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Dive Review of Ocean Frontiers/Compass Pointe in
Cayman Islands/East End Grand Cayman

Ocean Frontiers/Compass Pointe, Sep, 2013,

by Howard Kaiser, MO, US (Sr. Reviewer Sr. Reviewer 11 reports with 10 Helpful votes). Report 7171.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 5 stars Food N/A
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments Our 20th trip to Grand Cayman and in the interest of full disclosure, we are partial owners at Compass Point. We take US Air through Charlotte from Kansas City and the trip takes around 6 hours total. We stock our unit at Compass Point with breakfast and lunch items at Hurley's and get beer wine and rum at the liquor store next door. We continue to be impressed by the maintenance at Compass Point and also by the overall management of the facility. Ocean Frontiers is known for its staff and for its service orientation. Gear is picked up at our condo door in crate and we find it set up on the boat the next morning. Since we often dive both A.M and P.M dives, not having to worry about gear or lugging around is paramount. Being able to grab a sandwich and go helps, too! Compass Point has a new bar above the dock called Eagle Ray's. Food was very good and the lionfish ceviche and whole fried lionfish at Tukka's (owned by the same chef) was excellent. Eagle Ray's is a welcome addition.
The staff at Ocean Frontiers continues to be outstanding- a signature of the operation run by Mo Fitzgerald and Steve Broadbelt since they opened the place. We've come to know these folks over the years and we thought enough of them to invest knowing their dive operation would continue with the service we've come to expect.
Dive conditions were fairly good despite late summer squalls coming in almost daily this late in the season. We did not miss a single dive the week we were there despite some threatenng weather. Water temp was 83 degrees , visibility ranged from 100 ft plus on the walls to 40-50 ft towards the end of one day as clouds came in. No current nor really harsh conditions at the entry ladder. Crew was excellent at helping folks get back onto the boat including a few who needed to remove BCs before boarding.
Wall dives were dramatic and coral life , especially at Babylon and The Maze was healthy and prolific. Sharks were spotted on at least 4 or 5 dives during the week, usually on the early morning wall dives. Turtles were fairly consistent , as were spotted eels , a few green morays and a sharp tailed eel- my favorite and only the third one I'd seen! Lionfish population looks like it's being managed well at the moored dive sites. I've noticed them a lot deeper and off the wall compared to the last few trips. Ocean Frontiers is monitoring a database to keep tally of the numbers taken in GC and the effort seems to be helping. My thinking is if Man can decimate grouper, rhino, tiger and wolf populations, eating off lionfish shouldn't be that difficult! Tropical fish populations were fairly robust although we were too late for the silversides in the shallow swimthroughs. Lots of tarpon and pufferfish (burrfish) this trip plus schools of chub and jacks. Divemasters were happy tp point out lettuce leaf sea slugs and cleaner shrimp and other smaller stuff on the shallow dives.
Websites Ocean Frontiers   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving FL Keys, BVI, Baja, Hawaii, Bahamas, Belize, Honduras
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather windy Seas calm, no currents
Water Temp 83-°F / 28-°C Wetsuit Thickness 1
Water Visibility 70-100 Ft/ 21-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Max depth 130 return with 500 psi, no deco diving.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 2 stars Large Fish 2 stars
Large Pelagics 2 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter N/A Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Dedicated camera rinse bucket ; extra attention paid to to larger rigs placed on table .
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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