“Yo ho, yo ho a pirate’s life for me” with that refrain in our minds, a small but quality group of divers led by Scuba Shack instructor Peter Katz, set out for Grand Cayman Island for a long weekend of diving and participation in “Pirates Week”. Upon our arrival at Cobalt Coast Resort, we were greeted and treated as royalty by Arie and his staff, notably Kirsten and Dora, who made sure all our needs were attended to.
Cobalt Coast is a well maintained dedicated diver resort, located in West Bay beyond Seven Mile Beach and not far from the turtle farm. It is extremely well run, yet laid back where you can hang by the pool, or lounge on the beach. It is very comfortable for non-divers who may decide to accompany divers. Our trip included daily breakfast buffet, lunch and dinner were also available. The quality and variety of the meals was remarkable, the first night some of us dined on lionfish, prepared fresh from local waters.
Diving was provided by Dive Tech the onsite dive operation. Our trip included three days of two tank boat dives and unlimited shore diving on boat dive days. Unfortunately, there was a strong northeast wind that prevented us from diving in front of Cobalt Coast but more of shore diving later. The dive staff at Dive Tech was extremely friendly and attentive. Emma and Christian, to name just a couple, provided us with excellent dive briefings (the turtles were found exactly where they were drawn in relation to the boat) as well as generous bottom times (60 minutes). Diving was typical Cayman, 82 degree water with 80+ feet of visibility, walls, swim throughs, wrecks and reefs.
One of the highlights was the treasure hunt shore dive. In conjunction with Pirates Week, Dive Tech and Cobalt Coast sponsor an underwater treasure hunt as a charity fund raiser. Participation is an extra $25, Dive Tech provided us with transportation to Light House Point, their second shore dive site, as well as nitrox and weights. Approximately 70 divers participated, searching for metal disks with numbers written on them that ended up corresponding to prizes. This was shore diving at its finest, no need to trudge across sand and rocks. Benches under a protective covering provided a stable area to set up our gear and access to the water was via a giant stride from a concrete pier. Exiting the water was no problem due to the large, stable ladder provided at the end of the pier. The dive was in 30-60 feet of water to a mini wall where I was more distracted by the variety of sea life than the task of finding the prize disks. We were allowed to take two disks each thereby allowing others to also reap rewards. Needless to say, there were many more disks than divers/snorkelers and those of us who collected more than the allotted two were more than willing to share with those who couldn’t find any. The treasure hunt ended up at Cobalt Coast with the awarding of the prizes, no disappointments, everyone was a winner.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the pirate activities. On Friday night, my band of marauders, dressed in our pirate/wench garb, went into Georgetown to participate in the street festival/firework display. Much to our surprise, we were not the only pirates in town. Actually, we felt underdressed since some of the people we met spent a great deal of time and effort in getting the pirate/pirate wench costume just right. The fireworks display was first rate, much to our amazement. Food vendors were in abundance with a variety of palate pleasing offerings at a reasonable price. There were bands, singing contests and wenches strolling the street. It was quite a night! Not to be outdone, Saturday afternoon the pirates attacked Georgetown with two ships and the requisite cannonade. The governor and the red coats were taken captive and all spectators and participants cheered! Immediately following the enactment, the parade started. It was a wonderful afternoon.
What would a trip be without some terrific restaurants? We were fortunate to stumble upon a delightful beachfront place, The Tiki Bar, on Seven Mile Beach that provided us with a couple of evenings of relaxation and quality libations. The Calypso Grill, although conjuring up images of fried fish and chips, was anything but. A beautiful setting in Morgan’s Harbour, an extensive menu, and a well stocked wine cellar made it the surprise hit of the trip. Of course a trip to Grand Cayman would not be complete without an evening dining under the stars at The Wharf, a premier dining establishment.
Our weekend was jam packed with fun activities and all too soon came to an end. Divers and non-divers alike agreed that it was an exciting time and vowed to return next year for Pirates Week, although, next year we would invest more effort in our pirate/wench costumes so we could compete with the “regulars”.
