I’m guessing that this falls under the category of leisure so that would make this the appropriate forum.
I’m planning a scuba diving trip - I havent been in a while and I have the itch. I read great reviews of Grand Cayman so I’m thinking of making that my spot. Has anyone been there? Is the diving as good as I read about? Tips?
Haven’t been since our honeymoon 25 years ago. We were on Grand Cayman and loved it.
That’s where my spouse first got into scuba.
I’ve heard from those in the know that the area is much more built up (though I think it got hit from a hurricane in recent years.)
However the diving is still supposed to be very good.
We honeymooned there ('97) but I’m hesitant to offer opinions because it was before the hurricane’s direct hit of several years back, so this comes with a caveat. I’d read that a fairly substantial number of building were damaged, although it’s a fairly wealthy island and I’d imagine much has been rebuilt by now.
It’s a beautiful, well-managed island. Lots of nice, upscale hotels, good roads, wonderful restaurants. Snorkling is good most everywhere as visibility is way above average. The two places we dove were Stingray City and out over The Wall, a sheer dropoff that’ll take your bottled breath away.
Now I’ve also dove Jamaica after a large hurricane and the underwater damage to shallow reefs was unbelivably extensive so, hopefully, someone can give you a more recent update.
I was there last December, but unfortunately I didn’t dive. It was a cruise ship stop. I took a bus tour of the island. There was lots of obvious hurricane damage: piles of downed trees, some small buildings still just piles of rubble, lots of construction all over the place. Most of the big hotels were in full operation. I talked to some people from my ship who snorkeled at Stingray City; they said the visibility was great. I don’t have any info on reef damage, sorry.
Yeah! I was just there earlier this month. You can see some pictures here. (The top twelve are from Grand Cayman, the others are unrelated.)
I don’t dive, but the snorkeling spot we liked best was a place called Eden Rock, which is on the main road going out of George Town toward Seven Mile Beach.
This is second hand, but my dad loved the Caymans and it was one of his top favorite places. I would tend to give that heavy credence because the man traveled the world constantly in his lifetime and always preferred the Caymans.
On the other hand, my brother the pathological lying sack o’ shit likes it for the banking facilities. Not that it has anything to do with your potential enjoyment…
First I’d check out the message board on Rodale’s site www.scubadiving.com for info on dive operators.
Grand Cayman breaks down like this:
7-mile beach: lots of hotels, restaurants, dive operators. But divers tend to consider the diving “dived out”. But for nightlife and such, this is the place to be. Also tends to be a bit more expensive.
Everywhere else: sparse hotels, resorts. More condos to rent. Fewer dive operators. But generally better diving.
When I have been, I stayed at a wonderful little all-inclusive on the east end called Cayman Dive Lodge. But unfortunately the place was wiped out by a hurricane a couple years ago.
Anyway, most divers will tell you that the east end diving is much better than the west side. I found the diving to be very easy (little to no current), great visibility and lots of life. There are killer walls as well as great reefs. The last visit they kind of emphasized the swim-throughs (which I’m not all that keen on) which can be challenging/fun.
If you’re really going for diving, I would actually recommend Little Cayman over Grand Cayman. There are only a handful of resorts, and no nightlife to speak of. But the diving on Bloody Bay Wall is awesome (still easy, relaxed diving, but it seemed like more life).
The Cayman islands are a bit different than many carribean dive destinations I’ve visited in that their economy from the banking is so good. It is rare to see so few locals having to schlep tanks and work the boats. The locals have much better paying jobs in the banks.
Thanks for your responses guys - as well as the warnings about hurricane damage. I had totally forgotten about that and will definitely check that out before signing on to a place.
Isn’t Grand Cayman a notorious tax shelter/money laundering spot?
I was there last November and found the same thing. Lots of hurricane damage so we really couldn’t see much. We tried going in the ocean but it was like walking on glass with all the damage.
We did the cruise ship stop there last August. The water is absolutely beautiful. The island itself? Not so much. It is flat and there are buildings everywhere. We saw the stingrays and the turtle farm. They were both very cool.
If your plans aren’t solid yet, consider Cozumel as well. IMHO, the water is just as good and it’s a lot cheaper.