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DivingConditions
Overview
CompassPoint'sonsitediveoperator,OceanFrontiers,specializingindivingthe55divesitesaroundtheEastEnd
DistrictofGrandCaymancentraltoCompassPointslocation,ensuringshortboatridestothebestdiving.Thegoodthing
abouttheEastEndDistrictofGrandCaymanisthatthereisaNorth,EastandSouthsidesoftheendoftheisland,with
oneormoreofthesidesnormallyofferinggooddivingconditions.OceanFrontiershistoricaltrackrecordofdiving
averages363daysoftheyear.In2013OceanFrontiersrandiveboatseverysingledaywithnocancelationsdueto
inclementweather.Onrareoccationdivesmaybecancelledduetobadweathersuchashurricanesorlightening.Ocean
Frontiershasareliability'triprun'ratingof99.45%.Whatthismeans.....thechancesare,we'regoingdiving!
THEDIVINGCONDITIONSCANBESUMMARIZEDASFOLLOWS:
WaveHeights=Average23ft,rangeof05ft
WindSpeeds=Annualaverage11knots,rangeof018
Currents=lessthan0knots,verymildtonone
WaterTemperature=78f86fdegrees,lowestFeb.,highestSept.
Visability=80200ft,Averageof100feetonmostdives.
TripRunRating=99.45%,cancellationsarerareduetoweatherandweoperateallyearround.
Visability:
Awidelydebatedtopicwithseveraldefinitions,whichwemeasureby'Howfarawaycanyouseeanotherdiver'(your
buddyshouldbecloserthan100feet).Verticalvisibility,istypicallygreaterthanhorizontalvisibility,butfiguresstatedare
alwaysinhorizontalasthatisthemostrelaventfornavigationalpurposes.ThevisabilityintheCaymanIslandscanbe
describedasgood,verygood,orcrystalclearsomuchso,thatitisrarelyconsideredwhenpickingadivesiteaswe
oftentakeitforgrantedhowgoodthevisabilityisinCayman.Thereasonfortheexceptionalwaterclarityisduetothe
factthatwehavenomountainsorriversintheCaymanIslandsandthereforenorunofftocausesediment.Theremote
locationfromanymainlandandextreamdeepwatertrenchesresultinsomeofthebestunderwatervisabilityyouwillfind
anywhereintheworld.Caution:onceyouhavebeendivingintheCaymanIslandsyoumaybecomea'VizSnob'and
refusetogodivinginanythinglessthan80ftviz.
Wind:
Windspeedsvaryfromzero(0)to1214knotsmostoftheyearintheCaymanIslands,withgustsmuchstrongerfrom
timetotimeduringapassingstormorcoldfront.ThewinddirectioneitherpravailsfromtheNorthEastfromNovember
throughAprilorSouthEastfromMaythroughOctober.However,generaltrendsmaynotbetypicalforeveryweekofthe
year.Winddirectioniskeywhenselectingwhichdivesiteswewillbevisitingeachday,forexample:ifwindsare
prevailingfromtheSouth,thentheNorthshorewouldhavethemostfavorabledivingconditions.Windchillfactorsarenot
normallyconsideredduringoursummermonths,butduringDecemberthroughMarch,ajacketorsweatermayprovide
somecomfortonthediveboatafterorbetweendives.
Waves:
DivingconditionsontheEastEndofGrandCaymannormallyhavesomemildorslightwaveaction.Weareinthe

