I've played with the stingrays a number of times with various companies and decided to try something different. The original game plan was to catch a cab to Divetech next to Cayman Turtle Farm/Boatswain's Beach and Tortuga rum cake outlet. There is supposed to be great snorkeling in the area and not a whole lot of people to share it with (currently). They also said no charge - the magic words - to shore snorkel from their shop. http://www.divetech.com/
It was kind of a busy day in Georgetown and none of the taxi drivers wanted to take only one person there. No problem if I were a party of four, but since I wasn't, and I wasn't going to pay for 4 people, I went with plan B.
There were several other ships in port that day, none of them small.
We used both ship tenders and some of the whopper shore tenders.
The tenders were lined up like duckings. My tender ticket numbers were not as low as I would have liked so had some time to kill.
To the far right is Eden Rock Dive Center, the building with the green roof is Paradise restaurant/Abanks, and to the left are the north and south tender docks.
So that's about how far you need to walk to get to Eden Rock.
A zoom in on Paradise/Abanks and Eden Rock Dive...
Instead of heading to Eden Rock, I decided to head off in the opposite direction thinking about checking out Cali and Cheeseburger reef.
Many photo ops along the way...
Ahead is Hammerheads and the Cali is offshore from there.
Not far from the cruise ships at all.
Hammerheads, Grand Cayman
Next to Hammerheads is a dive shop where I think you can rent gear. They said it was ok to leave from their beach which is better than climbing down the ladder
at Hammerheads - at least for me.
http://www.diversdown.net/cruise.htm {Their Georgetown location }
I guess Ivan must have taken out the end of their pier...
But you can still enter from the "beach". There is some glass in the area, so watch where you step.
Looking over to Hammerheads Brewpub and its ladder.
A little further is another bar/ladder combo - Rackham's Pub. They have nightly tarpon feeding, but my cruise ship would not be around for that.
Looks like there is a going out of biz Stringray store there, too...
I should have just started snorkeling then, but wanted to find Cheeseburger reef so kept walking...
Getting warmer...
Red Hot...
Unfortunately, Bob Soto's Dive shop looks like it closed - I was kind of hoping to rent a locker there.
Upstairs is the Lobster Pot restaurant - but I did not try.
Still in search so somewhere safe to stash my stuff you sometimes run into interesting locations. How's that for an eternal view ?
After walking a little more, I gave up trying to find a biz to stash my stuff that would still be open when I returned...
and headed back to the Cali, but at least I know for next time.
Wreck of the Cali Bouys
By now even the dive shop was closing down, so I tipped a waitress at Hammerheads to put my stuff behind the bar for a while so I could go snorkeling. She was
most accommodating!
Off we go... There was still a little boat traffic in the area, but they did a good job of avoiding me and I sometimes tried to stay out of their way.
Wreck of the Cali, Grand Cayman
Wreck of the Cali, Grand Cayman
Wreck of the Cali, Grand Cayman
You would have thought I had fish food (hehehehe)
Wreck of the Cali, Grand Cayman
Wreck of the Cali, Grand Cayman
Wreck of the Cali, Grand Cayman
The weather looked like it might be getting worse so I decided it was time to leave and retrieved my stuff from Hammerheads and headed back to the ship. But on
the way I noticed some amateur fishermen, a real one or two, and an impromptu fish market!
He was the serious one...
And it seemed people were just walking up and buying fish
The Welcome sign for those wanting to know...
The South Tender dock
Decided what the heck and kept going to Eden Rock. I rented a locker from Abanks - think it was $4.
LOTs of parrotfish - herds...
You can stay right near the shore or swim out to the reef. I decided to swim out to the reef. Light was fading and of course I had the wrong settings on my
camera, but some pics came out.
There is a marker for the reef, but you can find it here, between Paradise and Eden Rock Dive about this far out.
I didn't really like any of the picture for here on, but seems like I have to post a couple more...
Back closer to shore - it looked like some urchins were trying to take root...
By now, it was about 15 minutes before the "last tender" so time to scoot...
walking away from Paradise Restaurant and back toward the tender docks.
Hard Rock, Georgetown, Grand Cayman
Hmmm - long line for GP - good - can run around some more!
That line never did seem to get shorter - seems people were doing the same as me. But it did get darker and darker. Looks like they are doing some work on the
North dock.
Finally on a tender and there was still a long line of people behind me. But this was one of the whopper tenders so just about all fit.
And back the mother ship - wonder what is playing on MUTS?
Hoisting up one of the last tenders...
And tucking it away...
That's all, folks...
