Anyone go to Grand Cayman lately?

Hi,

The last time I was in Grand Cayman was at the Sunset house in 1990. Has
anyone been there lately? How is the diving? I'm assuming that the island
must have recovered pretty much from the last big hurricane, is that true?

Thanks,
Jay

Jay "news" <jay@bottom-time-scuba.com> wrote:
>
> The last time I was in Grand Cayman was at the Sunset house in 1990. *Has
> anyone been there lately? *How is the diving? *I'm assuming that the island
> must have recovered pretty much from the last big hurricane, is that true?

Sorry...I've just been passing through the airport en route to Little
Cayman & Cayman Brac, plus a layover drive-around. IIRC, Greg's spent
a week diving up at Cobalt Cast (near the Turtle Farm) within the past
year or so.

I have, however, been keeping up on the local Cayman news for at least
the past decade. In reading through Ivan reports in particular over
the past three years, the shallow reefs naturally & obviously took a
hit. There were a lot of automobiles that were washed out to sea and
onto the south side reefs that took them awhile to clean up and
recover.

There was a lot of localized sand movement in various areas ...mostly
shallow reefs... some of which buried reefs and some of which were
scouring and exposed more substrate. Given the time that has now
passed, the general conclusion is the predictable "if you weren't very
familiar with what it looked like before, you can't tell anymore what
changed", as the freshly exposed rock now has 3 years worth of new
growth on it, etc.

I can't recall anything specific about the tunnels near Eden Rock, so
I'd expect that they're still there, and that most of the perceived
reef damage today is probably more of diver pressure more so than of
past storm damage. On my last trip to the Brac (5 months ago), I did
have a day with a DM vacationing from Grand Cayman and one thing that
he did mention was that the soft corals often found in the shallows &
hardpan areas (whips, etc) are still absent...and that there's
essentially zero Queen Triggerfish. I've heard **claims** as to why
there's no Queen Triggers, but I'm not so sure that I exactly believe
them (yet).

Topside, most of the messes have been cleaned up, including some of
the political ones from awarding non-competitive contracts to
political cronies, etc. The general recovery of hotel rooms for
tourists and housing for locals has been slow, and they've found some
things about their local society (in the "haves and have nots" vein)
that were previously obscured.


Hope this helps,


-hh

Jay "news" <jay@bottom-time-scuba.com> wrote:
>
> The last time I was in Grand Cayman was at the Sunset house in 1990. *Has
> anyone been there lately? *How is the diving? *I'm assuming that the island
> must have recovered pretty much from the last big hurricane, is that true?

Sorry...I've just been passing through the airport en route to Little
Cayman & Cayman Brac, plus a layover drive-around. IIRC, Greg's spent
a week diving up at Cobalt Cast (near the Turtle Farm) within the past
year or so.

I have, however, been keeping up on the local Cayman news for at least
the past decade. In reading through Ivan reports in particular over
the past three years, the shallow reefs naturally & obviously took a
hit. There were a lot of automobiles that were washed out to sea and
onto the south side reefs that took them awhile to clean up and
recover.

There was a lot of localized sand movement in various areas ...mostly
shallow reefs... some of which buried reefs and some of which were
scouring and exposed more substrate. Given the time that has now
passed, the general conclusion is the predictable "if you weren't very
familiar with what it looked like before, you can't tell anymore what
changed", as the freshly exposed rock now has 3 years worth of new
growth on it, etc.

I can't recall anything specific about the tunnels near Eden Rock, so
I'd expect that they're still there, and that most of the perceived
reef damage today is probably more of diver pressure more so than of
past storm damage. On my last trip to the Brac (5 months ago), I did
have a day with a DM vacationing from Grand Cayman and one thing that
he did mention was that the soft corals often found in the shallows &
hardpan areas (whips, etc) are still absent...and that there's
essentially zero Queen Triggerfish. I've heard **claims** as to why
there's no Queen Triggers, but I'm not so sure that I exactly believe
them (yet).

