Single Female - Sunset House or Eden Rock Snorkel?

[Hydro ergo]

Hi All,

 

I am going to be in Cayman in a couple of weeks and am still debating where to snorkel...please help!  As the title says, I am a single female in my mid-30s, active and have prior snorkeling experience.  I am a good swimmer and not afraid of open water, but am somewhat hesitant around boats (since they may not see me!)  I am trying to decide between Sunset House and Eden Rock.  Any help is appreciated.  Stuff like...how easy is it to get to each place (sounds like either is easy); are there restrooms available; are there lockers available (travelling solo); food available; water conditions (I know this can vary greatly); how crowded...etc. etc.  And I know a lot of this is subjective, I am just trying to get a decent side by side comparison.  Thank you all very much for your help!

[OCruisers]

Never been to Sunset House BUT Eden Rock has what you want  -- lockers, food (Paradise B&G), no boats, and is an easy very safe walk.  

Hopefully, someone who has been to both will reply.  

 

[Capt_BJ]

been to both many times and the snork' profiles are similar

 

Eden is closer ... and may have boat traffic because it is nearer the ships AND boat based dive and snork' trips will visit here.  There is no 'connected' food but as mentioned Paradise is 'right there' and Guy Harvey's not far away.  Eden will almost certainly be more crowded as it is closer to the tender landing and 'shore excursions' go here ..... how crowded depends on the 'cruise ship load' for the day.  On a BUSY cruise day you can walk across Eden Rock on the backs of the snorkelers!  Folks staying on the island avoid Eden (and downtown in general) on a big cruise ship day .... until the ships leave!

 

Sunset is about another 1/3 mile down the same road - I've walked it MANY times.  Use caution as last time I was there, there's still some stretches with no sidewalks. Sunset will be less crowded almost certainly. Actually don't be surprised if on a morning visit you are the only person in sight!  Resort guests will be out on the morning dive trips til about noon. Few cruise guests know about it, or are willing to walk "so far" <less than a mile>.  The only boats typically are the resorts own boats ... they board morning trips at 9, Turn around the am/pm trips from 1230 to 1300 and return around 1600.  Sunset House has 'My Bar', a destination unto itself for lunch and or drinks. There are restrooms at the bar (for changing).  The one thing Sunset lacks is lockers.  You can ask at the dive shop as they do have lockers for resort guests and if they have empties they may loan/rent but in general they say they are only for resort guests.  There's a couple of ways to handle this: 1) IME no one messes with a bag with a t-shirt and some shoes left near the water as most resort guests will do exactly this for a shore dive/snork .... so just don't take anything with that you won't be willing to leave in a bag. Money, Cruse Card, ID and credit card can all get wet! 2) ask the dive shop if you can stash a bag with them (don't be surprised if they say no; why accept responsibility?) 3) befriend someone on the ship and tell them you know a great place for lunch if they are willing to watch your stuff.  4) get one of those gizmos that lets you lock a closed bag to a fence post.  I've used #1 for many visits.

 

There is one flaw in your plan IMO: a responsible dive master is not gonna like you going it alone.  At Eden you may get lost in the masses. At Sunset the dive shop desk looks right out at the water entry points and as I say you may be the ONE person around.  I've SEEN the Sunset dive shop staff approach folks and warn them when about to break basic safety rules or when conditions are bad and they worry about your safety.  The resort IS private property and while they WELCOME outside divers/snork' they DO work to maintain their safety record/reputation.

Edited November 2, 2018 by Capt_BJ

[Hydro ergo]

Hi Capt,

First, I am happy to see that you responded to my post---I enjoy reading your very thoughtful contributions to the message boards on here!  That said...yes, I had thought about the major flaw in my plan..being a solo traveler.  I think I may see if I can find someone to join while on board.  Cayman is towards the end of our cruise, so maybe I will have a friend by then!  Sunset sounds like it would be more my style (less crowds) and safe even without a locker.  I don't bring valuables ashore, (still wouldn't want someone to walk off with my small backpack though) but it's good to know that it's a safe enough place to leave something like that on shore while in the water.  Thank you for the feedback!

[TravellingBritNY]

A lot of this echoes what others have said, so please take it as another set of data.  🙂

 

I actually think that the snorkeling off Eden Rock is better than at Sunset House in that there is more to see.  You actually get to see the "mini wall" there - at Sunset there are coral fingers before you get to the "big wall".  While you may get more boat traffic at Eden, most now that the area around there is full of snorkelers and will stay well away from it.

 

Both places have a dive operator on site that can give you a briefing as to the site and conditions.  I recommend taking advantage of that.  Even though you are close to shore, it is open water and you can get currents and other conditions that aren't obvious from just looking at the water.

 

Eden Rock is a much shorter walk than Sunset House, which can make a difference in the heat.

 

For the small stuff you don't want to leave on the shore (like a room key, credit card, a bit of cash), look into getting waterproof bags that you can take with you, attached to your wrist.  They're not that expensive, and gives you peace of mind.

 

The food at MyBar is (IMO) far better than at Paradise, but that is a matter of taste of course.

 

My suggestion? Do both.  Walk to Eden Rock and see what conditions are like, how many are in the water, etc.  Make the call whether to go in then or to walk to Sunset House.  Do lunch at MyBar.  They do have a lunch menu, but do bar snacks (including Indian appetizers - YUM!) pretty much all day.

