beginners scuba

Has anyone done the beginners scuba excursion? If so was it worth it? Also with whom did you take the excursion?

We haven't done it yet, but my husband and sons are booked with Abanks Dive Center at Eden Rock right near where the tenders come in. It's $75 each, includes BCD, Regulator/console and mask/fins. There's a 20% deposit. I think they do 2 sessions, one is at 10 a.m. It's called Discover Diving Resort Course. Website we reached them through was http://www.caymanislandsdiscounts.com/Abanks. The ship's excursion was going to be $99 each, and was waitlisted, so we decided to book our own. We're on the CP 7/10 and will let you know how it went once we return. Hope this helps.

I posted this reply to your question on the Carnival Board, but will paste it here also just in case it might help someone else!

I just did a Discover Scuba dive in Grand Cayman a couple of weeks ago while on our Paradise cruise. We booked the dive with Abanks Dive Center, but made the booking through Island Marketing (http://grandcaymancruiseexcursions.com/). They have a "live help" feature that lets you chat with someone if you have questions about your booking or the dive itself. The Discover Dive was $75 and included all of the equipment. A 20% down payment was required when you booked the dive.

My husband is a certified scuba diver and I wanted to be able to dive with him. We had done this at Cozumel two years ago with EagleRay Divers also. Abanks Dive Center is located just a few minutes walk away from where the cruise ship tenders dock in Grand Cayman so it is very easy to get to.

Three years ago I actually took all of the classroom sessions and did the confined (pool) water dives to begin the scuba certification process. When it came to the open water portion I freaked out and didn't follow through. Since I had a basic knowledge of what to do in scuba, the instruction I received from Abanks was very minimal. The divemaster did a quick run through and made sure I remembered everything but that was it. I'm sure the instruction would be much more thorough for someone who was brand new.

DH has all of his own scuba equipment so he just rented a tank and weights from Abanks for the dive. We did a shore dive right there at the dive center so did not have to deal with the hassle and time of taking a boat somewhere. You enter the water down a set of rocky stairs and and immediately you start seeing LOTS of fish...and big ones too!!

The divemaster brought along some bait on the dive and was able to attract all kinds of fish. We had one fish about 2 feet long just follow us like a little puppy for the whole dive! The divemaster stayed right with me (holding my hand) until he was confident I could manage on my own but even then he stayed right at my side. There were large coral formations with tunnels that we swam through. At one point he directed us to go down to the very bottom (maximum depth was only about 35 feet) and he lured a nurse shark out from under some coral. This shark was probably about 5 feet long and would only come out just long enough to grab a piece of bait...then he would duck back under the coral overhang. A green moray eel was also lurking around the same place and came out to get the free meal! Our dive lasted about 45 minutes.

All in all, I would say Grand Cayman would be a good place to try scuba diving just because it is so close to the cruise ship and can be done right from shore.

I do want to mention that when we arrived for the dive they didn't have any record of our reservation or that we had already made the downpayment. It was eventually resolved but it would be smart to bring along your email confirmation just in case (I forgot it on the ship.) The only other issue I had was that I kept getting a very small amount of water in the regulator (the part in your mouth) as I was diving. I suspect this was an equipment problem since I hadn't had any trouble on my dives before, but who knows...it may just be due to my inexperience too. As a result, my throat was burning by the end of the dive from the salt water.

does the abanks dive center offer any snorkel trips?

No, I don't think Abanks offers any snorkel trips, but they don't need to!! They do rent snorkel equipment and you can just snorkel right from shore...there were quite a few people doing that the day we were there. Snorkeling here would be a low cost way to spend your day in Grand Cayman(or free if you have your own equipment!)

There is no beach...just a rocky shoreline. There are picnic tables available, but I'm sure they would expect you to order food from the restaurant there if you used them.

If you've never been to see the stingrays in Grand Cayman then by all means book a tour to do that. However if you've been there, done that, then the snorkeling would be a great alternative!

Mathgal--thanks for the info--we're looking forward to Eden Rock and Abanks.

Mathgal-one last question--do you tip the person taking you on the dive, and if so, how much? Thanks.