to the dive boat while carrying all our gear. Walking on sand with heavy gear in the heat is not easy. People here love Neptune Divers but my experience with them was not all that great. Maybe they were having an off day. After the dives we had to carry all our gear back across the beach to catch another cab back to the ship. Once again, traffic was awful. There was no time to do much else after the dive.

 

When we did the shore dives we actually walked to Sunset House. There were multiple large ships and people were everywhere making it tough to find a cab. I really liked Sunset House. The people there were so helpful and friendly. Dives were wonderful. Afterwards they called a cab for us. We were back at the ship by 12:30 and had the afternoon to do other things. I highly recommend Sunset House. Here is a link:

http://sunsethouse.com/

Which ever you decide, safe diving and have a GREAT cruise!

[Tommyg74]

Thanks for the info, I think we will do a shore dive, it also has less time restrictions. Gives us time to go at our own pace.

[Capt_BJ]

I've done both boat and shore in Cayman, many times each actually. My (useless) comments.

 

- neither is consistently BETTER than the other. They are different experiences and on any given day any given site can be great or a bust .... there are SO many variables.

 

- Cayman is known for wall diving - there's something about hovering off the wall and knowing there's no bottom for hundreds and hundreds of feet. (there was once a deep submarine tour that took two riders at a time down 800+ feet not far outside of the cruiseship anchoring area . . .) Coz' also has wall diving, but there is is also drift diving so many consider GC more relaxed - I've done both, if you want to take pictures no current helps.

 

- most wall diving is done off 7 Mile Beach - but the reef there is a over a mile off shore so shore wall diving is not an option, you need a boat to get there

 

- IME most dive boats in Cayman are associated with a hotel or other condo operation and run a morning 2 tank trip; this is what Sunset House boats are doing every day. They take their dive guests out for a 2 tank boat trip at 9 AM, returning around 1230. This departure usually means there is no way for a cruise visit to meet up. A boat that is going to cater to cruise folks is pretty much locked out of the local business where the 9AM 2 tank is kind of the norm. (I've done many week long trips to Cayman for diving)

 

- a typical Cayman wall 2 tank profile has the first dive heading to 90 feet BECAUSE off 7 mile the wall doesn't start its vertical drop until 65 feet or so. To experience 'the wall effect' you need to go deep. The second dive will be in the 45 foot range keeping your 'table numbers' safe for an afternoon or night shore dive back in the 50 foot range {one reason Bloody Bay wall is such a great dive on Little Cayman is that the top of the wall is at about 25 feet, so you get the very vertical effect at 60 feet and can have a longer dive} (there is a very active association of dive operators in Cayman who agree on certain safe practices and profiles so I'd be surprised to see wide variation in the limits observed)

 

- a dive boat catering to the cruise crowd has to be cautious. When one visits a dive resort and dives for a week with the same operator they will start you out 'easy' aka shallow, and after they assess your skills will move to the wall. A wall dive, at 90 feet, with "no bottom" is not the time to discover the diver has poor buo' control or burns their tank in half the time as the rest of the group.

 

- shore diving south of town at EDEN or Sunset is typically in the 50 foot range. In theory if you continue to swim out you will eventually find the wall drop off, it is not as far out as at 7 Mile; but unescorted wall dives are not something they offer up until they really really know you & your skill level IME. (it is not theory, at Sunset there are finger spurs of coral from the shore out to a depth of about 50 ... then it gets sandy ... if one crosses the sand area at about 70 they encounter the second coral bank and it eventually drops over the edge . . . a long swim needing some navigation skills and generally not advised but I knew a divemaster in the 90's . . . )

 

- the wall is a neat experience but I would not say it is the best Cayman dive, or even consistently better. I've seen many many more critters at 50 feet then at 90 and my best photos have typically occurred right off Sunset House (on night dives)

 

just my opinions ... DW made her discovery dive in USVI in May 85, completed Open Water in the Keys by end of June, had 20 dives in Keys by our first week trip to Sunset in Oct of that year. She got hooked fast. Last dive was a repeat to the big tank in EPCOT - DiveQuest - last Friday. Reward to dd who completed OWD on Monday. The family that dives together . . .