Dive recommendations

[TLHB70]

Do any of you divers have a dive company that you recommend in Grand Cayman?

[Capt_BJ]

if you want to shore dive, Sunset Divers at Sunset House

sunsethouse.com

 

I use them every trip ... first visited in '85

[TLHB70]

Great! Thank you so much for this information Capt_BJ!

[bruce-r]

If you want a boat dive, I've gone with http://www.neptunesdivers.com and had a good time. They work to accommodate a cruisers schedule.

[TLHB70]

If you want a boat dive, I've gone with www.neptunesdivers.com and had a good time. They work to accommodate a cruisers schedule.

Thank you for this. Now my husband will have to decide if he wants to do a shore dive or boat dive.

 

Thank you both!

[bruce-r]

Thank you for this. Now my husband will have to decide if he wants to do a shore dive or boat dive.

 

Thank you both!

 

Well, if he was hardcore, he'd do both. First do the 2 boat dives, then hit Sunset House for one more shore dive.

[Capt_BJ]

If he's never been to Cayman and MUST do the wall ..... then he needs a boat trip cuz the wall is about a mile or more off shore for most of Grand Cayman and the top of the wall is at least 50 feet down so expect a deep dive of 70 to 100 feet to get the wall effect .... followed by a shallow dive on the standard Cayman 2 tank boat trip.

 

At Sunset you can have a great dive staying within a 50 foot depth, but have the option of going farther out / deeper altho with about 100 dives there I'd say you'll see the best stuff w/out breaking 50 feet, certainly no more than 60

 

Similar at Eden 'cept you don't really have much if you go farther out....'til WAY farther out and you find the wall....

[TLHB70]

This is our first time to Grand Cayman so he has not done any diving there. He is hard core, loves diving. He has already said that he wants to do as much diving as he can at our ports. We will tender at Grand Cayman at 7:30 AM and depart at 4:30 PM. So what do you both suggest?

[TLHB70]

Would it be possible to get both in somehow? He has said that he wants to do a reef dive. He has asked me to research as much as I can and then give him the information I receive to make the final decision.

[Capt_BJ]

Would it be possible to get both in somehow? He has said that he wants to do a reef dive. He has asked me to research as much as I can and then give him the information I receive to make the final decision.

 

Everything recommended here has been "reef dive"

 

If you do a wall dive, that's deep and then there are the repetative dive issues to worry about. And a wall involves boats and travel time

 

So....if DEPTH is your goal....book a boat dive ... but be tied to the boat's schedule

 

If you want to maximize dive time....do shore dives and you could stay shallow and get in 3 if hard core.... no loss of "stuff" , IMHO better critters are found at 40 feet then 80 ......

 

decisions decisions decisions

[Capt_BJ]

Well, if he was hardcore, he'd do both. First do the 2 boat dives, then hit Sunset House for one more shore dive.

 

In my experience of many trips to Cayman and the typical boat trip to the wall...doing a wall and 'shallow' per boat profile & having sufficient surface interval for a decent shore dive at Sunset within the average last call for cruise ship tenders would be pushing it....HARD.

 

On our trips to Sunset we'd to the boat trip...eat some lunch...degas....and a late afternoon or better yet a just past sunset nite dive. Better from the tables and the experience. But that's too late for #3 for most cruise departures.....

 

Why? We learned hard not to push the tables when the wife got bent one trip when we dove 1 step inside the table limits but pushed four dives a day and she got bent the 4th day :eek:

 

Stay safe buddies

 

Oh...don't tell me about computers....all their models are bigger guesses than the Navy Tables ... I dive the Navy Tables ...

[drew sailbum]

If you do a wall dive, that's deep and then there are the repetative dive issues to worry about. And a wall involves boats and travel time

 

Actually the Cayman Wall surrounds Grand Cayman and is easily accessible from many shore diving locations. You can shore dive the wall from Sunset House, Sun Divers at the Cracked Conch, or DiveTech at Lighthouse Point amongst other places.

 

Most boat diving operators run two tank trips, with one wall dive (100ft max) and one shallow dive (60ft max).

[TLHB70]

OK, thanks so much. I guess you can tell, Capt_BJ, that I am not a diver. I plan to go shop and possibly hit the beach for a couple of hours while my husband does the diving. We are going with friends so my husband will be diving with a buddy while the other wife and kids shop with my children and me. I honestly do not know as much as I should about the diving.

I will pass on all of this information. Honestly, I don't think that my husband is dead set on wanting to go deep. I think he is just wanting to see more sea life.

You have all been very helpful! I told him that I could get good information on this board!

[Capt_BJ]

;)

Actually the Cayman Wall surrounds Grand Cayman and is easily accessible from many shore diving locations. You can shore dive the wall from Sunset House, Sun Divers at the Cracked Conch, or DiveTech at Lighthouse Point amongst other places.

 

Most boat diving operators run two tank trips, with one wall dive (100ft max) and one shallow dive (60ft max).

 

As a resident is it possible you are loosing your perspective? Should a first time visitor try one of those sites....unguided? After many closely spaced trips to SSH a DM at Sunset offered to take me out to the wall at midnight from Sunset....I declined. I agree it is reachable but I always found plenty of 'good stuff' much closer in.

 

Ditto my understanding was that Lighthouse was not for a novice - or am I confusing with Bonaire where Lighthouse is 4sure not for a novice....

 

Most dive the wall on the profile you state (a 100 and a shallow for a 2 tank trip) from a boat, as do I altho my log shows that on most of my boat 100 foot morning trips I actually seldom cross 80 ... but I'm NOT a depth glutton so I tend to hang above a group.

 

This guy is a novice to GC .... what's a SAFE recommendation? IMHO he can shore at Eden or Sunset (and probably other places) unguided safely. To do the wall he should be guided. I'm a safety freak...it kept my crew alive at times and my customers too.

[drew sailbum]

The OP needs to understand that the standard two tank dive package offered by most operators on GC is a deep wall dive followed by a shallow reef or wreck dive. That may or may not be guided - depending upon policy of the operator. Several of these sites can be reached easily by shore diving.

 

She does not provide any information about the experience of her husband or his buddy. As a general rule of thumb, a diver should have a minimum of 25 dives and at least one dive within the past six months before going on a wall dive.

 

The top of the wall dives at any of the sites I mentioned range from about 60 to 70ft. The bottom is .... substantially deeper.... by thousands of feet. None of these are any more advanced than the other. There is nothing partuicularly more advanced about the Lighthouse Point dive site.

 

Divers should understand how depth affects buoyancy and air consumption. Hanging alongside the wall over a thousand foot drop is no place to try to remember which button adds air and which releases it! ;)

[TLHB70]

My husband is an experienced diver. He has done many boat dives. I also know that he has done quite a few shore dives. His buddy is also experienced; although I do not think he has had as many dives as my husband. My husband travels a lot with his job so he has had the opportunity to dive in Europe in the Mediterranean as well as the Caribbean when we cruise and vacation. He does like to dive with guides or other divers that know the area for his first time in a new area. Since this is his first time to GC, I am sure he would want to go with a reputable guide/company.