Back From Grand Cayman

Tell us your tale of coming nose-to-nose with a 6 gill [--this big--], or about your vacation to turquoise warm waters. Share your adventures here!
Post Reply
User avatar
JJHACK
Aquaphile
Posts: 144
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 12:04 pm

Back From Grand Cayman

Post by JJHACK »

I've been blessed with several fantastic trips this year. The one I have just returned from was on the East side of Grand Cayman Island. This is usually the more difficult weather side of the island which means very few divers compared to the much more protected west side. Only two dive companies here VS too many to count on the other side.

The stereotype held true, the wind and seas were very tough for the crew to navigate and made getting back on the boat difficult at times with the 4-6' swells although the crew was the best I've ever shared a boat with! Ocean Frontiers quite possibly has the best skilled most experienced and fun to be around boat crew ever! Certainly the best of any place I have ever traveled to around the world in my diving career. Plus they all speak english as a first language, the real English too, the original British English.

The down side for many will be the driving is on the left. You must drive to the resort at Compass Point. Having lived in South Africa much of my life I was fine with this, but others from the USA were in shear panic mode driving there from the airport on the other side of the island. They use "traffic circles or roundabouts, or whatever you want to call them rather than traffic lights in much of the region. These are not always 4 entry exit roundabouts, some have 6 or more entry and exit points. Choosing the correct one while driving on the left was a horror show for the Americans visiting here!

The car is included in the price of the resort stay. However should you choose to buy car insurance it is about the cost of 6 months of full coverage insurance for my car in the USA in Rural Eastern Wa. I paid 350 bucks for the 10 days!

Food is outrageous as well, 2-12" pizzas and 2 soft drinks was 90 bucks as an example. Grocery stores are not much better. Even though we had a condo fully equipped to cook and have our own food, it was not that much less expensive. Breakfast was included and fantastic. However the lunch and dinner was probably over 700 bucks for two,.. for the ten days.

The Island is spotless clean and well kept. Astonishing by Caribbean normal standards, when including Mexico. I never saw a cigarette butt on the ground. Come to think of it, I never recalled seeing anyone smoke, maybe it's not legal there? The Iguanas are everyplace and served in restaurants as "Tree Chicken" it's very good. I ate it several times for dinner. I ran over a few on the road when they bolt across as you're driving the winding roads.

Okay so enough of the story line above water. The diving is fantastic. Especially if you enjoy swim throughs and deeper than average dives. We did 27 dives in 7 days of diving. Half were over 100 fsw with a serious carful eye on depth because Nitrox is a requirement to dive with them more than twice a day. We used Nitrox on every dive except the 4 night dives which were 30' or less, mine were only 26' deep.

We saw lots of eagle rays, many species of sharks and we got close! 10' away from 10' sharks! Exciting as can be! Some Nurse sharks and common rays as well. The sea life is abundant and the reefs magnificent. They offer lion fish hunts which I would have done with a couple more days available. Those single dives would have conflicted with a 4 dive day on another boat. So I scrapped the lion fish hunt. I saw lion fish on every dive, some being very big like football sized bodies!

Most dives are only 15-30 min from the dock many are still within plain sight of the resort and dock. The seas were tough and folks getting seasick was common and all around me. The boats are built specific for diving and made perfectly in my opinion. It's not for everyone with the daily depths and the rough water, or maybe even the cost for the 10 day trip. It's certainly one of the places on my short list of return visits.
The best things in life are not things
User avatar
Gdog
NWDC Moderator
NWDC Moderator
Posts: 3984
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:41 pm

Re: Back From Grand Cayman

Post by Gdog »

Great report! Do you have any photos topside or bottomside to show? If so, would love to see them.
User avatar
JJHACK
Aquaphile
Posts: 144
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 12:04 pm

Re: Back From Grand Cayman

Post by JJHACK »

I need a photo hosting site right? I cannot pull them from my hard drive? I don't have a photo hosting site so I'm kinda stuck to get them up quickly.
The best things in life are not things
User avatar
YellowEye
I've Got Gills
Posts: 3234
Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2006 8:08 am

Re: Back From Grand Cayman

Post by YellowEye »

Sounds very cool JJHACK! What kind of 10' shark?

