Eden Rock or Sunset House Shore Dive?

[MPM]

I am looking for folks who have done shore dives at both Eden Rock and at Sunset House. Which did you prefer? Guided or unguided? Or would you recommend a boat dive? We only have one day on Grand Cayman, and want to see the best that it has to offer! Thanks for the help:)

 

~Mike

[bruce-r]

I am looking for folks who have done shore dives at both Eden Rock and at Sunset House. Which did you prefer? Guided or unguided? Or would you recommend a boat dive? We only have one day on Grand Cayman, and want to see the best that it has to offer! Thanks for the help:)

 

~Mike

 

Won't that depend on what you define as "best"?

 

If you want to wall dive, you'll either have a fair surface swim or you'll want to do some boat diving.

 

If you want to do some shallower divers with longer bottom times, then you'd probably be fine with a shore dive.

 

The shore diving would definitely be less expensive, especially if you already have a buddy. The shops at the shore dive sites probably won't rent gear to a single diver, so you'd have to hire a guide in that case. If you do have a buddy, it might still be a smart idea to hire the guide for the first dive at least, depending on your comfort/experience level.

[Capt_BJ]

agree - define best

 

any who read much here know my preference is to shore dive at Sunset - but that is for as many non diving reasons as the wet ones... Navigation is a snap if you are a fairly experienced diver. And it is safe to bounce up and get your bearings if need be .... aka, you can get an area briefing from the dive shop and be OK w/out a guide IF you are comfortable with that.. Ditto at Eden. For the most part once out, swim east to return and you WILL come ashore.

 

I think that for a Cayman first timer tho, 'the wall' is what defines Cayman diving. There's something about pushing 20 or 30 feet away from the wall at 90 foot down and realizing the bottom is a thousand more away ... if you've never done that b4. For this you'll need to be on a boat trip in 99.5% of the possible options.

 

Diving Caymans and the rest of the Carib since mid 80's and had the advantage of a job on a ship that took me there!

[MPM]

OK, I guess the question was pretty general, but I do appreciate the input. We did a wall dive in St Lucia at the Pitons. It was very interesting, but in general I think we enjoy just cruising over a reef more. We are most interested in seeing a large variety a fish, coral and sponges. We like shallower dives better unless there is really an advantage to be gained by going deeper. We are still new enough that we use our air a little faster than the long time divers. Capt BJ- If you discount the top side atmosphere (we won't have a lot of extra time), which dive site do you prefer for fish and reefs, Eden or Sunset? Bruce-r, I have seen you a lot on cruise critic as well as the Scuba Toys board. It looks like you have had quite a bit of opportunity to travel. What did you like about Fiji?

 

I am very fortunate - my wife is my dive partner, and she loves diving so I always have a dive buddy. While we may get tired of it at some point, we are still lugging our own equipment (minus tanks and weights) around. Because we only have 20 or so dives under our belt (all in the last year) I like to know we are both very familiar with the equipment and computers we are using.

 

As always, I really appreciate the input. Does anybody have a copy of the map the Eden Rock has of their dive sites? How about Sunset House?

 

~Mike

[Capt_BJ]

both sites are on the same reef section....simply about 1/2 mile apart. Profiles are similar. Enter from an Iron Shore area and swim out about 25 yards and encounter fingers of coral running out from shore at about 30 feet, with depths running out to about 50 feet where the coral diminishes greatly. If you continue out you would eventually encounter the top of the wall at about 70-75 feet but I don't recommend that.

 

What sea life you encounter and what your vis will be varies from day to day of course....actually from hour to hour. Funny thing about the fish, they seem to think they have the right to come and go! On the other hand some critters will stake out a place and hang around for a while. Vis depends on the sea conditions, especially the direction of wind and waves ... and to a degree on the number of divers stirring things up. If you dive after a group of 40 snorkelors has been thru on a tour ... forget about it.

 

Each site has some geographic and/or man-made features which can be interesting.

 

From Eden Rock you can find Devil's Grotto and at times I've encountered clouds of silversides there.

 

Around Sunset you have a sunken landing craft, a statue and I've aften found large 'cuda in a 'cleaning station'.

