Sting Ray City + another dive help please

[2Ports]

Does anyone know of a good operator that offers a two tank dive, with one being at Stingray City? Having an awful time finding this. YES, I searched the forum, but all relevant threads were 2+ years old. Resort Sports ltd. seems defunct. (if not, please post current contact info!) Going on RCL, so not available through the ship.

 

Thanks

[CaribKng]

We were looking to do this exact thing last year. We could not find anyone that could accommodate us. We were running in to the dive sites were too far away from Sting Ray City. If you find someone willing to do it, I would also be interested. We are heading to Grand Cayman in October.

[Sailfish]

I want to preface my comments that this is just my opinion and not shared by many in this forum.

 

I am diver and dive group leader who has done both the snorkel tour to Stingray City and the dives several times. The last time we were in Grand Cayman my dive group and I dove the little and big walls (at West End) at Turtle Reef (one of the best dive sites on the island and what I recoomend you do while in Cayman); I had an optional two tank boat dive on the schedule for any of my divers interested in going to Sting Ray City - all decided to not bother.

 

A trip to Stingray City is a must, but I wouldn't bother with the shallow dive in 20 feet to experience the stingrays - it's way too expensive and not worth the effort. If you stay on the island, most dive operators include the one tank dive in their dive packages, which I suppose is okay. But there are so many cool dives, including the one at Turtle Reef, which you can do on your own, that wasting all that $$$ to dive Stingray City and the shallow reef seems a pitty. That said, the only people I recommend this dive to are newly certified folks and those diving with young kids.

 

I lead dive group cruises regularly to Grand Cayman and the Western Caribbean, with divers who tend to be more experienced experienced - if this is you, don't waste your dive dollars in Stingray City - get on a snokel barge for $30 and feed the stingrays. They are very cool and a must see for anyone visiting Grand Cayman. But it's not a serious dive.

 

If you absolutely have to do the dive, there's a dive operator that's to the left on the frontage road (forgot their name), that used to do this sort of thing for cruise passengers interested in going scuba diving at Stingray City - the dive site is further away. I think two tank boat dives are going to run you around $100pp; it will include a shallow reef dive (so close to shore, you could probably swim to the dive site) and then a trip to a site near Stingray City that's in about 25 feet of water. Yes, it's cool to see the stingrays swim up to you, but it's a rather short dive and like I said, you'll probably enjoy the snorkel just as much.

 

I know a lot of divers won't agree with me. I guess I am a little jaded, since we go to Grand Cayman so often so I apologize for this. The western caribbean and Grand Cayman in particular has so many amazing dive sites that you can do on your own from shore - Turtle Reef being one of them - that it's a shame to waste the dives.

 

Good luck.

 

Suzi