Grand Cayman-East End

[Colin]

Back from Grand Cayman!

Here are some of the details of our trip:
We had the opportunity to join some friends of ours at their timeshare at the east end Reef Resort last week. Needless to say, it sure was hot, with temperatures in the upper 90s and high humidity as well.

The Reef Resort is located on the east end, about a hours drive from the airport. When we arrived, and cleared Cayman customs and immigration, and located our bags, we found the taxi dispatcher right outside the arrival area. Taxi from the airport to the resort was "only" $58.00....yikes! Along the way, we saw lots of devastation from last year's hurricanes, but there was also lots of rebuilding and remodeling going on, too.  The resort is located right on the beach, and each of the units is split into an "A" and a "B" side. The "A" side has a full kitchen, with all the amenities, while the "B" side has a small fridge, microwave, and sink. Certainly convenient for families and for those who don't want to pay the high prices at restaurants.

Anyway, enough about the resort...let's talk diving!
We dove with Ocean Frontiers, one of the best outfits I've seen. Since our resort was located about three miles from the boat dock, they picked us up every day a 8 am sharp, and drove us back after the morning's dives. Once on the baot, our gear was set up for us every dday, with fins under our seat, mask on the tank, and all ready to go. All we had to do is step on the boat, drop our cameras into the rinse bucket, double check our gear, and wait for blastoff. After the diving was completed, and we returned to the dock, the dock staff had large plastic crates waiting with our names on them, along with the amount of weight we used. We put all our gear, including suits, into the crate, and the staff rinsed it all out, hung up to dry, and readied it for the next day's dives.
Dive briefings were very thorough, giving both novice and experienced divers important information to make the dive meaningful, something other operations forget. Since there were not more than 14 divers on a boat, each of the crew would take 6 or 7 divers in a group, avoiding the hughe mass of divers crawling over a reef, as in other locations.
Water temperature was a steady 86 degrees, warm enough for either a polarfleece or something like that. In fact, the male divemasters all wore swim trunks and a rash guard, while the female staff wore 3mm suits. Visibility was great....most days 100 feet or greater.
Dive profiles were typically a 100 foot dive to start, with all kinds of swim-throughs, grottoes, and cracks in the reef, while the second dives were 60 feet or so, with loads of marine life on top of the reef structure. Since everyone on our boat was using a computer, bottom times were extended beyond table limits.....
Needless to say, I'd definitely go back to the east end, especially to Ocean Frontiers. Great operation and staff.
I've posted a few photos here on wetpixel.com:


Colin.

[WIdiver_Paul]

Nice photos Colin!

Thanks for sharing.

PS did you find a more reasonable method of transportion to get back to the airport? Can't believe the $58 charge.