You can upload directly to nwdc from your harddrive -- no need for hosting. In the "Full Editor Mode", click the attachments tab at the bottom, then "Add Files".
Visit pnwdiving.com for viz reports, slack planning, galleries and more!
User avatar
JJHACK
Aquaphile
Posts: 144
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 12:04 pm

Re: Back From Grand Cayman

Post by JJHACK »

Here are a few photos from the trip
Attachments
PICT0333.JPG
PICT0134.JPG
PICT0133.JPG
PICT0117.JPG
PICT0079.JPG
PICT0045.JPG
The best things in life are not things
User avatar
JJHACK
Aquaphile
Posts: 144
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 12:04 pm

Re: Back From Grand Cayman

Post by JJHACK »

USS Kittiwake
Attachments
PICT0486.JPG
PICT0485.JPG
PICT0514.JPG
PICT0510.JPG
PICT0504.JPG
PICT0502.JPG
PICT0497.JPG
PICT0489.JPG
PICT0487.JPG
The best things in life are not things
User avatar
JJHACK
Aquaphile
Posts: 144
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 12:04 pm

Re: Back From Grand Cayman

Post by JJHACK »

Okay these are from my Olympus TG4 the others were from Callies older Go pro.
Attachments
IMG_5845.JPG
IMG_5699.jpg
IMG_5706.JPG
IMG_5707.JPG
IMG_5798.JPG
IMG_5849.JPG
IMG_5883.JPG
IMG_5854.JPG
IMG_5793.jpg
IMG_5333.jpg
IMG_5476.jpg
IMG_5672.JPG
IMG_5661.JPG
IMG_5634.JPG
IMG_5625.jpg
The best things in life are not things
User avatar
ScubaJess
NWDC Moderator
NWDC Moderator
Posts: 2681
Joined: Fri Aug 08, 2014 3:56 pm

Re: Back From Grand Cayman

Post by ScubaJess »

Fantastic report!! Sounds like a neat place :)
Live Long And Prosper!!!

Stay Warm underwater with the Weezle Extreme Plus undergarment! Please let me know if you would like to order one or have any questions. :luv: :partydance: :eric: :taco:
User avatar
JJHACK
Aquaphile
Posts: 144
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 12:04 pm

Re: Back From Grand Cayman

Post by JJHACK »

Okay help me with this, one of my photos is of a tiny see fan looking critter. On the surface it looks like tiny cotton balls on the branches. This was about the size of a dime.

I took it with the microscope mode on my camera, if you expand or zoom in this is a crazy looking animal! What is it, tell me about this.

Oh and by the way the 100% best way to do the caymans is on a livaboard. It will get you to the best water conditions and all three major dive areas on the islands.
The best things in life are not things
User avatar
Penopolypants
NWDC Moderator
NWDC Moderator
Posts: 3906
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:37 pm

Re: Back From Grand Cayman

Post by Penopolypants »

I love the trunkfish and the rays! Bummer to see so many lionfish though, as beautiful as they are.

Sounds like it was a great trip!
Come to the nerd side, we have pi!
User avatar
JJHACK
Aquaphile
Posts: 144
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 12:04 pm

Re: Back From Grand Cayman

Post by JJHACK »

Don’t ya hate auto correct at times

Just read that post and see that it chose “see” rather than SEA!

Just to humiliate me in public!
The best things in life are not things
User avatar
Greg Jensen
Amphibian
Posts: 857
Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2007 9:02 am

Re: Back From Grand Cayman

Post by Greg Jensen »

JJHACK wrote:Okay help me with this, one of my photos is of a tiny see fan looking critter. On the surface it looks like tiny cotton balls on the branches. This was about the size of a dime.

I took it with the microscope mode on my camera, if you expand or zoom in this is a crazy looking animal! What is it, tell me about this.

Oh and by the way the 100% best way to do the caymans is on a livaboard. It will get you to the best water conditions and all three major dive areas on the islands.
some kind of hydroid
User avatar
jmartel
Dive-aholic
Posts: 214
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2012 11:38 pm

Re: Back From Grand Cayman

Post by jmartel »

Nice photos. I went to Grand Cayman back in 2012. Stayed at Sunset House on the west side and did my Advanced while I was there. The Kittiwake was my first night dive, back when it was upright and freshly sunk. I've been considering going back.
Post Reply