Dive Review of
Divetech/Cobalt Coast in
Cayman Islands/Grand Cayman

Tortola, Bonaire

Dive Conditions

Divemasters like to know you are safe.  After that we went on our own.  One
idiot went down to 150 ft on air to see what it was like -- not safe.  

Rinse tank on boat.  We always took the camera back to the room to change
batteries -- they last for over two dives.  We never open the camera on a
boat.  

Overall Rating

GOOD:  Divetech -- they are very knowledgable, helpful and accommodating. 
We were allowed to dive our own profile.  We are very spoiled by being able
to dive wherever and whenever we want by ourselves at BuddyDive in Bonaire.
 Grand Cayman is more restrictive, fewer shore sites to choose from, but it
did not detract from our experience.  We dove 16 times (11 boat, 5 shore)
in 5 days all on Nitrox, 33% was the average O2; $10 extra per tank is
worth it.  Bob had fun with a scooter, but Teresa thought he was harrassing
the Barracuda he was chasing.  We made two good shore dives using Divetech
tanks at the abandoned Coconut Harbor resort just South of SunsetHouse. 
The latter was still closed, no shore diving, roofs under repair and no
diveshop yet.  Cathy Church's studio was open and we bought her excellent
new coffee table book with informative details on the internet.  We didn't
try diving from establishments that required us to use their tanks.  Our
rental car from Marshalls let us dive at the non-Divetech sites, and let us
eat at good restaurants such as The Wharf.        WISH-IT-WERE-BETTER: In
the winter, we were there over New Years, the winds are stronger and tend
to be from the NE.  This makes the swells crash onto the Cobalt Coast pier,
so no shore diving.  It also make visibility poor at Turtle Reef - 20ft
until you get below 65ft.  Stingray City was closed due to heavy waves for
a few days while we were there.     The island is still recovering from
Ivan, lots of dead trees lying along roadsides.  The coral seemed to be
affected.  From afar it looks like sand was covering it; up close, it was
dead coral.  Fanning it with our hands didn't move any sand.  There are
still lots of healthy coral and beautiful sponges.  Fish abound, lots of
juveniles.  The reef is recovering, but slowly.    YOU'LL LIKE IT:  We
liked it so much, we are thinking of returning in the Summer when the winds
are lower and hopefully we can shore dive from Cobalt Coast. 

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