 

I've many more dives at Sunset than Eden as I aften stayed for a week at a time of dedicated diving at Sunset House. We might make an occasional journey down the raod to Eden but for the most part a Sunset trip means a 2 tank AM dive (Eden was sometimes the second, shallow dive) then a shore afternoon or night dive right there at Sunset. Why go anyplace else if I could walk to the entry point with my gear on....have a great dive on my schedule...then rinse and walk 20 feet to the bar? Since I'm usually taking pictures I don't worry about a "new site" every dive cuz there's almost every dive a new critter or two. Like the night I experienced a bristle star EXPLOSION .... thousands came out at the same time (moon phase????) and 15 minutes later were all gone; or the night I came upon a feeding octopus that I was able to follow for a good 15 minutes; or the afore mentioned 'cuda getting a grooming; or slipper lobster; or garden eel ... go slow and keep looking. Oh...and be aware that the submarine ride also works near SUNSET much of the time....so you might be part of the show.

 

but for me the number one deciding factor is this. for every diver/snorkelor who walks the extra 1/3 mile to Sunset .... 25 stop at Eden Rock. I've seen ER looking like a sea of bobbing snorkel vests you could walk across and have never experienced that down the road.

 

http://sunsethouse.com/shore_diving.php

 

http://www.edenrockdive.com/Shore/Shore.htm

[bruce-r]

Bruce-r, I have seen you a lot on cruise critic as well as the Scuba Toys board. It looks like you have had quite a bit of opportunity to travel. What did you like about Fiji?

There were several things I really liked about Fiji.

 

• The Fijian people. They were extra friendly. They seemed truely happy to have you as a guest in their country. I haven't felt this way about many of the Caribbean island inhabitants.
  
• 
  
• The group I was with. I was part of a group of friends who chartered the whole boat. http://www.naia.com.fj/ That allowed us much more say in where/when we dived. Because we chartered the whole boat, we all got free nitrox for the week. We also were able to arrange for the boat to pick us up at a resort rather than the commercial dock they usually use. We did 3 days at http://www.wananavu.com/ before the 7 days on the boat.
  
• 
  
• Liveaboard diving, which means more and easier diving. We did 4 to 5 dives a day and each dive was just a short skiff ride away from the mother ship. Come back to the ship after each dive for a warm fresh water rinse and either a snack or a full meal. The food was good too.
  
• 
  
• Finally, I thought the diving there was significantly more interesting than most the of the Caribbean diving I've done. There was much more color, many more fish, and a greater diversity of marine life.
  

 

I haven't been to either Eden Rock or Sunsethouse, but I'd probably pick Sunsethouse over because Eden Rock is closer to where the ship's tenders dock.

 

I would definitely pick a liveaboard trip over any cruise if diving was the primary purpose of the trip.

[MPM]

Capt BJ - I think you have convinced my to head to Sunset. I appreciate your input. Is it practical to consider walking to Sunset from the cruise ship terminal with a duffel bag full of dive gear? I regularly walk three to five miles, but not usually while packing all my dive gear. While I am confident I could make it, my wife says I am always trying to kill her on the first couple days of vacation with long walks or hikes!

 

Bruce-r - I would love to go on a live aboard, but the reality is they are pricey. For less than $2,500 a piece, including dives and airfare, my wife and I will dive four Caribbean islands in a very nice floating hotel, although granted that is only a couple of dives a day. Most of the live aboards that I have seen that come close to my price range are a bit on the "roughing it" side, which isn't a problem for me, but might not be that appealing to my dive partner ;-) I must say though, seeing the live aboard in Fiji makes me want to save my pennies!

 

~Mike

[bruce-r]

Bruce-r - I would love to go on a live aboard, but the reality is they are pricey. For less than $2,500 a piece, including dives and airfare, my wife and I will dive four Caribbean islands in a very nice floating hotel, although granted that is only a couple of dives a day. Most of the live aboards that I have seen that come close to my price range are a bit on the "roughing it" side, which isn't a problem for me, but might not be that appealing to my dive partner ;-) I must say though, seeing the live aboard in Fiji makes me want to save my pennies!

 

~Mike

Yes, I agree. The nicer liveaboards do cost more than a cruise, but they generally are a good value when you compare the number of dives you get in during the week and the quality of the dives to what you'll get on a cruise, plus the diving is easier on the liveaboard. If you don't consider only the bottom line price and instead consider the value you get, it make more sense to me to go liveaboard if you are a diver.

 

I have a non-diving family, that's the reason I "have" to go on cruises. It is a compromise vacation. If DW would get certified, I don't think I'd have to go on another cruise.

