Dive Review of Red Sail Sports/Hyatt Beach Resort in
Cayman Islands/Grand Cayman, West End

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Red Sail Sports/Hyatt Beach Resort, May, 2007, by Marty Giesecke, TX, U.S.A. ( Reviewer 3 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 3374.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	For a quick trip to dive with friends who were visiting Grand Cayman, I had booked a four day Dive and Sail package through Red Sail Sports before my departure to Grand Cayman. Check in was reasonably smooth at the dive shop on the Hyatt property. The boat departed from the beach in front of the Hyatt at around 8:00 a.m. and always stopped at the Westin to pick up more divers before heading out to the dive sites. On the return, the Westin divers were dropped off first, followed by the Hyatt divers. If you want to sleep in, stay within walking distance of the Westin. Most days we were back around noon. Only one boat (Reef Spirit) was in operation on the four days I dove with Red Sail, and on one of those days twenty-two divers aboard was too crowded. The custom made, flat hulled boats are relatively well set up for divers, with divers and their gear situated along the perimeter of the deck, a table in the middle for cameras on the top surface, dry storage of towels and t-shirts (and life jackets) below, two rinse tanks--one for cameras only and one for masks, two fresh water shower wands astern, and space beneath the benches for a gear bag--it will get wet. The dives were pretty much limited in the following manner for computer divers: the first dive was 100 ft for 35 min; a forty-five minute surface interval; a second dive to 50 ft for 55 min (computer divers); a safety stop of at least three minutes was requested for every dive. Table divers had their bottom times appropriately limited. After three days of seeing me dive, the guides did not really make a fuss on the last day when I was first in the water and last out, with dive times longer than those stated. Cylinders are 72 cubic feet, and I was told that most of the operators on Grand Cayman had converted to these smaller cylinders. The dive guides were professional, safety conscious and helpful. Especially good dive guides were Gerald, James and Mark. Nitrox is available--my mixes were consistently 31 to 32%. Back at the Hyatt, there are two additional rinse tanks, one near the check-in window and one near the locker room--the water in the latter looked a bit a couple of times. The dive shop personnel were, for the most part, helpful and friendly; still, when I asked what time to show up for the night dive, I received a different time from each of three individuals. It had been seventeen years since I dove the sites accessed from Seven Mile Beach. The crew did their best not to repeat any dive sites for the divers who expressed an opinion. We visited Big Tunnel, Sand Chute, Trinity Caves and Northwest Point as deep dives. All had swim throughs in the wall; the deepest, on Big Tunnel, exits on the wall from about 104 feet to 120 feet. Large tarpon and schools of horse-eye jacks were seen at these sites, along with the occasional large schoolmaster, dog snapper and tiger grouper. Of these sites, Northwest Point was the most pristine, from the coral health point of view. It is a slightly more challenging dive, with current and exposure to wind and wave action. Here we saw three turtles and scores of nesting ocean triggers. Shallow dives were done on Bolero (Red Sail called it Polero), Aquarium South, Lone Star Ledges, and Royal Palms Ledge. The typical shallow reef life was seen on these dives--spiny lobster, the occasional small hawksbill eating a sponge--always accompanied by one or two French or Grey angels, Sergeant majors guarding egg masses, and nearly the entire range of Caribbean parrotfish. On a night dive at the Oro Verde, a large black grouper was seen hiding beneath the now fallen-to-the-sand hull plates. Many adult rainbow parrotfish and a large green moray also chose this area to spend the night hours. On the nearby reef, a large hawksbill turtle slept on the sandy bottom beneath a coral overhang. On the whole, the diving was better than I expected. Red Sail Sports was about as professional as an operation can be. If the boat with less experienced divers limits one’s pleasure, Red Sail offers single boat charters for small groups wishing to do their own thing.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Throughout the Caribbean, throughout the tropical Pacific.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	rainy, cloudy	Seas	calm
Water Temp	81-0°F / 27--18°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-60 Ft/ 12-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	See below
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Red Sail Sports/Hyatt Beach Resort in Cayman Islands/Grand Cayman, West End

Red Sail Sports/Hyatt Beach Resort, May, 2007,

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Red Sail Sports/Hyatt Beach Resort in
Cayman Islands/Grand Cayman, West End