Topside, most of the messes have been cleaned up, including some of
the political ones from awarding non-competitive contracts to
political cronies, etc. The general recovery of hotel rooms for
tourists and housing for locals has been slow, and they've found some
things about their local society (in the "haves and have nots" vein)
that were previously obscured.


Hope this helps,


-hh

Jay "news" <jay@bottom-time-scuba.com> wrote:
>
> The last time I was in Grand Cayman was at the Sunset house in 1990. *Has
> anyone been there lately? *How is the diving? *I'm assuming that the island
> must have recovered pretty much from the last big hurricane, is that true?

Sorry...I've just been passing through the airport en route to Little
Cayman & Cayman Brac, plus a layover drive-around. IIRC, Greg's spent
a week diving up at Cobalt Cast (near the Turtle Farm) within the past
year or so.

I have, however, been keeping up on the local Cayman news for at least
the past decade. In reading through Ivan reports in particular over
the past three years, the shallow reefs naturally & obviously took a
hit. There were a lot of automobiles that were washed out to sea and
onto the south side reefs that took them awhile to clean up and
recover.

There was a lot of localized sand movement in various areas ...mostly
shallow reefs... some of which buried reefs and some of which were
scouring and exposed more substrate. Given the time that has now
passed, the general conclusion is the predictable "if you weren't very
familiar with what it looked like before, you can't tell anymore what
changed", as the freshly exposed rock now has 3 years worth of new
growth on it, etc.

I can't recall anything specific about the tunnels near Eden Rock, so
I'd expect that they're still there, and that most of the perceived
reef damage today is probably more of diver pressure more so than of
past storm damage. On my last trip to the Brac (5 months ago), I did
have a day with a DM vacationing from Grand Cayman and one thing that
he did mention was that the soft corals often found in the shallows &
hardpan areas (whips, etc) are still absent...and that there's
essentially zero Queen Triggerfish. I've heard **claims** as to why
there's no Queen Triggers, but I'm not so sure that I exactly believe
them (yet).

Topside, most of the messes have been cleaned up, including some of
the political ones from awarding non-competitive contracts to
political cronies, etc. The general recovery of hotel rooms for
tourists and housing for locals has been slow, and they've found some
things about their local society (in the "haves and have nots" vein)
that were previously obscured.


Hope this helps,


-hh

Jay "news" <jay@bottom-time-scuba.com> wrote:
>
> The last time I was in Grand Cayman was at the Sunset house in 1990. *Has
> anyone been there lately? *How is the diving? *I'm assuming that the island
> must have recovered pretty much from the last big hurricane, is that true?

Sorry...I've just been passing through the airport en route to Little
Cayman & Cayman Brac, plus a layover drive-around. IIRC, Greg's spent
a week diving up at Cobalt Cast (near the Turtle Farm) within the past
year or so.

I have, however, been keeping up on the local Cayman news for at least
the past decade. In reading through Ivan reports in particular over
the past three years, the shallow reefs naturally & obviously took a
hit. There were a lot of automobiles that were washed out to sea and
onto the south side reefs that took them awhile to clean up and
recover.

There was a lot of localized sand movement in various areas ...mostly
shallow reefs... some of which buried reefs and some of which were
scouring and exposed more substrate. Given the time that has now
passed, the general conclusion is the predictable "if you weren't very
familiar with what it looked like before, you can't tell anymore what
changed", as the freshly exposed rock now has 3 years worth of new
growth on it, etc.

I can't recall anything specific about the tunnels near Eden Rock, so
I'd expect that they're still there, and that most of the perceived
reef damage today is probably more of diver pressure more so than of
past storm damage. On my last trip to the Brac (5 months ago), I did
have a day with a DM vacationing from Grand Cayman and one thing that
he did mention was that the soft corals often found in the shallows &
hardpan areas (whips, etc) are still absent...and that there's
essentially zero Queen Triggerfish. I've heard **claims** as to why
there's no Queen Triggers, but I'm not so sure that I exactly believe
them (yet).

Topside, most of the messes have been cleaned up, including some of
the political ones from awarding non-competitive contracts to
political cronies, etc. The general recovery of hotel rooms for
tourists and housing for locals has been slow, and they've found some
things about their local society (in the "haves and have nots" vein)
that were previously obscured.


