Grand Cayman - 30 Dec. 1999 - 13 Jan. 2000
Our trip to Grand Cayman for the Millennium proved some of what we anticipated and a little of what we did not anticipate. My wife Lynne and I have been on about eight previous trips to Grand Cayman. Most of these trips were in the warmer Summer and early Fall months. Five of our trips were during Pirate's Week, late October to the first of November. That period is at the trailing edge of the hurricane season and the water is usually between 83-86 F degrees. The one time I was on the Island during the last week of January of 1999, the water temperature was 81 degrees, not too bad. However, on this last trip the water temperature averaged only 77-78F. A little chilly.
Secondly, the North side of the island has a fairly high wind/sea condition during the entire duration of our stay. While there were several boats that ventured out on the North wall, a number of the divers added hurling to their diving adventures. Since Lynne and I are both prone to a bit of seasickness, we decided to forgo the North side. What a disappointment! Air temperature was in the mid 80's during the day and dipping to the low 70's during the night.
Accommodations
For our first week we stayed at The Anchorage Condominiums on Seven Mile Beach. We have stayed at this location on about 6 other occasions and have been delighted with it's location, cleanliness, fairly central location, nice beach and reasonable pricing. We will continue to stay at the Anchorage in the future. Only because we could not get a second week at the Anchorage, we decided to try the Westin for our second week. As far as we were concerned, this was a big mistake. We were used to lots of room, a kitchen, and a quiet atmosphere. At the Westin, we were treated to much higher prices, having to share space in a micro mini-refrigerator with their overpriced mini-bar. We paid more for the "Ocean View" room after the rates went down than we paid at the Anchorage for our Condo with two bedrooms, two TVs, a better view that was much closer to the ocean, and a full kitchen. Don't even think of using the mini-bar unless you like being raped. I checked the room service prices for a bottle of Dewers Scotch, just for kicks, and found that a bottle ordered from room service was $126 CI. If you walked across the street, you could purchase the same bottle for $30 CI. What a deal!!!
Our Dive Operators
In the past, we used Parrots Landing as our primary dive operator. Since Parrots Landing is no more, we were forced to dive with other operators. On our last few trips we made several shore dives from a place up by the Turtle Farm called Divetech. This is the first technical, most advanced and, in my opinion, one of the friendliest and best dive operations on Grand Cayman. Divetech offers Nitrox, Trimix, Drager Rebreathers, two types of scooters, Deep & Decompression diving and both boat and great shore diving. Since were pleased in the past with the treatment and capabilities of Divetech, we choose to purchase a "Best of Cayman" package from them. This package consists of a mix of dives with Divetech, Fisheye and Ocean Frontiers.
This was the first time we dived from Divetech's boat. Named the 10 ATA, I first had to ask the significance of the name of the boat. Not being a "technical diver" I was informed that 10 ATA (10 atmospheres or 330') is a significance goal for technical divers. OK, I have no intentions of going there, no FUN for me, but more power to those that do. The boat is about 38 feet long and is set up for technical diving. It carries Deco mix and a davit to hoist heavy objects on and off the boat. The crew is well informed, friendly, and eager to help in any way possible. Computer divers may dive their computer profiles. Just return with 500psi and don't go into deco. If you want to do deco/deep/trimix diving and are properly certified, Divetech can supply anything you need, including any support. We rate this operation an A+ in our book.
This was also the first time we used Fisheye for any boat diving. I have used their E6 processing and camera repair in the past and have heard good reports on their dive operation and decided to give them a try. However, we were a little disappointed with their dive operation. The boats were a LITTLE crowded and they seem to cater to a little less experienced diver. They instruct everyone to sit at the bow of the boat, they bring you your BCD, you put it on and then do a forward roll into the water. I for one don't like this entry and was instructed "that is the way we do it on our boats". The divemasters want everyone to "follow the leader" on their deep dives but, if you insist, will let you go unguided. All in all, OK diving but not what we are used to. Nitrox is available. We rate this operation a B-.
