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Grand Cayman Island
November 13 - 20, 2005
Past Trip Report
 After much consternation and some backroom dealing, the Divers Incorporated dive trip was
finally on to Cozumel... scratch that, Grand Cayman - albeit absent two divers
who were unable to make the date switch. Hurricane Wilma had done a number on
our original destination, and the entire trip was at one time in jeopardy. At
the eleventh hour, we managed to switch to Sunset House in Grand Cayman. Sunset
House is Cayman's original resort for divers, and is located just minutes south
of the capital,
Georgetown. It has great shore diving right off the beach in front of the
resort, and its onsite operation - Sunset Divers - operates two dive boats for
the west and south side of the island, and are moored in front of the resort.
Another boat operates out of a marina on the North Sound and serves Stingray
City and the
North Wall. Their fourth and largest boat is being refitted. Sunset House offers
well-appointed rooms, some with ocean views; a pool and warm tub; excellent
restaurant; and seaside bar. Cathy Church’s photo operation is attached to the
resort.
 We dove the heck out of our week, with numerous shore dives, 3 night dives, and
5 days of boat diving, including a trip to Stingray City where we enjoyed
petting and feeding the rays. The dive operation was very friendly and low key,
and the boats uncrowded. Certifications in Advanced, Underwater Photo, Deep,
Boat and Night Diving were issued. Back on terra firm, the food was excellent –
breakfasts and lunch at the resort and dinners at a variety of local restaurants
– favorites included the Lone Star, the Lighthouse at Breakers, and the Hard
Rock Café. Taxis are expensive, so a group is usually better off renting a car,
which we did for a couple of days. On Thursday, we toured the island, visiting
the new Turtle Farm, across the road from the old facility – it is only half
finished at this point, but was well worth the visit. It will be awesome when it
is completed. We also visited my friends at Cobalt Coast/Dive Tech, which will
be a future destination. Grand Cayman also has some fascinating history dating
back several centuries, with pirate caves to explore and a very old cemetery.
While touring the island, we saw the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan, which hit
Grand Cayman in 2004. Much is still not rebuilt a year later, but the Caymans
are on their way back, and will be better than ever.
   
   
   
   
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