Hope this helps,


-hh

Jay "news" <jay@bottom-time-scuba.com> wrote:
>
> The last time I was in Grand Cayman was at the Sunset house in 1990. *Has
> anyone been there lately? *How is the diving? *I'm assuming that the island
> must have recovered pretty much from the last big hurricane, is that true?

Sorry...I've just been passing through the airport en route to Little
Cayman & Cayman Brac, plus a layover drive-around. IIRC, Greg's spent
a week diving up at Cobalt Cast (near the Turtle Farm) within the past
year or so.

I have, however, been keeping up on the local Cayman news for at least
the past decade. In reading through Ivan reports in particular over
the past three years, the shallow reefs naturally & obviously took a
hit. There were a lot of automobiles that were washed out to sea and
onto the south side reefs that took them awhile to clean up and
recover.

There was a lot of localized sand movement in various areas ...mostly
shallow reefs... some of which buried reefs and some of which were
scouring and exposed more substrate. Given the time that has now
passed, the general conclusion is the predictable "if you weren't very
familiar with what it looked like before, you can't tell anymore what
changed", as the freshly exposed rock now has 3 years worth of new
growth on it, etc.

I can't recall anything specific about the tunnels near Eden Rock, so
I'd expect that they're still there, and that most of the perceived
reef damage today is probably more of diver pressure more so than of
past storm damage. On my last trip to the Brac (5 months ago), I did
have a day with a DM vacationing from Grand Cayman and one thing that
he did mention was that the soft corals often found in the shallows &
hardpan areas (whips, etc) are still absent...and that there's
essentially zero Queen Triggerfish. I've heard **claims** as to why
there's no Queen Triggers, but I'm not so sure that I exactly believe
them (yet).

Topside, most of the messes have been cleaned up, including some of
the political ones from awarding non-competitive contracts to
political cronies, etc. The general recovery of hotel rooms for
tourists and housing for locals has been slow, and they've found some
things about their local society (in the "haves and have nots" vein)
that were previously obscured.


Hope this helps,


-hh

I was there last November. Stayed at the Colony Beach Club. Diving was very
good.


"news" <jay@bottom-time-scuba.com> wrote in message
news:EQ8Bj.21613$yk5.7485@newsfe18.lga...
> Hi,
>
> The last time I was in Grand Cayman was at the Sunset house in 1990. Has
> anyone been there lately? How is the diving? I'm assuming that the
> island must have recovered pretty much from the last big hurricane, is
> that true?
>
> Thanks,
> Jay
>
>

I was there last November. Stayed at the Colony Beach Club. Diving was very
good.


"news" <jay@bottom-time-scuba.com> wrote in message
news:EQ8Bj.21613$yk5.7485@newsfe18.lga...
> Hi,
>
> The last time I was in Grand Cayman was at the Sunset house in 1990. Has
> anyone been there lately? How is the diving? I'm assuming that the
> island must have recovered pretty much from the last big hurricane, is
> that true?
>
> Thanks,
> Jay
>
>

I was there last November. Stayed at the Colony Beach Club. Diving was very
good.


"news" <jay@bottom-time-scuba.com> wrote in message
news:EQ8Bj.21613$yk5.7485@newsfe18.lga...
> Hi,
>
> The last time I was in Grand Cayman was at the Sunset house in 1990. Has
> anyone been there lately? How is the diving? I'm assuming that the
> island must have recovered pretty much from the last big hurricane, is
> that true?
>
> Thanks,
> Jay
>
>

I was there last November. Stayed at the Colony Beach Club. Diving was very
good.


"news" <jay@bottom-time-scuba.com> wrote in message
news:EQ8Bj.21613$yk5.7485@newsfe18.lga...
> Hi,
>
> The last time I was in Grand Cayman was at the Sunset house in 1990. Has
> anyone been there lately? How is the diving? I'm assuming that the
> island must have recovered pretty much from the last big hurricane, is
> that true?
>
> Thanks,
> Jay
>
>