Grand Cayman has long been a favorite of mine. It is not that Grand Cayman has the best diving, rather I find the island interesting both top side and underwater. I also find it very easy to travel to. To date I have been there four times. The following two galleries' photos were taken anywhere from 2002-2004. Both galleries were taken with the Olympus set-up. Many of the pictures are among my first ever. I have only stayed at two resorts while on Grand Cayman: Cobalt Coast and Sunset House.
Grand Cayman is a thriving Island in the Caribbean. It has a large tourism business with many hotels and condos available to choose from. It also caters to multiple cruise ships on any given day. I am sure that international banking also adds to its economical success. Because of such a good economy, we have found that the island sports some of the best restaurants that we have been to. The island has over 100 restaurants, but Lighthouse and Grand Old House remain two of our favorites and I highly recommend them to anyone.
The diving there is diverse. Grand Cayman has some of the most dramatic topography that I have seen. There are lots of swim-throughs, caves, deep dropping walls, pinnacles, and of course, wrecks. The more dramatic walls tend to be in the North Sound area. The marine life is decent all over, but I still prefer the North Sound.
On one occasion, we stayed at Cobalt Coast. It is located in a somewhat remote section of the northeast area of the island. There is not a lot around the resort and a car is a must. The accommodations were good. The corner room we had was huge. There was a ok pool and a hot tub with a unobstructed view to the ocean. The food their was nothing special. The shore diving was just ok. It was a long swim out to the wall, so you may want rent a underwater sled. This was quite fun, but carrying a camera set up seemed impractical. The shore was also subject to large waves and strong currents. When we were there the shore diving was mostly closed. The dive operation was Divetech. We found them to be very accommodating. Most of their diving was done on the North Sound area. This was weather-dependent since there can be strong currents there. Their backup dive sites were down toward the more popular sites in the West End.
On three occasions I have stayed at Sunset House. I love this place! When I travel alone for long weekends, it is a perfect location for me. I continue to look forward to going back to Sunset House for a long time to come. I can always find a dive buddy and the waters off shore are almost always divable. The shore diving is just ok, but at night it became much better. There is a sunken wreck and a large mermaid statue that makes for great photo ops during the day and fun to navigate to at night. At night I have always seen resident octopuses.
The diving at sunset house is done through their own dive shop, Sunset Divers. Most of the diving is done on the populated West End dive sites. Again, the diversity of the sites are fabulous. They do run a 3 tank boat trip (weather dependent) out to the North Sound with their large boat, the Manta. This is a great boat, large, stable, and comfortable. I highly recommend taking this trip. I will often do it a couple of times a vacation.
The staff and the people at the resort are all very friendly. There is a great bar on the premises that draws a huge local crowd. The restaurant is decent. There are many restaurants in walking distance. Indeed, Grand Old House is a quick walk down the street, and there is even a grocery store in walking distance.
Also on the premises is Cathy Church photo center. The people there are nice, extremely knowledgeable, and they have quite the inventory of equipment. One can rent camera equipment, have film developed, or take photo lessons through the shop.
Warning: this island comes from British origin and they drive on the left side of the road. Drinking and driving on the left side of the road can be very hazardous to your health. I have yet to attempt it.
As a side note. You will see three pictures in a row of Melissa in the Grand Cayman 1 gallery. This is when Melissa figured out she was being proposed to. The real funny thing about it is she would not open the box will the ring in it which I had positioned on the wreck off of Sunset House shore. The random guy who tagged along on the dive was about to open it for her; I had to fend him off. Had he opened it, I might of had to marry him.
Click on the links bellow to enter the Roatan Galleries.
Clicking on any picture will enlarge it and open up a manual slide show. On the top of this sub-page, there will be a set of arrows and a list of numbers. Use them to navigate the expanded pictures. The up arrow will take you back to the thumbnail page. Left-clicking on the picture will also advance the slide show to the next picture.