While each Cayman Island cruise may vary due to weather and sea conditions, the outline below will give you a good feel for the adventure you could experience!
Saturday:
You will fly into Owen Roberts Airport in George Town, Grand Cayman (airport code GCM) and take a taxi cab to the Sunset House, south of George Town. If you wish, you can do a shore dive or perhaps a pre-arranged boat dive with Sunset House or spend the day at one of Grand Cayman’s famous beaches, or shopping in downtown George Town’s many shops. Photographers can pre-arrange an afternoon photo course with Cathy Church at her photo center which is also located at Sunset House. You may also rent a camera for your cruise. Enjoy a casual dinner at the outside dive bar or fine dining at the SeaHarvest Restaurant, all on premises at Sunset House.
You will be picked up about 7:00 PM right at Sunset House and will head toward to boat. The Captain’s welcome aboard and safety briefing begins at approximately 9:00 PM. The boat will depart in time to get you diving the first thing Sunday morning.
Sunday:
Wake up at the first dive site of the trip on Grand Cayman’s beautiful North Wall. Immediately after breakfast, you will attend the site briefing and then the dive deck will be open until lunch. The wall in this area begins at 50’ and drops straight away to over 2,000’. The wall is vertical and eagle rays and turtles are often seen along with all of the gorgeous Caribbean reef fish. During lunch, the boat will move to a new site. Following your site briefing, the dive deck will be open for a full afternoon of diving. After dinner, the night dive will be on the same site as you dived in the afternoon, so you know the site and can focus on the nocturnal critters.
Overnight we will make the crossing to the Sister Islands, the Nekton Vessel will make the overnight passage to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman.
Monday:
A chance to explore some of the many beautiful dive sites around Cayman Brac. Lots of spur and groove formations with interspersed coral heads, great reef fish, nurse sharks and turtles. A great day for macro photography and relaxing diving.
Tuesday:
You’ll dive great sites of Little Cayman. The wall begins in 15’-20’ of depth and drops straight down (seemingly forever). The island has few permanent residents and the diving is pristine.
Wednesday:
You will dive the Russian Destroyer “M/V Keith Tibbits” which was sunk as a dive site on Cayman Brac in 1993. It sits on the edge of the wall and in 50’ of water and offers great chances to explore and photograph it. An afternoon to off-gas and explore Cayman Brac. It is required that you go ashore for the afternoon (about 3 to 4 hours) as a condition placed upon us for allowing Nekton to operate in the Cayman Islands. Plan to bring good walking shoes for your afternoon on the Brac. Plan to bring a little spending money for lunch ashore at a local Cayman Brac restaurant as well. We have arranged for several tour operators to be available for a variety of tour opportunities including Cayman Brac’s famous caves, rock climbing, full island tours, hotel familiarizations or just hitting the beach. Enjoy this opportunity to experience a remote island.
Thursday:
Another chance to dive Little Cayman. New and different dive sites for some of the greatest diving you have ever experienced!
Friday:
Overnight, the boat makes the passage back to Grand Cayman. You will have the chance to dive Grand Cayman’s walls. A night dive will also be available. (Please remember the 24 hour waiting period between a week of repetitive diving and flying or the time specified by your dive computer when scheduling your flight home)
Saturday:
The boat has arrived back at the dock. Disembarkation is at 8:00 am. We will transport you and your gear back to the airport or a local hotel. On your flight, home it’s time to plan your next trip with Nekton.
REMEMBER DAN’s recommended waiting period between repetitive diving and flying.
Rough Seas Alternate Route :
As with all of Nekton's destinations, the intinerary is subject to change due to weather and sea conditions. While the design of the Nekton dive vessels greatly minimizes the effects of heavy sea conditions, the captain at his discretion may choose an alternate route if the open crossings to the sister islands are too rough. When such conditions occur, the itinerary will change to the south side of Grand Cayman. Grand Cayman’s south side has some of the most dramatic wall diving in the world. The South Wall is adjacent to the Cayman Trench, some 26,000 feet deep!
The walls tend to be vertical and interlaced with canyons and swim throughs. The shallow sites also have many tunnels, chimneys, mini-walls and canyons as well.
The South Wall of Grand Cayman is 21 miles long, with much of it reachable only by boat. So, if the seas are too rough to go to the sister islands, you will still get some of the best diving in the Western Hemisphere!!