Summary
This trip was sponsored by the Houston Underwater Club and was a 7 day
trip to the dive resort of Little Cayman Beach Resort. The trip leaders
and dive masters for this trip were David Cawthon and Teresa Roberts.
Itinerary
Saturday June 15, 2002
Departed Bush Intercontinental terminal A on board American Airlines
Flight Number 1029G at 6:30 am. After making a stop in Miami arrived in
Grand Cayman at 11:43 pm. Waited around the Grand Cayman airport till
4:35 pm when we depart aboard the Island Air Flight Number 6134
arriving in Little Cayman at 5:35 pm.
Saturday June 22, 2002
Departed Little Cayman on board Island Air Flight Number 6311 at 11:00
am. We arrived in Grand Cayman at 12:00 am. Again we waited around
Grand Cayman's airport till 3:00 pm when we departed on board American
Airlines Flight Number 1018G arriving in Miami at 5:43 pm. Left Miami
on American Airline Flight Number 2104G at 7:20 pm and arrived in
Houston at 8:59 pm
Limits
Island Air has a maximum weight limit of 55 pounds
for all bags (including your carry on) with a $0.50
surcharge per pound over the limit per flight. My over weight bill was
only $28.00 round trip should have left some of those lenses at home.
Resort/Dive Shop
Resort Schedule
Breakfast is from 7:00 to 9:00 am. Lunch is from 12:30 to 1:30 pm.
Dinner is from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. All meals are buffet style and are all
you can eat. The food is excellent and plentiful you can gain weight if
you don't watch what you eat. Tea, Coffee, bug juice, and/or lemonade
is provided at no charge all other drinks cost extra. The water is safe
the island has a reverse osmosis system.
Diving Schedule
Morning dive - be at the boat at 8:15 am and departs at 8:30 am for 2
tank dives. Afternoon dive - be at the boat at 1:45 pm and departs at
2:00 pm for a 1 tank dive. The night dives cost $50.00 extra and are
schedule 2 nights a week (Tuesday & Thursday). You need to sign
up for the night dive before you leave for the afternoon dive. The crew
will let you known before the boat docks if the night dive is a go or
no-go. Before each dive the dive masters give a 5 minute detail
briefing that covers how the site is laid out and what you are likely
to see. They also draw a map on the white board with depth and bottom
structure sketched out. One dive master is in the water with you and
will guide you around if you want.
Nitrox
Nitrox is available for certified divers at $140.00 a week or $10.00 a
tank. It was the diver's responsible to analyze and sign out their own
tanks. The resort has plenty of tanks and it's own refill station.
Suggest you analyze all tanks for the next day after the last dive in
the afternoon. The dive shop closes at 5:00 pm.
Photographers
Their is a camera table but no camera bucket to soak your camera on the
boat. The crew does rinse the camera off before placing it on the table
after your dive. There is a camera only rinse tank by the Photo shop.
The photo shop is well stocked and the staff is very helpful and
friendly.
Dive Sites
There were 19 divers on this trip and all fitted comfortable on the 42
foot Cayman Sister dive boat. The excellent dive masters were Liz, Mau,
David, and Dottie. The dive masters set up your gear and help you in
and out of the water. All you have to do is check your surface interval
and your tank pressure is greater then 2800 psig. The boat has fresh
water rinse at the stern along with 2 metal ladders. All the dive sites
we visited were on the north shore between west end point and Jackson
Pond. In other words, the Bloody Bay wall and Jackson Reef areas. Some
of the more determined divers rented an expensive SUV for 2 days and
did shore dives after dinner. I am using the reference book "The Dive
Sites of The Cayman Islands" the 1997 edition for the site numbers
1. Bus Stop Site Number 17 5 Stars
This site is also known as School Bus Wall. The story is that coconut
plantation workers use to live in an old school bus on shore. The
plantation and school are long gone. But, the site is still here. You
can dive this site from shore we did it from the boat. There was little
or no current on this site. Estimated visibility was 80 to 100 feet.
The dive profile for this site is 45 minutes with a maximum depth of
100 feet.
The vertical reef wall has many different coral types and promontories
with usual rope sponges waving in the current. The fish life is
predominate Creole Wrasse and Blue Chromis. We saw a Nassau Grouper
being cleaned by Cleaning Gobies.
2. Joy's Joy Site Number 29 5 Stars
The wall has a series of overhangs which are covered in long rope and
vase sponges. In deep water you can find sea and devils whips. You can
also find small chumps of star and neon disk corals. Saw the only Green
Moray eel of the trip being cleaned by arrow crabs on this trip.
