Dive Review of Sunset House in
Cayman Islands

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Sunset House: "As I Expected", Jan, 2017, by Wayne Joseph, CA, US ( Contributor 13 reports with 11 Helpful votes). Report 9469.
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	My wife & I decided to return to Sunset House after last visiting 15yrs ago. This was our 3rd visit to SH & our 6th visit overall to Grand Cayman. We were at SH in 1987 to take the week long Nikonos course from Jim & Cathy Church. I wanted to return to take a 1 on 1 from one of the photo pros to brush up on my wide angle photography. I received some great instruction from Jim who works for Cathy Church. SH still looks to be in good shape. Our room was clean, the wifi worked well (if we were on the balcony), the food was good (esp. the fish). We had a 3 day 2 tank package (but we stayed 7 nights) and did shore diving and a tank dive on the Kittiwake. You store your gear in an assigned locker (I have to think they will be redoing the lockers soon as mine was being destroyed by termites.)The dive operation wants you to bring all your gear down to the pier, hand it to the staff on the boat, and set up your gear on a tank. They will take your cameras & put them either in a dry spot or in the rinse tank, if you prefer. On the first dive they ask who wants to go deep, who wants to dive shallow, & who wants a guided dive. They will separate the divers according to their preferences. The second dive, as expected, was a shallow dive, no deeper than 50-60ft. I didn't expect the coral to be like I remember 15 yrs ago & I found that the reefs just aren't as healthy as they used to be. (What can you expect with 3-5 cruise ships a day anchoring off shore). But it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. This was the first time I dove the Kittiwake & I thoroughly enjoyed it. The way it lies on the bottom (65ft, I think) and how it is set up is great for photography. There are schools of fish and other life that occupies the inside & outside. (But it still needs more growth). Great for photography. The shore diving is easy and many divers did night dives. Overall, I have to say the trip was all I expected (except how inept American Airlines is). We waited 45min on the plane at the gate in SFO for the pilots to arrive. Then taxied out to the runway & waited another 45min to "burn off excess fuel". The pilot did his best to make up time to Miami & we landed only 1 hr. late. Still time for us to catch our connecting flight to GC. We taxied towards the terminal and then stopped. There was another plane with mechanical problems blocking our gate & it couldn't be moved (according to the pilot). We waited 45 min before they found an empty gate for us to disembark. Obviously, we missed the connecting flight
Websites	Sunset House
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Caymans, Bonaire, San Salvador, Fiji, St. Thomas, California, Sardinia, Hawaii
Closest Airport		Getting There	Flew from SFO to GC through Miami. Flight from SFO was 1.5 hrs late leaving. Missed our connecting flight & had to stay overnight in Miami.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm, choppy
Water Temp	81-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	75-100 Ft/ 23-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No deeper than 100ft. Do a safety stop & come up with 500lbs of air.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	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	N/A	Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Because the Cathy Church Photo Centre is on the premises, I give a high rating to the shore facilities for photographers. They are always willing to critique your photos & help you with any problems you may have.

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Dive Review of Sunset House in Cayman Islands

Sunset House: "As I Expected", Jan, 2017,

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