Grand Cayman 2013 Day 5

January 9, 2013

We have been here long enough that I think we have all reverted to Island Time.  None of us were very motivated to do much this morning but we finally managed to get moving, eventually.  We had plans to do two dives today so we packed up the car and drove through town to the other side of the island to dive at DiveTech which is just down the road from Turtle Reef and the Turtle Farm.  Eric and I had never dove there but heard from other people that it was good.  

On the way through town we noticed there were four cruise ships docked in the harbor today.  What a madhouse--a good day to stay away from downtown.  We made our way through town and on to DiveTech.  They actually have a really nice facility with dive shop and a little cafe with somewhat healthy food.  

After we got in the water here there was quite a bit of current so we did not go out as far as we had planned.  We did see a midnight parrotfish, queen angelfish, and the usual reef inhabitants.  There was a pretty good current for the whole dive, so we got a good workout.  After we got out, we decided since it was lunchtime to try out their cafe.  Jody, 

Tim, and Eric had the Curry Chicken and Hummus wrap/pannini with sweet potato fries and I had the herb chicken wrap with sweet potato fries.  I also had a mango, pineapple, peach, strawberry smoothie and Jody and I had a slice of their berry crisp for dessert--Yummmm.  

While we were hanging out waiting for our lunch we had fun petting the shop cat--Ginger.  They also had some really nice T-shirts at the dive shop, so I ended up getting one--also with some souvenir Ginger hair on it (apparently she spends some time napping on the T-shirts in the shop).  

After lunch we loaded up the car and made our way back through the rat race in downtown to the dive shop at Eden Rock.  We decided that Devils Grotto with its many swim-throughs would make a good final dive of our trip.  Tim and Jody really enjoyed doing the swim-throughs.  We saw some jacks, tarpon, a really big green eel, a turtle, and a couple schools of blue tangs.  

Unfortunately, this was our last dive of the trip so we rinsed all our gear and loaded the car.  Then we headed back to the condo to attempt to de-skankify our stuff and the poor rental car and do some laundry and pack before our flight home tomorrow afternoon.

Our plan was to attempt to have most of our stuff packed up tonight and early tomorrow morning so we can tour the island a little bit and do some shopping before we head to the airport.

Grand Cayman 2013 Day 4

January 8, 2013

We slept in a little this morning and then I went out and joined Jody who was sitting on the beach watching the sunrise.  Unfortunately, there were too many clouds for a good sunrise, but the weather was really nice with a cool breeze blowing off the ocean.  

After breakfast we loaded up the car and drove across the island back to Turtle Reef for our first dive of the day.  We thought we would attempt to find the seahorse that Jody had found the other day.  We spent quite a bit of time looking for the seahorse, but never did find it.  However, I did find a well camouflaged little pufferfish and a bunch of other really, really small fish.  We continued on with our dive, in a bit of a current, and saw some big gray angelfish, three or four sting rays feeding in the sand off in the distance and at the end we saw the same octopus as the other day but in a different hole.  

After we got out we rinsed all our gear off and picked a nice shady table by the water to sit and have some lunch.  Jody and I enjoyed “The Salad” which was a refreshing salad with orange slices, sugared walnuts, avocado, and goat cheese in a citrus vinaigrette.  After lunch we loaded up the car and headed back to Sunset House so Tim could do some naughty things to the Mermaid.  

As soon as we got in the water to start our dive I heard the engine from the submarine.  Right after we got to the site where the mermaid was, here came the Atlantis submarine.  They pulled right up in front of the mermaid and we could see a bunch of the passengers inside vigorously waving at us through the windows.  So this is the second time Eric and I have had our picture taken at the mermaid by multiple tourists on the Atlantis submarine.  

After we got some pictures and video of everyone by Amphitrite (the mermaid) we then went over to the Nicholson and got some photos there and then headed back in.  After we rinsed our gear off we went to settle up our bill and because there was a large group waiting there to get gear we decided to go over to the bar and have a drink while we waited.  The bar at Sunset House is a large open air structure right by the water--very nice.  

After we settled up our bill we drove back to the condo to get ready to go out to dinner.  We had made a reservation earlier in the day for Casanova restaurant--a very nice Italian restaurant downtown by the water.  Jody and I brought dresses especially for this occasion since it is a nicer restaurant.  

We had reservations at 6:30 for the patio.  We got there just after sunset and got a table by the water.  Jody enjoyed watching the divers doing a night dive just next door to the restaurant.  We had a very nice dinner.  Tim, Eric, and Jody had a couple bottles of wine and we had several appetizers, salad, some really good entrees (everyone had a different type of pasta), and of course dessert.  They also gave us some complimentary port for after dinner.  I just want to say it was very interesting driving this bunch home after dinner.  Eric and I don’t need to have kids, we have Tim and Jody instead...

Grand Cayman 2013 Day 3

January 7, 2013

We had reservations at Ocean Frontiers on the East End to do four dives today.  We needed to check in by 7:30 so we had to get up early in order to get going.  It is about 1/2 hour down the road from Turtle Nest Inn where we are staying.  On the plus side we got to see a really pretty sunrise on the drive to the dive shop.  

