Dive Review of Dive Tech/Westin Casuarina Resort & Spa in
Cayman Islands/Grand Cayman

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Dive Tech/Westin Casuarina Resort & Spa, Sep, 2004, by David Vickery & Suzanne Leeson, NJ, USA ( Sr. Reviewer 11 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 1378.
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	“These two”, the DM gestured at my partner and I, “will probably go to 130 feet. Don’t follow them.” The staff at Dive Tech will let experienced divers do their own thing. They just don’t want newbies following you down. Having just left the super service of Ocean Frontiers in the East End, checked in at the Westin on 7 Mile Beach and presented our log books at Dive Tech, we were kind of chagrined to learn that since we weren’t staying at Cobalt Coast, there would be no place to stow our gear. At the end of each dive day we had to hump it up to the room at the Westin, rinse it in the bathtub, and hang it over the balcony. It gave this five star hotel a certain homey feel. And we liked the Westin. Nice pool bar, great sunset beach, nice cigar bar, excellent restaurants (bring money), nice mini-bar, a world-class spa (do it, guys), decadently comfortable mattresses, and, um, the bars were nice, too. Jeez, I hope it’s still standing. Dive Tech is, and that’s a very good thing. Their two boats were washed 1000 yards away from their mooring during hurricane Ivan and are now being repaired. Cobalt Coast survived with minor damage and will re-open at a date yet to be announced. During our six days of diving there, we were allowed to leave the group, go off on our own on the first dive, and basically follow our computers. When we returned to the boat, we were not asked for maximum depth and time. Some folks have reported the staff to be less than friendly. Our take on it is that most are very friendly, some become friendly when they figure out that you know what you’re doing, and some, like the Tattooed Lady, deal with the Open Water courses day in and day out, and have become, frankly, a little too cool for school. One or two of the staff need to remember that newbies become oldbies some day, and instructors or dive masters who relate to them as mentors help them form positive opinions of the sport for years. We’d still dive with these guys anytime. The “Atatude”, a 45-foot twin-screw monohull is reasonably large even with 12 divers, and accommodates almost everyone on the bridge. The head is, well, a head, but they’ve got one. The aluminum 80’s a filled to 3000 psi, and the Nitrox fills (32% only), are fairly consistent in percentage of O2. We saw a lot of life on this trip. Huge schools of horse-eye jacks and Bermuda Chubb, so many turtles we stopped counting, schools of tarpon, three Eagle Rays, nurse sharks, and, unbelievably, during a shore dive at Turtle Reef, an 8-foot hammerhead cruising the sand flats with his bar-jack buddy. We took the West Bay Express, an afternoon scooter trip from Dive Tech’s shop at Cobalt Coast to their shop at Turtle Reef. It’s a little clunky getting six divers and two staff all going at once, and the scooter’s performance depends upon the age of the battery, so we tended to spread out, but we loved it; at least a dozen turtles, some rays, lots of tropicals, and a chance to see a large chunk of the reef, some not visited by boats. So we’re waiting for Dive Tech to open up again, because we’ll be back next April.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Caribbean, Central America, California, New York, Palau, Yap, Australia, Fiji, Hawaii, PNG.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	calm, choppy
Water Temp	84-86°F / 29-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	80-120 Ft/ 24-37 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Do not exceed computer limits.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	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	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Dive Tech/Westin Casuarina Resort & Spa in Cayman Islands/Grand Cayman

Dive Tech/Westin Casuarina Resort & Spa, Sep, 2004,

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 Dive Tech/Westin Casuarina Resort & Spa in
Cayman Islands/Grand Cayman