[scuabacruiser]

Capt BJ - I think you have convinced my to head to Sunset. I appreciate your input. Is it practical to consider walking to Sunset from the cruise ship terminal with a duffel bag full of dive gear? I regularly walk three to five miles, but not usually while packing all my dive gear. While I am confident I could make it, my wife says I am always trying to kill her on the first couple days of vacation with long walks or hikes!

 

Bruce-r - I would love to go on a live aboard, but the reality is they are pricey.

 

~Mike

I am like you. My dw is my dive buddy. How cool is that:) We have been diving now for 9 yrs and we still "lug" our own gear. Eden Rock is not a bad walk with a good back pack bag but I would not walk to Sunset. I would get a cab so you are not hot and tired when you dive. We are going to dive the house reef at Sunset in 2 weeks. I will let you know how it was. We have done a Blackbeards live aboard and liked it. Yup it was not fancy.

 

Like you Bruce, I still "have" to go on a cruise even though dw likes to dive. She likes to cruise also and, I admit, I like it too. Another live a board would be nice though.

[MPM]

Thanks for the advice scuabacruiser, I guess I will quit being so cheap and get a cab!

 

I am confident I will try a live aboard one day, when funds permit - probably Flower Gardens here out of Texas. I have to admit thought that as exciting as five dives a day sounds, a lot of times I am tired after two;) I think my wife and I are going to try a land based vacation next year with diving as the focus. That will give us the opportunity to experience multiple dives in a day. While I would like to go some place more exotic, Cozumel and Grand Cayman are both very accessible (i.e. cheaper air fair) from Texas. Anyone have any feedback on land based dive vacations – someplace not so far away from the US that is takes 20 hours or big bucks to get there?

 

I have wanted to learn to scuba dive since I was a kid, and have been snorkeling since I was 10 or so. A scuba diving death in my family pretty well soured my wife on the idea however - you know the kind, the person never surfaces, the body is never found. I started her out snorkeling a number of years ago at Catalina Island in California. She was very apprehensive at the time. After a couple of years snorkeling in the Caribbean and Hawaii, she was ready to take the plunge so to speak. There were parts of the initial training that were fairly intensive, but she was a trouper, and pushed through. She still gets nervous on the first dive of the trip, but settles down once she is underwater. And I would say having the same dive buddy all of the time has a lot of advantages (and a few disadvantages as well I am sure).

[scuabacruiser]

Thanks for the advice scuabacruiser, I guess I will quit being so cheap and get a cab!

 

I am confident I will try a live aboard one day, when funds permit - probably Flower Gardens here out of Texas. I have to admit thought that as exciting as five dives a day sounds, a lot of times I am tired after two;) I think my wife and I are going to try a land based vacation next year with diving as the focus. That will give us the opportunity to experience multiple dives in a day. While I would like to go some place more exotic, Cozumel and Grand Cayman are both very accessible (i.e. cheaper air fair) from Texas. Anyone have any feedback on land based dive vacations – someplace not so far away from the US that is takes 20 hours or big bucks to get there?

 

Well you know what they say,"when mama ain't happy, nobody's happy". FG should be no.1 on your list. We have tried 2 times to do it but it fell through both times. I have heard it is some great diving. Also it will give you a mini live a board experience. My wife is not too keen on 5 dives a day either, thus a cruise works for her, some diving and some pampering. Both of those land bases dive vacations are good. Coz will be cheaper. Right now we are looking at Roatan on the west end. We have dove there seveal times now from a ship. I have found some good prices on the west end for under $500 pp a week for the resort and 2 dives a day but not food. I'm not sure about the air fare though.

[w&k]

I am like you. My dw is my dive buddy. ... We are going to dive the house reef at Sunset in 2 weeks. I will let you know how it was.

 

Me too! Keith did not dive when I met him, but I put him in class shortly after we met. I created a dive monster! He has been my dive buddy for 16 years, and we just celebrated our 11th anniversary last weekend.

 

Unfortunately, he has been having some eye problems, so I don't want to schedule boats or anything else that requires deposits, etc. We will be in Cayman at the end of November, so would love a trip report.

 

Have a great time!

 

Wendy

[scuabacruiser]

Me too! Keith did not dive when I met him, but I put him in class shortly after we met. I created a dive monster! He has been my dive buddy for 16 years, and we just celebrated our 11th anniversary last weekend.

 

Unfortunately, he has been having some eye problems, so I don't want to schedule boats or anything else that requires deposits, etc. We will be in Cayman at the end of November, so would love a trip report.

 

Have a great time!

 

Wendy

You got it! The dive buddy is the pix taker so I will try to post some of her pix.

