Diving in G Cayman

[janenlarry]

Does anyone know who Carnival uses to book the scuba diving excursions in Grand Cayman? I usually find a dive shop and not book with the ship excursions but not having any luck. Scheduled to be there Sept 10. The two dive shops I have been in contact with do not bother with the cruise ships.

[nixnutz]

Does anyone know who Carnival uses to book the scuba diving excursions in Grand Cayman? I usually find a dive shop and not book with the ship excursions but not having any luck. Scheduled to be there Sept 10. The two dive shops I have been in contact with do not bother with the cruise ships.

 

Don Foster's Dive Cayman--Just got wet with them last Thursday :)

 

Nice operation. It was progressing a little slow at first, but once we got to the shop things moved along nicely. Good staff and GREAT dives! We dove "Big Sand Chute" and "Royal Palms Ledge".

 

ENJOY!! I can't wait to go back...:rolleyes:

[bruce-r]

The two dive shops I have been in contact with do not bother with the cruise ships.

 

Then you haven't contacted the right dive shop.

 

Try http://www.neptunesdivers.com

 

OR do some shore diving at http://www.sunsethouse.com

[Jango]

I asked this same question on another thread yesterday. Man, you see the cattleboats that Fosters has? Sheez!

 

BUT if you don't use the ship's package you will pay 60 bucks or more for the dive if you have to rent the gear like I will. I've humped full sets of gear on a cruise before and I'm notta going to do that again :eek:

 

What's a guy to do?

 

Padi Divemaster DM-163139

 

:)

[scuabacruiser]

Then you haven't contacted the right dive shop.

 

Try www.neptunesdivers.com

 

OR do some shore diving at www.sunsethouse.com

 

How is the shore diving at sunset house? We like the flexibility of diving when we get there and 1 or 2 tanks.

[bruce-r]

How is the shore diving at sunset house? We like the flexibility of diving when we get there and 1 or 2 tanks.

 

Haven't done it, but it is reputed to be decent.

[sunseeker09]

We dove with Don Fosters when we were on the island and didn't find them to be cattle boats. Somedays there were more divers than others, but never more than a half dozen or so off the cruise ships. They'd always split into groups of 6 or so and by experience. They were always great we found. One afternoon I called about doing a single tank dive while DH was working and I ended up being the only one... but they still took me out to a nearby reef... just me and the DM and the boat captain. Awesome service. You want to talk about cattle boats, check out Red Sail. Yikes!

[drew sailbum]

How is the shore diving at sunset house? We like the flexibility of diving when we get there and 1 or 2 tanks.

Sunset House diving is shore diving.

 

There are concrete paths over otherwise sharp ironshore. Enter down the ladders or make a giant stride into about 10ft of water.

 

The swim out to the reef is about 100 yards where you can drop down to about 25 feet. The reef runs parallel to shore and is marked with fingers of coral which run perpendicular to shore. The fingers bottom out at about 50ft.

 

There are two notable sites to include on your tour of the reef. There is a statute of the mermaid Amphertite in about 50ft of water. If you turn your back to the statute and swim out into the sand patch you will find the wreck of a landing craft, the David Nicholson.

 

You can continue past the David Nicholson and the bottom is slowly sloping to about 60ft depth until you reach the main wall. Here the seafloor drops a couple thousand feet provinding you with easily accessible wall diving from shore.

 

Sunset Divers offers gear rentals on site. They have a rinse tank set up and an outdoor shower to wash the salt crud off after your dive.

 

Post dive you can sit back and enjoy lunch and a drink or two at the hotel's bar, interestingly named My Bar.

[Jango]

Thanks for the info sunseeker! It's a huge plus if they divide the groups by experience and keep them small.

 

On an add for Foster's site on a travel site they mention "you can enjoy a shore dive on our beautiful house reef Casuarina Point."

 

Are ship divers allowed to use it with the gear supplied after the boat dives? That would be pretty kewl.

 

 

 

:)

[scuabacruiser]

Sunset House diving is shore diving.

 

There are concrete paths over otherwise sharp ironshore. Enter down the ladders or make a giant stride into about 10ft of water.

 

The swim out to the reef is about 100 yards where you can drop down to about 25 feet. The reef runs parallel to shore and is marked with fingers of coral which run perpendicular to shore. The fingers bottom out at about 50ft.

 

There are two notable sites to include on your tour of the reef. There is a statute of the mermaid Amphertite in about 50ft of water. If you turn your back to the statute and swim out into the sand patch you will find the wreck of a landing craft, the David Nicholson.

 

You can continue past the David Nicholson and the bottom is slowly sloping to about 60ft depth until you reach the main wall. Here the seafloor drops a couple thousand feet provinding you with easily accessible wall diving from shore.

 

Sunset Divers offers gear rentals on site. They have a rinse tank set up and an outdoor shower to wash the salt crud off after your dive.

 

Post dive you can sit back and enjoy lunch and a drink or two at the hotel's bar, interestingly named My Bar.

That's great info, thanks. It will be used in Oct.

[BlueC5Kitten]

BUT if you don't use the ship's package you will pay 60 bucks or more for the dive if you have to rent the gear like I will. I've humped full sets of gear on a cruise before and I'm notta going to do that again :eek:

 

I'd rather have my own gear...I know when it was last serviced and know its reliability. That being said, its mask, fins, snorkel (just in case), reg and BCD with a dive skin since the water isn't THAT cold down there...that's not THAT much gear, honestly. I'd just rather be safe than sorry.

[Jango]

I'd rather have my own gear...I know when it was last serviced and know its reliability. That being said, its mask, fins, snorkel (just in case), reg and BCD with a dive skin since the water isn't THAT cold down there...that's not THAT much gear, honestly. I'd just rather be safe than sorry.

 

The gear is another 25 bucks at least to check as a second bag on a plane and it has a chance of getting ripped off too. Scuba gear is pretty much the same with dump valves located in the same places and such. An experienced diver can adapt to any of it pretty quickly so I'm not really worried about that. I do however, bring my own mask and dive computer.

 

On getting cold on dives; I live on the NC coast in Morehead City. I used to dive with just shorts and a tee shirt until I realized that my core temp drops just enough over a two tank dive that I would freeze to death when we went out to dinner in a restaurant that night ;)

[BlueC5Kitten]

I only check one bag (containing dive gear, travel wear and footwear) while traveling to the Caribbean, whether on a week-long cruise or a week-long dive trip to a resort. I hand carry my reg, mask and camera, and have never had a thought to my bag getting "ripped off."

 

I'm not saying I can't adapt to other gear, but I am saying I know when my gear was last serviced, know its idiosyncrasies. It's a safety issue for me....and peace of mind is worth a lot more than a $25 checked bag fee, imo. Not to mention, my dive computer is integrated to my reg, so if I am bringing that, why not bring the BC too?

 

Guess I am just really warm-blooded, so I don't tend to get cold that easily. Diving in Utila earlier this year (three to four 1+hour dives a day), there were folks in my group that were wearing 6.5mm wetsuits, and I was in my 1mm with a skin...water temps were in the high 70s to low 80s...I was in heaven...quite pleasant. I even jumped back in the water a time or two after stripping off my wetsuit, since we were the first dive group back on the boat. I never had a problem. Temps are a personal thing, and everyone's body regulates at his or her own rate.

 

Happy Diving!