We have dived with Ocean Frontiers twice in the past and have always loved the operation, people, dive boat and diving from the East End. Ocean Frontiers either already has, or will move into their new building anytime now. The new facility is complete with classrooms, pool, dock and looks great. As usual, the crew was superb. Their dive boat is great with fresh towels, chilled water, lemonade and fruit after the dives. You may dive guided or unguided at your request. In addition to a great operation, Ocean Frontiers dives the North, East and South sides of Grand Cayman. These sites offer the best diving on the island. Ocean Frontiers is located about 45 minutes from Seven Mile Beach on the East end of the Island. This is a central location to the best diving. Depending on the sea conditions, they are able to pick the best dive sites, North, East or South. None of the sites are more than about a 30 minute run from their dock. They offer Nitrox, and Rebreathers to those properly certified. We rate this operation an A+.
The other operator we tried for the first time was Surfside. While sitting at the Lemon Tree Restaurant, a divemaster that we know from Parrots Landing noticed us and came over to say hello. His name is Patrick Weir, He mentioned that he was heading up Surfside, told us a little about his operation and invited us to give him a try sometime in the future. This is a very small operation with only one boat and limits the number of diver to a maximum of 10. We had no knowledge of this dive operator before we arrived on the Island. One day Divetech's boat had a problem and was unable to go out. They asked us if we had a preference of another dive operator for that day. We mentioned that we would like to try Surfside, they set up the schedule and paid Surfside. Surfside allows you to dive your own computer profiles, will supply Nitrox for Nitrox certified divers, allows guided or unguided dives and will alter their schedule whenever possible per your request. Since Patrick has about 6 years of experience on Grand Cayman, he is knows all the sites. Additionally Patrick is a very friendly chap and full of stories. Surfside is definitely worth a try. We rate this operation a B+. It's only downfall is that the boat is a little slow.
General Conditions
The water temperature during our stay was fairly constant at around 78 degrees F. Most of the people we dived with wore 3 mil. suits and were comfortable. Several divers went with no protection or skins. Personally, I hate any type of suit and dive without whenever possible. On this trip, I was able to dive two days, six dives, before I had to put on a 1 1/2 mil. full suit. I dove with the suit for a day or two and then went without for another day or two before repeating the procedure. Air temperature at night was in the low 70s and rose to the low to mid 80s during the day. We usually had partial clouds in the day with a 10-25 mph breeze. These conditions proved a little chilly for many divers between dives.
The West side of the Island had fairly calm seas for our entire length of our stay. While there was a little chop when the wind picked up, no one that I saw or talked to had any problems. With this said, the West side did have a problem in many areas. Many of the more shallow spots, 50 feet and shallower, had a large amount of algae on the reef. This is the kind that resembles seaweed. It was so prolific that it seemed to be choking some of the corals and sponges. The deeper sights up around the northwest tip of the Island, Big tunnels, Orange Canyon, Bonne's Arch and Texas Hole were in much better condition. Additionally, somewhere around 10 new moorings have been installed within the past several months. The new sights we visited, all appeared to be in fairly good condition.
Since the wind was out of the Northeast and fairly strong, the North wall and it's dive sites were considered not diveable for almost all dive operators. Several boats ventured to the North Wall while we were on the Island with many divers getting seasick. Since my wife and I both get occasional seasickness, we elected not to try the North side on this trip.
The East End of the Island, via Ocean Frontiers, as usual, proved to have the best quality of diving. As many of you know, if the wind is anywhere out of the North, the conditions on the East end can be a little choppy. East end operators have the ability to move towards the North or South or stay on the Ease end depending on the conditions. This gives them the advantage to get to the areas that are not dived as much as the West side. We went just outside of Ocean Frontiers dock for all three of our deep dives. On our shallow dives we went around the corner to the South side where the water was more calm. The visibility was a little down on the shallow dives averaging about 60 feet. The deep dives, around 90-100 feet in depth averaged around 100 feet.