[Capt_BJ]

carrying the gear is something you need to plan for if you are going to walk it.

 

I typically have everything for the spousal unit and I in a good old US military issue duffel bag with straps to backpack. MFS, BC, regs, skin for her and farmer johns for me. Pick up the tanks and weights there. Spousal unit carries the camera. Been using the same dive buddy for 25 years now ....

 

"just a good stretch of the legs....."

[scuabacruiser]

carrying the gear is something you need to plan for if you are going to walk it.

 

I typically have everything for the spousal unit and I in a good old US military issue duffel bag with straps to backpack. MFS, BC, regs, skin for her and farmer johns for me. Pick up the tanks and weights there. Spousal unit carries the camera. Been using the same dive buddy for 25 years now ....

 

"just a good stretch of the legs....."

That is EXACTLY the same set up for me, right down to the "skin for her". I have been experimenting with some bags other than a duffel. That's why lately we have been taking cabs v. walking. The legs just don't need that much stretching anymore.

[Capt_BJ]

if you taxi it

 

give yourself time to get a taxi on the return. the bar will call for you but if there are several ships in you could be waiting a bit....you might try to arrange a fixed time p/u with the car that takes you out.

 

For what it's worth, when staying at Sunset House the guests tend to work their days around the cruise ship schedules and stay local and on the south side if possible ... as the ships fill downtown, Seven Mile and Eden Rock....

[scuabacruiser]

if you taxi it

 

give yourself time to get a taxi on the return. the bar will call for you but if there are several ships in you could be waiting a bit....you might try to arrange a fixed time p/u with the car that takes you out.

 

For what it's worth, when staying at Sunset House the guests tend to work their days around the cruise ship schedules and stay local and on the south side if possible ... as the ships fill downtown, Seven Mile and Eden Rock....

Thanks, good advice. I just looked at your info on the bottom and could not help but get ticked. A USCG Captain to a choo-choo driver. The things we do to stay busy. It may be bad, but we way more fun with our grands than we ever did with our kids.

 

We have not done GC yet, but that is the same tactic we use when we stay at Coz.

[jimw]

Anyone have any feedback on land based dive vacations – someplace not so far away from the US that is takes 20 hours or big bucks to get there?

 

.

 

Plenty of shore diving and a nonstop Continental from Houston.

[MPM]

Funny you should mention Bonaire. I have been watching dive videos on Youtube - Bonaire looks awesome! Any thoughts on how Bonaire compares to Cozumel?

 

~Mike

[Capt_BJ]

some shore based recommendations - places I've been

 

- Surprise - I recommend Sunset House... close to half the dives in our logs (spousal unit and I) have been made at or with Sunset Divers. I like the fact that everything is right there: etnry to a shore dive or get on the boat a few yards outside your room. God place for a night dive of afternoon shore dive and close so you do it on your schedule. Also close to all the downtown stuff in Geargetown...lot's of rest' options etc etc and an hour out of Miami. Disadvantage - Georgetown is swamped on cruiseship days. We'll still go but new first choice has been:

 

Cayman Brac - Brac Reef Resort: The Brac is what I imagine Cayman was like in the 60's. Not many hotels, fewer rest' - great diving no crowds. Close enuf to hit Bloddy Bay at Little Cayman. Disadvantage, the shore diving isn't "right there" so you tend to be limited to the shore dive the shop plans for the day or the occasional arranged nite dive. I've even been able to book packages split 'tween Sunset and Brac Reef ... they used to offer an unlimited drink package at BR too .... hic .... travel time the same as Grand C as they have a full size airport (jets land here) or you can hop from GC.

 

But if there is a place for shore dives it is Bonaire. Book a week here and forget about boat dive packages...rent a vehicle. Get the guide book and drive the perimeter road watching for the numbered yellow rocks. Look up the number and learn the details of the dive site. Most boat trips will take you to the same sites you can drive to. Dive your schedule .... if you are comfortable diving without a guide for all new locations this is for you. Pick a hotel with a shop and their own site and you have something as good as Sunset and in ways better. Or get a condo rental and do a pure roll your own. Disadvantage is the additional travel time from US....

 

I've never stayed in a hotel for a trip to Cozumel but moored the ship there for R&R plenty of times. Great diving but IME all off shore - you need a boat - if there is good shore diving in Coz I've not found it...but didn't look all that hard either. $ went far when I was going and air travel time from Houston is short....more from Miami. Most diving is also drift .... currents in the waters off Coz' MUST be respected. I'm not sure I'd want to get on the reef w/out an experienced chase boat....

