Dive Review of Sunset House in
Cayman Islands/Grand Cayman

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Sunset House: "Dive operation ruins an otherwise fine dive trip", Oct, 2015, by ALFRED E KHOLOS, CA, US ( 1 report). Report 8477.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I decided to make this trip with my dive club at the last minute, trusting that our club's dive trip coordinator had done his homework. And I must say that the resort itself was wonderful. I had a clean, comfortable room with a flat screen TV. We had wisely purchased a dining package that covered all of our meals. The food was just great! Not covered were alcoholic beverages which were a bit pricey, I thought. The staff was friendly and reasonably efficient. The grounds were well kept and clean. I have to give a very mixed review of the dive operation, however. The shop provided me with a locker and weights for my BCD. Most of the staff were courteous and helpful. We all are Nitrox certified and bought a package that covered all of our dives, including unlimited shore diving. I was not much impressed with the "house reef" and only dove it once for a weight check. The boat dives started with a role call, then DMs and ADMs loaded our equipment onto the boat. We were all tightly controlled after that. The procedure was to go to the selected dive site for the first and deepest dive. We were restricted to no more than 100 FSW for no more than 50 minutes. We were to start our dive with our buddies, stay with our buddies, ascend with our buddies, exit at the same time as our buddies. For newbies, this is a great formula for avoiding mishaps. After a 40 minute surface interval, we dove the second spot, restricted to 50 FSW. Again, the dive was to terminate after 50 minutes maximum. If we violated any of the "rules" we heard about it loudly when we got back on the boat, berated loudly by the DM, Roger Bown, who also was the manager of the dive operation. Since they were considering our safety as a primary concern, I'm inclined to cut them some slack. But that time restriction for the second dive was a bit much. At 50' max depth, I'm able to dive for 90 minutes or more. And I'm nearly 70 years old. Some of the other younger divers are good for 2 hours on an aluminum 80CF tank. To me, it was like being cheated out of 3 days of diving. And don't get me wrong. The diving was pretty good. Lots of mostly small critters, turtles, skates, a juvenile spotted drum, eels, very few lion fish could be seen on every dive. But I was so soured on the regimentation that I skipped the optional dives for "Stingray City" and the wreck of the Kittywake. It was the first time in over 15 years and over 800 dives in resorts and liveaboards all over the world that I didn't leave a tip for the dive operation. I did tip the resort staff, however. So my review is mixed. I'd encourage new divers to go there, but advanced, experienced divers will be happier at other, looser resorts in the Carribean. As I got onboard late, I didn't have a choice of room. I was upstairs above the office and photo shop. Stayed July 2015, traveled with friends
Websites	Sunset House
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Palau & Yap in 2014, La Paz, Baja California (several trips), Socorro Islands, Roatan, Cozumel, Sulawesi, and The California Channel Islands (my home base). I have somewhere between 1000 and 1400 dives.
Closest Airport	Georgetown	Getting There	United Airlines, American, Etc.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-85°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-80 Ft/ 12-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Maximum Depth of 100 FSW for first dive, 50 minutes maximum. Maximum depth of 50 FSW, 50 minutes maximum 2nd dive. 40 minute surface interval. See account above.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	I'm an amateur photographer at best. I almost always dive with a GoPro without accessories. Photographers, given adequate time, will always find something of interest to shoot. With a dive operation working on a strict timetable, this wasn't likely to happen here.

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Dive Review of Sunset House in Cayman Islands/Grand Cayman

Sunset House: "Dive operation ruins an otherwise fine dive trip", Oct, 2015,

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 Sunset House in
Cayman Islands/Grand Cayman