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Dive Review of Tortuga Divers/Reef Resort in
Cayman Islands/East End of Grand Cayman

Tortuga Divers/Reef Resort, Aug, 2012,

by Stanislaw Zuk, NY, US (Sr. Reviewer Sr. Reviewer 11 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 6699.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 3 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling 3 stars
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments That was my third trip to Cayman Islands, and this time I decided to go to the East End of Grand Cayman to rest in more relaxed and quiet atmosphere than the one of Seven Mile Beach. When you'll decide to got to the East End you must rent a car at the airport, and the drive there is about an hour from Georgetown. These days the western part of the island is quite noisy and very well developed, so diving the East End is a much better solution.
You'll be away from the herds of tourists, driving around quiet shore and enjoying Rum Point, or sunbathing on secluded beaches just by yourself. In August Grand Cayman is not that busy, and the East End is wonderful and quiet. The two East End hotels, Morrits and Reef Resort are also quiet in summer allowing everyone to enjoy the island, and the diving.
There is only one dive operator there Tortuga Divers, which is associated with Red Sail Sports, and it is a very good operation. It all begins with excellent client approach and the right attitude at the dive center, and ends up with fond farewell after the dive.
I dove almost everywhere and I must admit that was one of the best boat with one of the best crew I've ever seen. They were informative, helpful, they would let you dive your own profile, and tried to accommodate every diver on their boats, advanced or not.
I particularly like the Leatherback boat which even had two showers on board to make everyone feel good. The crew was passing oranges between divers during the break, and would help you with the smallest issue regarding equipment, diving, etc.
Nitrox was available for a 15$ fee, however, they would give you a discount if you dove a few dives with them. The diving on the East End is so much better than the rest of Grand Cayman, and you'll never see another boat. We cannot compare it to my dives in French Polynesia, Fiji, Sipadan, or other famous spots for instance, but for Caribbean it is quite good. Even the dives situated closely to the hotel had a substantial amount of fish, tarpons, barracudas, and turtles. The morning dives, like Turtle Pass, always blessed us with reef sharks, eagle rays, barracudas, and nurse sharks. On our first day we had a friendly single dolphin with us, which followed our boat even to our morning dive site, and later caused trouble "harassing" us in a friendly way, when we were descending to the bottom. The crew was also trying to eliminate lion fish which infested the waters of Est End, and sometimes they were feeding sharks with it. Overall it was a very pleasant operation, and all dive guides should be mentioned for their excellent work, Shaggy, Kaz, Travis, Stew, Rachel, and others whose names I forgot.
Websites Tortuga Divers   Reef Resort

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Cozumel, Bonaire, Cayman Islands, Panama, Yap, Palau, Hawaii, Vanuatu, Sipadan, Layang Layang, Mauritius, Seychelles, Zanzibar, Fiji, Rodrigues, Cook Islands, Rangiroa, Fakarava, Bonaire, Philippines, Qatar, Thailand, Maldives, many others...
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm, choppy, no currents
Water Temp 80-84°F / 27-29°C Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility 60-100 Ft/ 18-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Safety stop
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins 1 or 2 Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 3 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments [None]
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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