 

Oh and get reef-friendly sunscreen and use it - the reefs will thank you!

[Hydro ergo]

4 hours ago, TravellingBritNY said:

 

Oh and get reef-friendly sunscreen and use it - the reefs will thank you!

Always!  Very important tip and I wish others paid more attention to it! 

 

Thank you also for all of the other info.  Not a bad idea to stop at Eden Rock and make a judgement call from there.  🙂 

Edited November 5, 2018 by Hydro ergo

[Capt_BJ]

You actually get to see the "mini wall" there - at Sunset there are coral fingers before you get to the "big wall".

 

You may want to check your dive geography ..... if you look at nautical charts or imagery available on Google Earth you see that in both places there is a shelf at around 60 feet depth ... this is where the 'snorkel' area stops.  Then a bit further out comes the drop to 'the wall'

 

Both of these drops are actually closer in the Sunset area

 

altho OMG ... why are we talking about 'the wall' for a snorkeler ?!?!?

Edited November 5, 2018 by Capt_BJ

[TravellingBritNY]

You are right, the wall is way too far out and too deep for any snorkeler to see anything.

 

I am not going by Google maps, but by diving and snorkeling the two sites multiple times.  The mini-wall is far more dramatic further north, but there is a spirit of it at least at Eden Rock, which there is not at Sunset House.  The drop at Eden Rock is from about (guessing) 15 feet down to around 40 feet (think where Devil's Grotto is).  When I snorkeled it with friends the first time, my feeling was "ok, now my friends can get a bit of an idea what it's like to dive" because of what we could see from there.  You don't get that same effect at Sunset House, in my experience.

 

[Duanerice1]

We've snorkeled at Eden Rock many times but a few weeks ago they weren't letting anyone in the water.  The water was a little rough and getting in is a bit tougher at Eden.  The waves were banging into the sea wall a bit and I would not want to be on that ladder when a wave hit 🙂.  They actually sent us down to Sunset House telling us entry is a little easier there.  Since it was early and nothing was open yet we walked down.  This is the first time we couldn't get in at Eden.  

 

Yes it is further and my wife is not a walker but she did it with no problem.   We liked Sunset House but can't say if the snorkeling is much better.  Due to the storms off shore the snorkeling was not that good.  But, they have a little enclosed "cove" off to the right that makes getting in pretty easy even with rougher waves.  Both places will show you where the best snorkeling spots ate at.

 

Just to note, when we finished snorkeling and came back to Eden Rock they still weren't letting anyone in.

 

We will continue to go to Eden Rock because it is closer and we've always been satisfied.   You can always get in at Eden, snorkel down to Sunset House, get out and grab a bite to eat then snorkel back.  Let's say I assume you can, didn't see anything in the way.

 

Have fun.

[TravellingBritNY]

In my personal opinion Eden Rock is a far better snorkel site than Sunset House. 

 

It's odd, because as a dive site it's the other way around.  🙂

 

Far more fish to see, and more underwater topology too.

[Capt_BJ]

just back and visited both places .. Eden and Sunset

 

We were early when we hit Eden and there was no one in the water on a two ship day.  I noticed that the general condition of the Eden waterfront facility was run down as compared to my last visit  ... the simple wooden lockers had several broken doors, the waterside area was dirty in general.  There is now a restaurant above the dive shop .....

 

Then headed down the road to Sunset .... there are still portions with no sidewalk but I never felt to be 'in danger' ... maybe cuz I've walked this road many times since 84!  Sunset House is as clean and well maintained as I remember.  We saw a few snorkel folks go in and out and a 'discovery' come and go while hanging out at 'My Bar' where they allowed us to sit altho they were not open yet. (there were big coolers of ice water with cups available to us)

 

At 1130 we ordered some lunch while still enjoying the view.  After some conch fritters we walked back to the tenders and checked out Eden along the way again.  As I suspected there were a bunch of folks hovering there to snorkel but not super crowded ... as I said this was a surprisingly light day given 2 bigger ships were in (we were on a Freedom RCCL)

[Hydro ergo]

I think I must have been right ahead or right behind Capt. BJ as I was out the week of Thanksgiving.  The day I was there there were SIX ships in port totally 14,400 passengers!!! 😳 I saw this ahead of time and made sure to be on one of the first tenders out.  I got to Eden Rock around 930 maybe and there were only two snorkelers there at the time.  They didn't have any issue with me going out by myself, but they did ask about my snorkeling experience.  I thought the property was clean...no trash or anything like that.  The restroom was clean as well.  Locker rental was $5 for the day.  I had a nice time snorkeling and was surprised that more people didn't show up.  At the busiest, there were maybe 8 people there.  It was lovely.  Lots to see.  I didn't make it down to Sunset, but plan to on my next cruise!  Thanks to everyone that shared useful tips and info! 

[Capt_BJ]

nautical chart 

you can see the 5, 10, 20 meter depth contours (and beyond)

"Eden Rock" is labeled at for reference is approx 160 km off shore at closest point

 

as you can see the depth contours are closer to shore in Sunset area

[Hydro ergo]

This is a great map, thank you!

[Capt_BJ]

CHART

 

please ... I am a (former) sailor and navigator ......

 

one drives a car by a MAP

 

one navigates at sea by a CHART

Edited December 8, 2018 by Capt_BJ