Grand Cayman, 1999
Author: Tres

On The Surface I didn't find too much to do topside. I don't drink (to excess) and wasn't staying at a hotel, that might make a difference. Everything is quoted in $U.S. and $C.I. The prices were high (by Canadian standards). Everything was at least the same price in $C.I. (Cayman dollars) as in $Cdn (i.e. if something costs $1.00 Cdn, it would cost $1.00 C.I.). At the time I was there the exchange was approx. $1.00 C.I. = $2.00 Cdn. Therefore everything was twice as expensive. ($C.I. is fixed to $U.S. at $1.00 C.I. = $1.25 U.S.) Some items (anything with volume: all supplies are brought onto the island by boat so you pay by volume not weight) were really out of this world. A bag of chips (large) cost $5.50 C.I. (that's $11.00 Cdn!) Beer around George Town was $4.00 - $5.00 C.I. Out of town it was a bit cheaper. The local beer (Stingray) wasn't very good IMHO. But if you go to the brewery you can sample their dark ale (good) and a lager that is brewed for a local pub. I'm an ale fan so I didn't care for the lager. There is a concoction made by combining the dark ale and the lager (I know: a brewmaster's nightmare) that ends up being pretty good. The drink is called a Dark & Durty. The brewery is worth stopping in to see (if you are interested in beer production). They also have a shop that sells t-shirts, hats etc. The beer's not so good but the accessories are cool.

Other surface attractions:

Pedro St. James Castle: an interesting multi-media presentation showing the history of the island. The grounds are well manicured and the iron-shore coast is interesting to see.

Queen Elizabeth 2 Botanic Park: if you're into botany you will get more out of this. I'm not but still found it worth the trip. See Cayman iguanas close up.

Shark feeding at the Breakers: every day at 6:30 the restaurant, just down the road from the lighthouse throws its garbage into the sea. This attracts sharks. We were told that up to 8 sharks come in to feed. We saw 2 ( a lemon shark and a nurse shark). The water is shallow and murky. I got a nice photo of the shark's dorsal fins and tail breaking the surface, and by using a polarizing filter I was able to get a pretty good shot of the shark through the water. This is worth going to, if nothing else to sit outside, by the ocean and have a Red Stripe or two, served by a very pretty bartender.

Great jerk (chicken and pork) at a roadside stand by Pease Bay. This place was only open one day while I was there. (The hours seemed irregular. I drove by at every opportunity but was not able to catch them open.) I was really impressed not only by the food (excellent) but by the obvious concern shown for safe food handling and sanitary practices.

Great pizza at Morgans Harbour: service was slow and the price was high, but the pizza was really good.

Hell: only a few minutes from the turtle farm. Other than the rocks, the name and the postal stamp, the best part of this was a little old Camaynian, dressed up like the Devil (horns and all) who greets you at the souvenier shop. Very funny.

These are the operators that I used on Grand Cayman. Keep in mind that these are my opinions based on my experiences. If you disagree with my assessments, you are certainly entitled to your opinions (and I respect them) but that won't change my experiences.

Bob Sotos - (345) 949-2022 - bobsotos@candw.ky $75.00 U.S. ($60.00 C.I.) Water and fruit punch (crystals) on board Semi-cattle boat: 16 divers, varying levels of experience. First dive (to 100') is guided but if you are diving a computer, can demonstrate good consumption i.e. surface with more than 1,000 P.S.I.. And good navigation (find the boat) then you can get a 'Gold Card'. The gold card will allow you to dive your own profile. It's really hard to find the boat when you're following the wall and have 100' vis! Skipper: Andy - friendly and personable to a point. Recited scripted briefing, not much interaction with customers. Didn't mention knives or gloves but embarrassed a diver by centering her out when she donned some gloves: "Are you a surgeon or a concert pianist?" - she had no idea what he was talking about. Skipper #2 (didn't catch the name) - a South African - same as above. No embarrassment though. The driver on the second boat was a Londoner just on the island from Grenada. He wasn't too sure of himself (he seemed to be in training) but he tried very hard to be courteous and pleasant. The skipper of another Soto boat docked next to ours seemed to be very friendly and helpful. He seemed to be the most experienced (oldest?) And seemed sincere in his approach.

Tortuga Divers - (345) 947-2097 - tortugad@candw.ky $75.00 U.S. Water on board Cattle boat: 18 divers. Varying levels of experience. Skipper: Danny - not as funny as he imagines himself to be - very scripted. I requested a couple of specific sites. We ended up going in the opposite direction to sites conveniently close to the Tortuga Club wharf. I found Danny to be very condescending. I had heard and read of dive sites at the East End and was asking Danny about them. He informed me that "You can't learn about dive sites by reading about them." Well no shit Sherlock! But doesn't it seem reasonable to research your destination prior to arriving? Of course many divers have used books, magazines and the internet to help them figure out where they want to dive, but the local operators know the currents, conditions etc. That minor incident stuck in my craw and turned me off. There were two crew on board, one made no impression. The other, an English chap (who is the spitting image of Alexei Sayles - a popular English comedian) named Mark, was friendly and helpful. He seemed to be new as he wasn't too familiar with the sites.

