Grand Cayman...Ship excursion or shore dives?

[Texas_Diver]

Just when I thought I was resolved that we were going to dive with the ship's excursion which is a two-tank dive at the West Wall, I saw a post here on CC for http://www.edenrockdive.com.

 

Now I'm not sure which I want to do.

 

Does anyone have any experience with either or both of these options?

 

:)

[bruce-r]

Boat dives are easier and provide access to much better sites than edenrock, but they cost more, especially if you go thru the ship.

 

A shore dive at edenrock, divetech's turtle farm site, or at sunset house will be quite a bit less than the ship's excursion. You will need a buddy in order to rent gear for a shore dive as solo diving is "against the rules".

 

If you want to dive at stingray city, you will want to make arrangements on your own and you can't do it from shore. http://www.neptunesdivers.com will go to stingray city, weather permitting. If you have a chance to dive one of the north wall sites as a first dive and stingray city as the second dive, that would be my first choice. Second choice would be some shore diving, probably at divetech's site, and my last choice would be to go with the ship's excursion as I don't care for the kind of diving usually offered by them. Let me describe typical cruise ship dive trips. They are usually on larger boats with larger groups of divers, many of which are once-a-year cruise divers, doing follow the leader dives with predetermined bottom time. That just isn't the kind of diving I want to do. I prefer smaller boats with fewer, more experienced divers doing long slow dives without having to follow a guide if I don't choose to. OK, now I've gone on too long.

 

If you'd like to see my underwater photos of Grand Cayman, they are in this Gallery I was diving with Neptune's Divers on this trip.

 

Oh, and I wrote this short essay about the pro's and con's of diving with the ship's excursion. Perhaps it will help you with making a choice.

[Texas_Diver]

Bruce-r,

 

Thank you for taking the time to post this response. I am reading the pros/cons now and it's great!

 

Thanks again!

 

:)

[laurieb1227]

thanks for the info- i was wondering also- are the dives with the ship excursions run well- with experienced dive guides? how many people would i expect to be with in gc- will be on the jewel dec. 29. my son got certified last year- he dives in florida but has not done one in a few weeks. he wants to make sure he is safe and well supervised. any comments??

[bruce-r]

thanks for the info- i was wondering also- are the dives with the ship excursions run well- with experienced dive guides? how many people would i expect to be with in gc- will be on the jewel dec. 29. my son got certified last year- he dives in florida but has not done one in a few weeks. he wants to make sure he is safe and well supervised. any comments??

I might have mentioned it before, but I think he should go diving with http://www.neptunesdivers.com unless scheduling won't work. Casey and Keith was make sure he has a fun/safe trip. There won't be more than 8 people on the boat and they take snorkelers if you wanted to go along with DS.

[w&k]

I second Bruce's tip on Neptune's divers. Excellent trip - my review is posted at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=179206

 

Have a great time!

 

Wendy

 

pix

http://community.webshots.com/user/wendyandkeith

[sportsterjohn]

another vote for neptune. I dove with them last week.

[Jerry_G]

I haven't dove in many of the caribbean ports. One of which is Belize. But my experiences in other ports with dive operators has been that they all require a dive master/follow the leader mentality. Some of these ports like Coz require them by legislation in order to dive in the national parks. By diving with a local no ship excursionl operator there is a better opportunity to dive better sites and to set your bottom times and surface intervals based on your experiences and level. However, unless you have a full group(probably 6 divers) you will probably dive where the dive shop feels there is less risk for the least experienced divers. Also, they will probably not let you extend your bottom time beyond the first person to run low on air. I base my decision on ship excursion vs local dive shop on time in port and knowledge of the local conditions. Having never been to Belize or Grand Cayman I have elected to dive with a ship excursion. Since I have experience, and know my way arround in Coz and Costa Maya I am diving through local diver operators. Do what your comfortable with and you will have a good time.