Eden Rock, Grand Cayman - Need a guide?

[MPM]

My wife and I will be on Grand Cayman in January aboard the Carnival Legend, and are planning on doing a two tank shore dive at Eden Rock. We have all of our own equipment (minus tanks and weights). Would you recommend paying for a divemaster / guide for this location, or should we go it on our own? According to their website a guide is about $100.00. For those prices, would I be better off to go for a boat dive, and if so, who would you recommend?

 

Thanks!

 

~Mike

[heydn62]

There's a good map at the dive shop and they can tell you where the interesting stuff is, so unless you are just uncomfortable going out by yourself, you won't need a guide. Sites are marked with buoys and are a short surface swim (or we just started the dive near the shore; there's lots of stuff to see on the way as the reef essentially starts at the entry point).

 

When we were there in April, Sunset House wasn't letting anyone dive from shore because of the choppy water that day. Eden Rock was letting people go in before noon. The surf made the entry and exit a bit tricky (nothing major), but beneath the surface there was no noticeable current.

 

My wife and I will be on Grand Cayman in January aboard the Carnival Legend, and are planning on doing a two tank shore dive at Eden Rock. We have all of our own equipment (minus tanks and weights). Would you recommend paying for a divemaster / guide for this location, or should we go it on our own? According to their website a guide is about $100.00. For those prices, would I be better off to go for a boat dive, and if so, who would you recommend?

 

Thanks!

 

~Mike

[bruce-r]

If you have a buddy, you won't be required to hire a guide. I'd say it would depend on your comfort level and how much previous diving experience you have.

 

Personally, if there is a map at the dive shop there, I'd not hire the guide. I might ask them at the shop if there was a specific thing I'd like to see, but other than that I'd prefer to do my own dive.

[Middleager]

I agree, you don't need to hire a guide.

 

When I was there, I was looking for a buddy. When a retired instructor showed up, we went together (without map). It was a very good shallow dive most of the way. There was a lot of sand bottom, but also lots of large "chunks" of coral growth, some swim throughs. I also found a nurse shark at the bottom edge of some rock.

 

We spent about an hour, and that was my longest dive.

[MPM]

Thanks everyone, sounds like we won't need a guide (although my wife always seems to be more comfortable with a guide - after 27 years she still doesn't trust me not to get lost:rolleyes: Maybe it is because I refuse to get directions:D) Considering we only have one day on Grand Cayman, is there a different dive we should be doing rather than Eden Rock? A different shore diver perhaps, or even a boat dive? We would like to see the best Grand Cayman has to offer within the scope of our limited time there (7:00am - 4:00pm).

 

~Mike