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DivingConditions
CaribbeanSeaandnottheNorthAtlanticsonormalconditionsarefavorabletodivingallyear.EastEndconsistsofthree
distinctdivingareasandadverseweathersuchasstrongwindsandwavesdoesnotpreventusfromdiving,butinstead
mayonlylimitustodivingcertainareasthataremoreprotectedwithinthedistrict.Wedohave55divesitestochoose
fromandintheunlikelyeventofinclementweather,thatmaybereducedslightly.Forexampleiftherearelargewaveson
theNorthcoastoftheEastEnd,youwillfindthattheSouthcoastofEastEndtobeprotectedandcalm,orviceversa.
WaterTemperature:
WatertemperatureintheCaymanIslandspeaksat86fdegreesinSeptembereachyearanddipsto78fdegreesin
Febuary.Thetemperaturechangesapproximately1.5fdegreespermonth,December/Januaryisaround81fdegrees.June
andNovemberhavethesamewatertemperatureJuneis82fduringtheupwardcycletothepeakandNovemberis82fon
thewaybackdowntothelowinFebruary.Thereisverylittlevariationintemperaturebetween30feetand100feetdeep
andnodistinctthermocline.Intheveryshallowareaslessthan10feetyouwillfindelevatedtemperaturesoutsideof
normalrangesinthesummermonths.
FromJulyOctoberverylittleornoexposureprotectionisneededandmostscubadiverswillweararashgaurd/diveskin.
JuneandNovemberashorty3mmwetsuitorsimilarisrecommended.DecemberthroughMarchafull3mmwetsuitor
shortyisrecommended,especiallyifyouarescubadivingallday.Everydiverisdifferentandsomeprefertoweara
wetsuityearroundandsome(evendivestaff)justwearshortsandarashgaurdallyear.Rentalwetsuitsareavailableat
thediveshopifyouwishtoaddanotherlayer.
Currents:
CurrentisdefinedastheflowofwaterinonedirectionfrompointAtopointB.CurrentsunderwaterintheCaymanIslands
areuncommonondivesites.Thebestmethodtoscubadiveincurrentsisby'DriftDive',whereastheboatwoulddropoff
agroupofdiversatpointAandpickthemupdowncurrentatpointB.Divesitesaretestedforcurrentaftertyingupona
mooring,bydroppingaweightedlinefromthediveboatandmonitoringtheangleofthelinetodeterminethedirectionand
strengthofthecurrent.Ifthecurrentisofnoticablestrength,thediveboatwouldtypicallyrelocatetoanothersitewithout
currentoropttoconductadriftdive.

Surge:
Surgeisdefinedasthebackandforthmovementoftheoceancausedbywavespassingthroughfromdeepertoshallow
depths.Surgenotnormallyfeltonwalldivesatdepth,butoccationallyonshallowdivesinareasshallowerthan30feet
deep.SurgemaybepresentonsomeoftheshallowdivesonEastEnd.
Seasons:
SeasonsintheCaymanIslandsfollowthesamepatternasanyothercountryintheNorthernHemmispherehowever,the
seasonshavemuchlessvariationandmaynotbeanoticabledifferencetosome.SummerseasonrunsfromJunethrough
AugustandtypicallyhasprevailingwindsfromtheSouth,resultinginmoredivetripsrunningtotheNorthshoreofEast
End.Thesummerisknownforsomeofthecalmestdivingconditions,especiallyontheNorthside.Summerisalsoknown
forSilverSidesbloomingontheshallowdivesitesandinearlysummeryouwillseemoreGreenSeaTurtlesthanother
timesofyear.Fall/Autumnispeakhurricaneseason,SeptemberthroughNovember,buthasthewonderfultradeoffof
someofthebestdivingconditionsyoucouldeverimagine.Septemberisalsotheonlytimeduringtheyearthatyoucan
witnesscoralspawning.WinterisfromDecemberthroughMarchandofferslesshumidityandcoolerbreezestopside.The
divingconsidtionsinthewintercanbeimpactedbyslightlystrongerwindsfromtheNorth,resultinginmoredivetrips
runningtotheSouthshoreofEastEnd.SpringisAprilthroughJuneandisthetimeofyearyouwillseethemostfishlife
activityonthereefs,especiallywithmassiveschoolsjuvenilereeffish,suchasBlueChromis.
MotionSickness:
Wefindtherearethreekindsofdiverswhenitcomestomotionsickness.1Youdon'tgetseasick,neverhave,neverwill
andshouldhaveconsideredacareerintheNavy.,2Youtypicallydon'tgetseasickbutneedtopayattentiontowhatyou
eatandtendtokeepageneraleyeonthehorizon.,or3Yougetseasickjustlookingataboatandregardlessofthe
weather,'IT'couldhappen.Ifyouaresusceptibletomotionsickness,werecommendtakingnonprescriptionmedication
thatisavailableatanypharmacyordivestore.Alternativelysomediversprefernaturalremediessuchasginger.Wealso
recommendavoidinggreasyfoodsforbreakfastandingeneralmonitorwhatyoueatpriortodiving.Whenonboardthe
vessel,avoidreadingabookorworkingonyourdivegearwithoutaclearviewofthehorizon.Evendiverswhohavea
tendencytogetseasick,don'taslongastheboatismoving.Assoonastheboatstops,iswhenthesensationstartsto
setinifthisiswhathappenstoyou,thenwerecoomendadvisingthecrewandmakingsureyuoareinthefirstgroupto
enterthewaterwithyourbuddy.Mostdiversfeelinstantlybetterassoonastheygetofftheboat.Seasicknesscan
easilybeavoidedwithmedicationandawareness.

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