We managed to get all our gear loaded and get on the road by 7 a.m. and arrived right at 7:30 to check in.  We did the first two dives on their boat the Ocean Hawk.  I think there were about 11 or 12 people on the boat.  The water was a little rough, especially once you got out on the outside of the breakers.  We did two dive sites on the morning trip, Jack McKenney’s Canyons and Maggies Maze.  

At Jack McKenney’s Canyons we saw three caribbean reef sharks (that is more sharks and we have ever seen in all of our caribbean diving combined), lobsters, really big groupers, and of course lots of colorful coral.

Unfortunately, the boat ride was a little too rough for Eric and he ended up feeding the fish his breakfast.  The only other time he has ever gotten sick on a boat was when we were here diving with Ocean Frontiers on the same boat two years ago.  Back then we thought it may have been what he had for breakfast, but I guess that theory is now dead.  

At Maggies Maze we saw another caribbean reef shark and a bunch more Lobsters, and several different types of jawfish.  Also, at the end of the dive we saw a nurse shark.  After the second dive we headed back to the dive shop.  We had to be back within an hour to check in for our afternoon dives.  

So we all hopped in the car and headed down the road to where we thought there was a Subway.  On the East End there are not a lot of choices as far as places to eat.  Unfortunately, we wasted about 15 minutes driving around trying to find the Subway that the the sign said was “just ahead.”  We finally drove back to the dive shop and asked them where the closest best place to eat was and they told us right across the street at Bamboo Chopsticks or another three miles down the road at the Subway.  

We decided to go just across the street to the Bamboo Chopsticks.  It was actually a really nice little restaurant.  We finished our lunch and headed back to the dive shop to check in.  This time we went out on a different boat--the Nauticat, which is a catamaran style hull.  We thought this might make it a little more stable out in the rough water.  Getting through the breakers in the channel this time was a real ride.  Just as we headed through the channel a huge wave hit the front of he boat.  The entire boat almost went vertical.  

It was not too long after lunch when Eric started feeding the fish again.  He pretty much spent the whole day feeding the fish.  The two dives for the afternoon were Three Sisters and Big House.  We saw another two caribbean reef sharks, some really big lionfish, flamingo tongues, pufferfish, barracuda, a turtle, and at the end Jody and Tim saw a squid after they dove back in for a bathroom break.  

Then the boat headed back to the dive shop and we rinsed all our gear and loaded it into the car.  We sat at the picnic table outside the shop and had some sodas and snacks before heading back to the condo.  We all took a shower before dinner and then we all went over to the gas station to get some ice cream for dessert.

Grand Cayman 2013 Day 1&2

January 5-6, 2013

Tim, Jody, Eric, and I headed for the airport at midnight for our 2:30 a.m. flight.  Our flight from Phoenix included a couple hour layover in Charlotte  before our flight to Grand Cayman.  At around 12:30 we arrived in Grand Cayman, picked up our rental car and headed to the condo at Turtle Nest Inn.  We dropped our luggage off in the room and then went down the street and had lunch on the patio by the beach.  

After our lunch we came back to the condo and got all our gear ready to go for our first dive.  We loaded up the car and went down to Sunset House to do our first dive of the trip so Jody and Tim could see Amphitrite (the mermaid).  We saw her and also the Nicholson before heading back for shore.  

After we rinsed our gear off we decided to have a drink and some snacks at the bar before we headed back to the condo.  We all got showered and then ran down to the grocery store to get some food for breakfast and dinner, etc.  We were pretty tired after getting back from the store, but Eric stayed up to get the camera gear ready and I got busy making my famous peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.  After traveling and diving, we were all ready to go to bed for sure.  We decided we would sleep in the next morning.  

I think I finally got up about 9 a.m. (of course I was the last one up and out of bed).  We all had our breakfast and then loaded up the car and headed down the road to Turtle Reef by the turtle farm.  

Jody predicted we would see a spotted eagle ray on our first dive and sure enough we saw a spotted eagle ray plus a bunch of tarpon hanging out sleeping and some lobsters.  After our dive we rinsed all our gear and decided to hang out at the bar and have some snacks and decide what we wanted to do next.  We ended up deciding to do another dive there, so got suited up and headed out.  This time we headed in the other direction on the wall.   

On our second dive we saw some large groupers, eels, triggerfish, filefish, angelfish, an octopus, a midnight blue parrotfish, and for the grand finale Jody spotted a tiny seahorse about 1-1/2 to 2 in. long.  It was pretty amazing how well it blended in with its surroundings.  Eric never did see it and did not believe that we saw a seahorse until he saw it on my video.  After we got out of the water and told him about he even got back in the water to go see if he could find it again.

We were going to go back to Sunset House and do a third dive but decided it was getting too late, so we hung out at the bar and had some drinks before heading back to the condo for the night.