Ocean Frontiers - (345) 947-7500 - oceanf@candw.ky - www.oceanfrontiers.com $85.00 U.S. Water, lemonade and pineapple rings (canned) on board. 8 divers. Varying levels of experience. Group split in two and guided dive to 100', but no feeling of being herded. Skipper: Moe - very friendly and personable. Delivered briefing in a thorough but casual manner. Both sites (and I assume all sites) were hand-drawn on white board, indicating depths and points of interest. Moe was the only D.M. who I dove with on Grand Cayman who stressed reef conservation. There is a no knife, no glove policy posted on board. I contacted Ocean Frontiers to book a dive but was informed they had no available openings. Tracy - from Ocean Frontiers- was very friendly and helpful. She put me on a waiting list and said she would call if anything came up. She called me back twice with different options. Henry called me the day after my dive to find out if I would be interested in taking a spot that had become available. These guys provided great service.

Nick Buckley (Red Baron Dive Charters) - (345) 949-9116, (345) 916-1293 (cell) - julnnick@candw.ky Water, soft drinks, juice on board 6 divers, will take all levels of experience. Very casual: "Do what you like but this is what I suggest...." - HEED NICK'S SUGGESTIONS! I phoned Nick out of the blue and said I had heard of him through the Rodale's bulletin board, that many people spoke very highly of him. He laughed and said that now he knew why he was getting swamped by e-mails etc. Nick told me that the following day he had a charter in the morning but that he was going to go out in the afternoon to look for sharks with his girlfriend (Julie - who works out of Parrot's Landing) and that I was welcome to join them. On board Nick was chatty and friendly and exuded an obvious love of diving. He gave a short briefing regarding the boat and we rode out to the site. Once moored Nick told us about the site, pointed out some pinnacles and other points of interest at around 110'. He then suggested that we stay at around 60' - 70' to increase bottom time and to improve our chances to see sharks. We stayed with Nick and were puzzled by the repertoire of signals that he was using. Back on board Nick modeled a new wet suit that a customer had given him - he was thrilled by it. The night following our trip out with Nick, we ran into him at DiveTech where we were doing a night dive. He greeted us like old friends an chatted about his experiences as a salvage diver in the North sea. The trip out with Nick was by far the most enjoyable charter that I went out on in my two week stay.

DiveTech - (345) 949-1700 - divetech@candw.ky - www.divetech.com $5.00 C.I. ($6.25 U.S.) Per tank Shore dives Friendly/informative staff (Dara) Good shore/night dives Easy surface swim to Deep Wall (West) Set up an account and give them a call if you want to do a night dive. They will leave the tanks out for you with your name on them.

Eden Rock - (345) 949-7243 $5.00 C.I. ($6.25 U.S.) Per tank shore dive and charter (I didn't take a charter) Staff are hot and cold, most of them are more interested in each other than the customers. One guy did give us some good ideas for shore dives along the coast. You have to pick up your tank before they close and they hold your 'C' card as security.

