Recommendations for Diving in Grand Cayman

[KJHorton]

We are going to be in Grand Cayman in November and looking for an independent operator.

 

I know we can shore dive at Sunset House and it sounds pretty easy. How is that diving? Is it comparable to what we would get going out on a boat?

 

Thanks for your suggestions.

[bruce-r]

I haven't done the shore dive at Sunset House, so I'm not able to make a judgement as to whether it is as good as the average boat dive in GCM, but if I was to make a guess, I'd say it is probably comparable to some of the boat dive sites, but not as good as the better boat dive sites. It will definitely be more work and mean a longer swim.

 

I've gone out with http://www.neptunesdivers.com and recommend Casey. I'd do the Sunset House dive as 3rd dive, time permitting.

[2Ports]

Many people recommend Sunset House - personally have had good experiences w/ CoCoView & Anthony's Key

[Capt_BJ]

What kind of a dive do you want to do? I prefer to do shore dives most of the time and am over the 'deeper is better' thing. At SUNSET I get a couple of comfortable shore dives and stay in the 40 to 60 foot range. You can go deeper but I've not found it to be better ... just deeper. If you keep swimming away from shore, eventually you'd find the wall but never had the desire to try that. With on the order of 50 dives from their facilities, I've NEVER seen SUNSET crowded with the singular exception of the day a college tour arrived for a one week stay and everyone hit the water at the same time for their arrival gear check!

 

If you want "the wall" however you'll either be in for a long swim, or you really need a boat trip. The wall most dive is a couple of miles offshore at 7 mile, and the top of the wall is at 70 foot plus making a boat wall dive at Grand Cayman usually profiled for 100 foot (max) IME. A shallow second dive completes the typical two tank boat trip. When I go boat diving, I tend to look for smaller boats as smaller boat = fewer people = less crowd.

[KJHorton]

We've decided to shore dive at Sunset House. It just sounds so easy. We have decided that if the diving is good, why bother rushing around to meet a boat or someone else's schedule. Hopefully, can even fit in 3 dives.

 

I know there isn't a beach there so I am wondering what to do during our surface interval. Can you use the hotel's pool? We will have a teenager with us, so I'm not sure if they will let him sit by the bar.

 

Thanks for your replies

[scuabacruiser]

We are going to be in Grand Cayman in November and looking for an independent operator.

 

I know we can shore dive at Sunset House and it sounds pretty easy. How is that diving? Is it comparable to what we would get going out on a boat?

 

Thanks for your suggestions.

 

We also are planning to use Sunset House in Oct and ask the same question. Emailed Sunset House and was told it is $5 for tanks rental. I got a really good answer on the board about the dive:

 

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.

[heydn62]

 

I know there isn't a beach there so I am wondering what to do during our surface interval. Can you use the hotel's pool? We will have a teenager with us, so I'm not sure if they will let him sit by the bar.

 

Thanks for your replies

 

Copied from an e-mail I received from Mike at Sunset House last year when I had a similar question (we also had non-divers in our group):

 

 

>Doug,

>Your party would free to utilise Sunset House- we

>have a pool, snorkelling and a bar/restaraunt that

>opens at 10.30am. There is a small sandy cove 10 minutes walk from

>us. Everyone is welcome!

 

You might want to drop them an e-mail, just to verify this hasn't changed, but I'd be surprised if this was a problem.

 

The bar is a casual outdoor bar. My 11 year old son and I hung out there for a bit waiting for a taxi. Your teenager should be fine.

[KJHorton]

Thanks, I figured it would be the type of place ok for my son, just didn't want any disappointments.

[sunseeker09]

My husband did a couple of night dives there and quite liked it. I opted to sit out with a non-diver and have a beer instead ;) We could sit and watch their lights for most of the dive. It's a good set up with easy entry/exit. Yes, they have a pool and since it's the kind of place where most guests are divers, I doubt it would be busy.

My Bar is more like a patio restaurant, at least during the day. Between the actual bar and the water are tables with a great view out over the water. It's very casual and has a reasonable menu for lunch. I actually preferred it during the day over the evening since has such a good view.

[drew sailbum]

I posted the dive description on another thread and scuabacruiser has found it and copied it here.

 

Sunset House is comparable to many of the shallow dive sites on the west side of Cayman. The wall is a dramatic steep slope but does not have the intricate pinnacles or caverns that are features elsewhere.

 

As with most dives in Cayman, Sunset House is a good place to go slow and look at the little stuff. Cayman is not known for lots of large marine life - with the exception of Stingray City. Look for the blennies, garden eels, damselfish, and such.

 

You may run into a few very friendly fish there. Some divers, including the photo pros at teh on-site Cathy Church's Photo center, have fed a few of the fish. There are usually a few angelfish that will check you out up close and follow you around a bit shortly after you enter.