Anyone been to Grand Cayman recently?

[DavisL]

My family of three and two good friends are looking to book at dive trip to Grand Cayman early June '08. I've heard mixed reports on both the conditions of the reefs and on the condition of the island itself. Has anyone been to the island lately? We are looking at staying at Sunset House. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks

[dimitrimj]

Greetings, we just got back from a trip on the Cayman Aggressor. As far as Grand Cayman, my impression is that it shows signs of being 'dove out'. There were several boats jockying for mooring balls at the most popular spots. We were able to do the crossing to Little Cayman, and the diving there was superb! I don't know if you can swing a change in plans, or even what is available, but having just recently been there, I would choose Little Cayman over Grand Cayman in a heartbeat.

[Damselfish]

If you mean conditions with regards to hurricane Ivan years back(?), I would say there's no lingering after effects worth considering for a visitor at this point.

Reef conditions there really have more to do with how heavily dived an area is. The west wall (where Sunset House and many operators do a lot of their dives) is heavily dove and shows wear, and tends to be annoyingly crowded sometimes. There is some nice diving on the south side and not too many ops dive there. Sunset House does it some, it's close for them. The North wall is quite good and more and more operators have started to go there over recent years. The East End is the best, but IMO it makes sense to stay out there if you're going to dive out there, rather than trying to commute.

Condition of the island? There's still things being renovated or rebuilt, but you probably wouldn't notice more than usual construction levels at this point. There's lots of traffic near SMB and Georgetown as always, and lots of cruiseships in most days (though if you don't go downtown or a couple other places at the time then they really won't affect you.)

Sunset House is a decent motel type place, a great hangout for divers, with a convienient dive op and shore diving on site. I've stayed there twice but wouldn't choose it anymore. It's been awhile since I've been there, but I haven't heard it's changed. I just prefer other dive operators, to stay nicer places, and north or east dive locations. But it works for lots of folks.

Little Cayman is certainly good, we spend more time there than Grand Cayman. I would say diving the East End of Grand Cayman matches Little Cayman in quality, the wall just starts shallower in LC.

[kev99]

We just got back from Grand Cayman this evening and my wife and I have decided that the best part of the island is under the water! The sister islands may be a lot nicer as others have mentioned though. As for the condition of the island, it is not what I expected at all. It looks like a poor island with quite a few areas which have not cleaned up hurricane debris. From the airport up to the west bay area it is very congested and touristy with a lot of traffic. Everything costs a lot and the driving experience is very different with an overall disregard for normal driving etiquette and poorly paved and signed roads. We actually left early because it is not a very aesthetically pleasing island and we did not enjoy it, except for diving. We left with no intentions of ever going back.

We drove by sunset house and really wanted to do a shore dive there yesterday but we decided to take a “relax” day on our last full day there and did not dive. We used DiveTech for (2) - 2 tank boat dives along with a shore dive and a trip to stingray city on another day and were pleased with their operation and staff, it was a little crowded on one of the trips with 16 people but it did not bother me at all and there were no issues other than a really strong current which made for a short dive due to everyone sucking down air fighting the current. As others have said, most areas up and down the west side are congested and it is true that it is first come, first serve with the boats. I do not have much experience with judging reef conditions but everything looked good to us and we saw a lot of cool stuff! The visibility was great and the water was warm.

[Doug B]

Red Sail folks were pretty fun to dive with.

Oro Verde was a fun dive. Can't remember the names of the other places. Saw my first turtle cleaning station there... got some video. Very cool.

Can't say much for the island itself.

[Damselfish]

If you are in the 7 Mile Beach/Georgetown area, you might as well be in Miami or something. An exaggeration of scale, but you get the point. If you go to other areas of the island, you can find your typical laid back Caribbean sand spit with palm trees. Don't judge Grand Cayman by 7 Mile Beach, you would miss some great diving if you don't go back because you didn't like that area. And I'm someone will disagree, but I think it has overall about the best restaurants I've found in any major dive destination.

If you think roads and drivers on GC are bad (I don't, but then I'm from Boston and think they're pretty good ) just wait until you see them on other islands...

[adv_diver1]

The island is definetly touristy... when we used to go yearly in the late 80's and ealy 90's it was still slow, but now is full steam, however the dives are fantastic, including Stingray City and a Cayman Wall Dive. Do them both, you won't be disappointed.

FishEye charters is a VERY good and reputable dive op there. Have dove with the for over 10 years.

[adv_diver1]

Also, the shore diving off of seven mile from the Fire Station and public beach access in Hell, Cayman Island (actual city name) is fantastic. Great reefs and fish in 15-20 feet of water right off shore.

Also, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac can be accessed by a quick flight and offer some superb diving as well as more rustic accomodations.

[mitsuguy]

We had some good shore dives at Edens Rock

The Cayman Islands Best Shore Diving

We rented some gear as well, and thats a great shop to do business with - very straightforward...

The two sets of coral are amazing - nothing too deep, but some fish and really neat, safe, swimthrus...

[wtbscuba]

I went to Grand Cayman in November for Pirate's Week with 20 college students. It is a Caribbean Island, meaning it has its touristy sections (West Coast), and its natural areas (East Coast). I usually travel to Bimini Bahamas, and Grand Cayman is way more ahead of the curve, but I don't think it is as bad as some of your other choices.

As far as diving....very good!! Sunset house is a great place for diving, and other island related activities. I found the diving at the Sunset house to be a popular place, but not to the point of annoyance. I would recommend going to the North of the island and dive with DiveTec. The dives at Eden's rock are great dives as well.

Overall, I think it will be a great trip above and below the water! I'll be going back for Pirate's Week next year!