There was an abundance of reef dwellers on each site. Butterfly fish, parrot fish, tangs, wrasse, jacks, trigger fish, squirrel fish, etc. etc. etc. were prevalent in all the waters that I dove in. The following is a list of the noteworthy fish and animals that I saw: Bar Jack: these were very common on most dives. One in particular was hanging above a Southern Stingray, feeding off the stuff that the ray dug out of the sand. This was at the Aquarium (West side) I saw the same combination at Coral Gardens (North side - snorkelling) Great Barracuda: these were very common on most dives but one that was noteworthy hung out under an overhang with 3 tarpon, on the mini wall at DiveTech (turtle farm). It was there every day but it, and the tarpon were never home at night. Tarpon: not uncommon, but fun to swim with in the canyons at Eden Rock (West side), Eagle Ray Pass (North Wall), and Chub Hole (East End). Cobia: at Eden Rock. At first glance it looked like a small shark. But it wasn't. Look closely. Mirrorwing Flying fish: North Wall and East Wall. Never did see them underwater but they skipped across the surface to get away from the boats. Rainbow Parrotfish: at DiveTech, on the mini wall at the far western edge (the last sand chute before turning back). There are many many parrotfish in the waters of Grand Cayman, but this was by far the biggest. It measured at least 30" and had beautiful colour. On an evening dive, at the same location a few days later we came across a school of them that must have had at least 12 fish. Banded Jawfish: in the access lagoon at DiveTech. A huge mouth filled the hole when you put your hand close to it. Spotted Scorpionfish: sitting on small coral head in the sand. On a night dive at DiveTech (the mini wall) Flying Gurnards: in the sand flats between the mini and deep wall at DiveTech, and in the shallows of West Bay. Very interesting looking fish: like puffers with long, wing-like pectoral fins. The fish were on the bottom with their long pectorals folded at the sides. They use a smaller pectoral ray in front of the long fins to dig through the sand. Spotted Drum: off West Bay. Green Moray: free-swimming during a night dive at Eden Rock. In a crevasse during the day at White Stroke Canyon (North Wall). Spotted Moray: quite common during the day, in small holes with just their heads showing. At night we saw a few free-swimming at DiveTech. Garden Eels: common in the sand flats, but interesting none-the-less. Nurse Shark: a small (2') shark during a night dive at Eden Rock. Spotted under an overhang it then swam away. A bigger one (8') in the open at Tarpon Alley (North Wall). Another 3' one at the Breakers: this one was seen from shore during the world famous shark feeding. Reef Sharks: 3 with the Nurse Shark at Tarpon Alley. The largest was 8', the next was 6' and the smallest was 5'. A real close encounter as the small one swam between my buddy and I.. Lemon Shark: 5' from shore at the Breakers. Southern Stingray: seen in all areas, very prevalent at Tarpon Alley and Eagle Ray Pass(North Wall). These two sites are not far from Stingray City. I've heard that occasionally the tame stingrays will show up out on the wall and play with divers. Yellow Stingray: DiveTech (night), off West Bay during the day. Spotted Eagle Rays: 11 spotted on two dives on North Wall (White Stroke Canyon and Leslie's Curl). 1 spotted on West Wall (Governor's), none seen on south or east side. Green Turtles: very plentiful on West side (Seaview Dive Centre, Eden Rock, DiveTech). Lots on the surface on the North wall but none underwater. One on the surface in the east side. Reef Squid: a school hanging out at the entrance lagoon at DiveTech. Also seen there during a night dive. Octopi: 3 at DiveTech (all at night). 1 approx. 8" in diameter, and 2 approx. 4' in diameter. They were out in the open and moving around on the coral. They turn (or appear) a beautiful turquoise colour when you hit them with the beam of your light. Barrel Sponges: common everywhere but there was one huge one off Smith's Cove. It had an inside diameter of over 7'.

It seemed that the island is surrounded by a wall that starts at about 60' and drops from there to infinity (and beyond). Most dives are on the lip of the wall and drop down the face of the wall. The wall is quite sheer in most places. I'm sure that many of the dives can be done from shore, if you can find out where to access the water. The wall seems to be almost consistently about 300 yards from shore. The visibility is highly variable, depending on weather, currents, tides etc. I found that the vis. could go to hell from morning to afternoon. There are some variable currents at some of the sites. I never encountered anything that couldn't be swum against. But it sure made life easier to drift back with the current. Water temperatures were 84 F - 85 F. with little variation. The descriptions of these sites are based on my fallible memory. Please feel free to make any technical corrections (depth etc.) as you see fit.

North Side

Black Rock: North-east corner of the island, boat access. Depth: 50' Vis.: very good Interesting gullies.

Old #12: Between Black Rock and Babylon. Named for an old scuba tank that was found there. Depth: 100'+ Vis.: very good A really cool swim through from 50' to 100' - opening out onto the wall. There is apparently a sponge here that looks like a face. I was told about this by the D.M. on another trip. The D.M. on the dive I did here didn't mention it.

Babylon: North wall - east side operators will go out on a two-tank trip, west-end operators seemed to package this as a three-tank excursion. One diver I spoke with accessed the site from shore, he said it was difficult to get across the iron-shore and was a hard entry and a long swim (300 yds) to the wall. Depth: 100'+ Vis.: Very Good Interesting pinnacle, nice wall, lots of small fish. One Southern stingray flying across the top of the pinnacle.

White Stroke (Grand) Canyon: North wall at the centre of the island (off Rum Point). Boat access only. Depth: 100'+ Vis.: excellent Saw lot's of spotted eagle rays.

Leslie's Curl: North wall, west of White Stroke Canyon, on the other side of the reef from Stingray City. Boat access only. Depth: 100'+ - I did this as a second dive so I stayed along the top of the wall at 60'. The wall dropped off steeply. There where swim-throughs leading from the lip of the wall, opening out on the wall at about 100' - 120'. Vis.: Excellent Lots of spotted eagle rays (saw 11 between White Stroke Canyon and Leslie's Curl!)