[jamga02]

I agree with everyone else, Sunset House is a better choice. Easy entry, easy access to the bar (for water and lemonade only of course:D) and plus you stand a chance of diving with the Atlantis submarine! This can make for some awesome pictures!

 

Cozumel does not compare to Bonaire for freedom, visibility and amazing diving.

[MPM]

I agree with everyone else, Sunset House is a better choice. Easy entry, easy access to the bar (for water and lemonade only of course:D) and plus you stand a chance of diving with the Atlantis submarine! This can make for some awesome pictures!

 

Cozumel does not compare to Bonaire for freedom, visibility and amazing diving.

 

Bonaire sounds great! Any recommendations on time of year, and where to stay?

 

-Mike

[Denise&Paul STL]

MPM,

Like you, we do not have a whole lot of dives under our belts and my dh and I dive together. We also lug our dive gear along and have found ourselves more worn out upon arrival at the dive destination than we would like. Need the energy for the dive and so the tanks last longer. We are also too cheap to cab, but after reading these boards, I am with you, I think we will cab to Sunset and see what happens. It may be worth it to avoid the crowds.

 

As far as resort places to dive. The experienced divers will hiss at this, but we built up some nice diving experience very cheaply. Many of the resorts in Jamaica offer free scuba to those who are certified up to 2 dives per day, and night dives for around $40. We did a wall, some nice reefs, saw loads of fish, barracuda, turtles, lobsters, and more. I have heard these are not good dives, but they were great for us to gain experience before hitting more difficult dives such as Cozumel with the currents. We very much enjoyed them. If you are interested, click on one of the webshots pages below and get to the main page. You will see links to some of the resorts and some of the dive pics.

 

Our cruise in January will go to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios and we are very much looking forward to diving all three spots.

 

Denise

[scuabacruiser]

Diving at Sunset House was great, easy, and inexpensive. First, getting there. I would use a cab v.walking. If it's hot, it's just to far with gear. Our day was over cast so it was not too bad. We walked there and rode back. The cab fare was $10 one way. The shop called a cab for us to go back. The cost of the dive was great, $10 per tank and $5 for weights. They didn't charge us for weights for the second tank. The dive shop was very helpful getting us set up. I think we were the only ones from a cruse ship that day, so it was not crowded at all. There were several divers from the resort that dove the house reef that day in groups of 2,3, or 4 but we never saw them during the dive. We set up our gear on the high curb next to the sloping drive to the cement dock, like the other divers. It made it very easy to slide on our BCDs since it was already at waist level. There is a ladder on the dock to exit after the dive. Next to the ladder, there is a blue square marked "Giant stride" to mark your entry point. Just time your stride with the swells so when you go in, it will carry you away from the dock.

 

The dives were great. There were 2 lines of buoys, 3 set each. The set on the right will take you to the mermaid. You can snorkel out to the buoys to save air and use the line to descend or take a compass reading and dive out to it. The first buoy is about 50 yds out and the last is about 125 yrds out. The vis was about 50 to 60 ft. even though they had some rough seas the day before. It was still very nice dives. The coral was very good with fish everywhere. The coral starts at about 25/30 ft with the wall starting at about 60/70 ft. The wall is about another 30 yrds past the last buoy. You really don't need to go to the wall for a great dive. There is plenty to see well before you get to the wall. On both dives we started on the right set of buoys and came back on the left set. IMHO I don't see how you can beat diving in GC at this price. The shop, resort, My Bar and diving was very easy and great. There is a resturant next to the shop that looked good but we didn't try it out.

 

Now a sad note:(. DW lost her Olympus Stylus 760 camera on a dive, the clip broke. Belive me we LOOKED everywhere. If you find it, turn it into the shop. Thanks.:)

TIP: If you like Guy Harvey shirts/hats, he lives at GC and has a shop between the the docks and Sunset House. Shirts/hats downstairs and art work upstairs.

Bonus: He will sign whatever you buy if you want and pose for pix :D

[w&k]

Diving at Sunset House was great, easy, and inexpensive.

 

Now a sad note:(. DW lost her Olympus Stylus 760 camera on a dive, the clip broke. Belive me we LOOKED everywhere. If you find it, turn it into the shop. Thanks.:)

 

 

Thanks so much for the trip report, and we'll look for your camera while we're there. Hopefully, someone will have already found and returned it to you...

 

Wendy