3. Jigsaw Puzzle Site Number 32 4 Stars
This site is located off the Salt Rocks headlands around the west point
of the island.
Depending on local conditions all of our afternoon dives would take
place in this area.
Sand flats, coral heads and the usually variety of fish life.
4. Cumber's Cave Site Number 16 5 Stars
Night shore dive not recommend unless you are ready for a moderate swim
on the surface.
5. Mixing Bowl Site Number 20 5 Stars
This site is also known as 3 Fathom Wall since the reef crest is at 18
feet or 3 fathoms.
The site is the beginning of the southwest end of the Bloody Bay wall.
6. Great Wall West Site Number 25 5 Stars
This site as numerous other names such as Shear Wall, To Ringer, and
Angel Reef.
The reef is a grooved and spur formation with a flat vertical
wall.
7. Fisheye Fantasy Site Number 33 4 Stars
This site is located off the Salt Rocks headlands around the west point
of the island.
Depending on local conditions all of our afternoon dives would take
place in this area.
Sand flats, coral heads and the usually variety of fish life.
8. Mike's Mountain Site Number 12 5 Stars
This site is also known as Jackson's Window. This site was dove as a
shore night
dive. Beware, that this is an extremely lengthy surface swim. The site
has numerous
coral heads at various depths with lots of sea life. Sightings included
nurse
shark, lobster, cowfish, and red crab.
9. Meadows Site Number 13 5 Stars
This site other name is Jackson Caves. This site's name may
come from the
large number of garden eels that inhabit the sand flats or meadow. This
site has
series of sand chutes which cut through the coral heads forming gullies
and
canyons. You can see jacks, barracuda, southern string rays, pipe
horses,
sailfish blenny, octopus, and yellow head jaw fish. In fact, my dive
buddy was
sitting in the sand when an octopus decided to hide behind his arm for
a while.
10. Barracuda Bight Site Number 28 5 Stars
The wall has a series of overhangs which are covered in long rope and
vase sponges. In deep water
you can find sea and devils whips. You can also find small chumps of
star and neon disk corals.
11. Sand Chute Site Number 36 5 Stars
This site other name is Sand Castle. The reef is a spur and groove
formation.
Sightings included the only spotted drum of the trip, parrotfish,
wrasse and a
turtle. Local conditions that day include poor visibility and a
moderate current
to the west.
12. Randy's Gazebo Site Number 23 5 Stars
This site is also known as The Arch, or The Chimneys. Their
is a deep
cleft at the top of the wall under the mooring buoy and if you travel
west you
will come across a chimney that can take you down to 100 feet. Swimming
back
east you will see a series of spurs, grooves, caves, and swimthroughs.
Sightings
include Spotted Scorpion fish, French Angel fish, Queen Trigger Fish,
and Banded
Butter Fly fish.
13. Eagle Ray RoundupSite Number 14 5 Stars
This site is very easy to identified the mooring buoy is tired to 2
barrels in
the sand flats. The site is located next to meadows. The sand flat
gently slopes
down to the reef top. Sights included pipe horses, jacks, southern
string rays,
eagle rays and green razor fish.
14. Bush Gardens Site Number 35 5 Stars
The reef is a spur and groove formation. The main feature on this site
is the
1790s anchor and chain that runs along the sand flats out to the reef
top. Near
the shore is large chamber that you can swim into.
15. Jackson Reef
This site is not listed in the dive guidebook. Sightings included eagle
ray,
fire worm, and barracuda.
16. Black tip Boulevard Site Number 19 5 Stars
Sorry, no black tip sharks were seen. The reef has a deep cut that runs
out the
vertical wall in to the deep blue. Lots of sponges, squirrelfish, big
eyes,
lobsters, shrimps, crabs, blennies, and gobies can be seen on this site.
17. Jigsaw Puzzle Site Number 32 4 Stars
Sights included a turtle, golden tail moray eel, and yellow headed jaw
fish.
18. Lea Lea's Lookout Site Number 26 5 Stars
Site is also known as Jack's Jump and Bloody Bay Ravine. The
site has
deeply cut ravines and lots of sponges and coral. Saw turtle, corkscrew
anemone
that was not buried in a hole, and lots of squirrelfish.
19. Cumber's Cave Site Number 16 5 Stars
Sightings included a turtle, barracuda, and squirrelfish.