Stingray City: the sandbar, boat access, snorkeling (wading) Depth: 2' (!) Vis.: very good I guess you kind of have to go here when you are in the Caymans. I only went because I missed my flight home (another story) and had an extra couple of days. Think of a petting zoo. There are supposed to be about 60 rays that hang around here. I don't know how many rays there were but there were 5 boats with approx. 15 - 20 people on each. Apparently the scuba version of stingray city is better, but you can see the site from the sandbar and there were lots of boats there as well. The non-divers on the boat really enjoyed the snorkeling and the trip, but having seen so many rays swimming in a more natural environment, I wasn't overly impressed. But seeing as you have to go, make sure you pet a ray (they're a lot slimier than I anticipated) and feed them with the chunks of squid that are provided.

Eagle Ray Pass: North wall, off the tip of the west end. Boat access only. Depth: 100'+ Vis.: Very good Lots of Tarpon and stingrays swimming over the coral. There had been a few sightings of a hammerhead here, but we didn't see it.

Tarpon Alley: North wall, just west of Eagle Ray Pass. Boat access only. Depth: 100'+ Vis.: Very good A nice pinnacle at about 110' but we stayed at 60' - 80' at Nick Buckley's recommendation (to increase B.T. and to improve our chances to see….) Sharks! 3 reef sharks and one nurse shark. A few Eagle rays and lots of stingrays in the sand and swimming over the coral.

West Side

DiveTech: North-west corner, next to Turtle Farm. Shore dives. Depth: 70' to 100'+ Vis.: Mostly very good to good. I stayed just down the road so did quite a few dives here. Easy access into a small lagoon, and short swim out to mini-wall. Hang a right on the mini wall and swim along a wall with plenty of overhangs, and small canyons. Go left along the mini wall and swim into the effluent from the turtle farm. This didn't seem to affect vis. too much but it did seem to cause an increase in marine life. A small cavern created by an overhang sheltered 3 tarpon and a barracuda that were there every day that we were. The mini wall makes for a good night dive - lots of animals, easy access etc. Between the mini wall and the deep wall is a sand flat where you can see rays and conch etc. the swim out to the deep wall is easy (just keep the two round buoys lined up and check the bottom.) You arrive on a sand chute that starts at about 60' and angles down at about a 45 degree angle. Watch your depth carefully because the gentle slope can be deceiving. The deep wall is very nice with lots of barrel sponges, turtles etc. If you set up an account for tanks, DiveTech will leave your tanks outside for your night dive. Very nice sunset views from here. The first day that I was here I saw two water spouts, but of course I didn't have my camera. Apparently they are not uncommon here.

Cemetery Reef: West side, from shore. Depth: 30' Vis.: poor to okay This was close to where I stayed so I snorkeled on it a few times. Not really worth paying for but you can access it from a public beach. Quite a few turtles. A couple of stingrays (southern and yellow) and flying gurnards.

Aquarium: West wall, boat access. Depth: 50' to 75' Vis.: very good Interesting coral fingers. Turtles etc. A pleasant dive.

Governor's: West wall, boat access. Depth: 100'+ Vis.: Very good Not much to distinguish this dive.

Eden Rock: West side, shore access. Depth: 70' (mostly around 50') Vis.: very good Very interesting dive, lots of canyons and swim-throughs. Lots of tarpon hanging in the canyons. A nice spot for a night dive: easy access etc. Watch out for boats moored overhead. We came upon a small nurse shark here at night. Swim out to just beyond the far buoy to come down onto the most interesting part.

Seaview: West side, down the road from Eden Rock, a narrow driveway leading to the water, shore access. Depth: 100'+ Vis.: very good Easy access. Tank rentals on site. A nice little café for apres dive. Good wall, lot's of turtles. A very nice dive. Do this one from shore. We swam out to the mooring buoy where people who had paid $75.00 U.S. to dive. We paid $6.25 for tank rental. This was quite a common thing on the west side dives. Look for shore access before spending cash for the charters.

Next to Smith's Cove: (I don't remember the name of the complex where you access. It's across the road from an Arts and Craft store - Art something (sorry: it's the short-term memory that's first to go). The complex was described to me as looking like a 'crack house'. Based on that description I found the spot.) Park by the tennis court (a sign on the court states that the court and the pool are for tenants only: the tennis court is a shambles and there's no water in the pool!) Depth: 70' Vis.: very good The access is easy, there's a shallow lagoon at the end of the parking lot. Swim out to the buoy just beyond the oil tanks. Coral fingers and turtles. A relaxing dive.

Smith's Cove (Kiwanis Park): south-west corner of the island, shore access. Depth: 100'+ Vis.: very good Good snorkeling at the beach, easy access onto sandy bottom. Swim out to far buoy. It's a bit of a hike but worth it. Great wall with huge barrel sponges.

East Side

Chub Hole: across the reef from the Tortuga Club dock, boat access Depth: 60' Vis.: good Canyons and gullies. A relaxing dive.

Last edited on June 29, 2002