Scuba Dive in Cayman

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Bill White

Guest
I'm looking for a tour operation in Gearge Town Grand Cayman to take my son and me on a couple of dives while we're there on our cruise in February.
Are there and OUTSTANDING operations in Cayman like there are (EagleRay) in Cozumel?
 
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BurBunny

Guest
Bill,

Unfortunately, most of the truly excellent operators in Grand Cayman are on the other side of the island, and are not practical on a cruise ship schedule.

The big operators, Bob Sotos and Don Fosters both do a really good job, but you will be with a lot of other people. Sunset House is a good operation, but emphasizes shore dives. They got beat up pretty badly by Hurricane Michelle last year, but I understand they're recovering nicely.

Easiest location is to go to Eden Rock near the tender docks. Nice shore diving, but there are a lot of people there.

My personal favorite is DiveTech on the West End (near the Turtle Farm). They have both excellent shore diving (a mini-wall to about 70 feet a very short swim out), and boat dive offerings, and they're good about accommodating cruise schedules. They are a bit difficult to get to, as the taxi drivers at the dock don't like taking single passengers (and losing out on a tour fare), but I feel it's well worth it.

While I haven't been diving with them, FishEye on 7MileBeach comes highly recommended by one of my local dive shops in Denver. I've yet to read anything but good from them. The reason I didn't use them this last time was they needed me to be at the shop by 7:45 (I was doing some classes, so that may have been a consideration). They also were the ones who originally recommended DiveTech to me. If you can work out a schedule with FishEye, they would probably be a great choice.

RedSail might be another option for you - I don't have as much information about them, however.

I have the email addresses and urls for all these shops if you need them. I hope this has helped a bit!
 
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Bill White

Guest
Thanks for all the good info!
My son and me just became "Certified Pool Divers" last week. We will be taking out Open Water Cert. later this month.
It sounds like to easiest dives are going to be shore dives from Eden Rock. Do you know if they will "rent" a DM/Tour gide?
 
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BurBunny

Guest
Bill,

Welcome to diving! I know you'll have a wonderful time! If you'd like to see the pictures from my last dive trip to the Caymans, they are at <http://members.aol.com/burbunny/GC_Fishies.htm>.

I know Eden Rock does escorted dives, so I'm betting if you contact them in advance, you can easily get it set up so everything is exactly how you want it when you arrive. They are at <http://www.edenrockdive.com/>

As another thought, you might also want to consider the stingray city dive. It's a bit different than the snorkel stingray experience (a tad deeper, though a *very* shallow dive). Depending on their schedule and how long you're in port, it could be an excellent afternoon 3rd dive for you.
 
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Happy Camper

Guest
We dove Edan Rock as a shore dive for about $25 per person for the gear. It is a public dock so you could dive free with your own gear. Very good dive - about 35-40 feet. We also did Don Foster's Wreck of the Cali. It is only 25 feet deep but a good wreck dive. Lots of fish. Again it is only the price of gear - about $25 per person. If you have others with you that want to snorkel you could dive and they snorkel at either Eden ROck or Don Fosters. Both have lockers. I would not do the boat snorkel since they go to the Wreck of the Cali for $30 a person (or more) and you can snorkel it from Don Fosters for $7 worth of gear or free with your own gear. We have dove Sting Ray City and would highly recommend it - the dive is much much better than the snorkel. I know Don Foster's does it but I think it will be too late for you. We usually do shore dives because the times the ships leave and come in just do not go with the normal dive schedule. We ended up diving Sting Ray through the ship. Both dive shops are walking distance from the ender pier - Edan ROck is to the right - you can see the dive flag fromt eh tender boat it is a good hike with gear but we've done it. Also Don FOster's is walking distance to the left of the tender pier. :) Debbie
 
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