Off the Wall

[cheneral]

Just came back from an incredible dive vacation in the Cayman Islands, with off the wall divers on Grand Cayman. They are part of a multi-boat outfit all taking only 6-8 divers per boat. Their boats are comfortable, more than enough for the 6 on most of our trips. They took us mostly to Grand Cayman west walls, reefs, and two shipwreck dives, the Balboa, and a new wreck dive, the Kittiwake. Our only mistake was trying a shore dive with Dive Tech. I had heard they were a cattle boat operation, so did not book our boat dives with them, but found a coupon for a shore dive and tried that. Big mistake! The north wall they advertise to be a short swim from shore on Grand Cayman, is actually a 100yards or more with strong currents. We are all experienced divers and couldn't make it to the north wall. I doubt many divers could, maybe advanced or divemasters, but that's not what they told us.

Summary,

Off the Wall - Non crowded, great staff, great sites, nice boats.

Dive tech - Cattle boat, also trying to sell dangerous shore dives. I recommend avoiding this one!

[TimLilTx]

My friends and me have been diving in the Cayman Islands for a few years now and tried several of the dive companies. Divetech has always been a corporate cattle boat operation like Red Sail, so I agree with you there. But since Off the Wall divers merged with several other dive companies they are just another large multi boat cattle operation, complete with hordes of cruise passengers!

The most consistenly excellent dive companies I have used on Grand Cayman are,
Neptunes
Cayman Turtle Divers

and a new Grand Cayman dive company, Living the Dream Divers.

[edlane]

My wife and me did our advanced diver certifications with Divetech and they were very professional. They are an advanced and technical dive training company, so not really a recreational diving company. They did have quite a few people on the boats when we went, but I wouldn't call it a cattle boat, like Red Sail.

[biccnora]

I've been diving in the Cayman islands every year for the past 6 years, tried quite a few of smaller dive companies, including Off the Wall. When we first dove with them in the late 90s they were our favorite Cayman dive company. A couple years ago their owner Danny sold the company and that is when I believe the Off the Wall diver death toll started. Danny was one of the best divemasters we had the pleasure of diving with, over the course of a dozen or so dives we were never disappointed, and always found the service to be exceptional. The last time we went with Off the Wall was last year and the only thing the same was the boat, and even the boat was not in the same shape that Danny kept it. For all intents and purposes Off the Wall Divers ceased to exist when Danny left the company.

I firmly believe that it's the people that make the dive companies what they are, especially the smaller mom and pop type of dive outfits. With Danny gone, the boat in dire need of maintenance, and the divemaster just a hired hand, they really should change their name. As far as I know there were no diver fatalities when Danny was running the company and out on the boat, all of that started happening after he left.

As far as I know Danny is not in the dive business anymore, or even in the Caymans, so Off the Wall is a new dive company, one with a bad safety record, a poorly maintained boat, and a staff that doesn't seem to care much about customer satisfaction or safety.

Anyone who used to dive with Off the Wall need to know that they are not the same company they used to be, and there are quite a few dive companies that only take small groups who DO have the owners on the boat. Why is that important? Who would care more about the satisfaction of their customers, a hired hand or the owners of the company?

Last trip we used a new dive outfit called Living the Dream and they were at least as good if not better than Off the Wall. The owners ARE on the boat and their dedication to customer satisfaction is extraordinary. They took us to sites well beyond the usual with only about a half dozen people on a boat designed to take twice that. Since then they have gotten an even larger boat and still limit their divers to 6, or maybe it's 8 now, but their boat is so big and well designed it could easily hold twice the number they take.

I think Living the Dream would be the best replacement for anyone who used to dive with Off the Wall.

[shrop3483]

Biccnora. . . you have your facts "completely" wrong. If you'd like to know more, you are welcome to write me directly at shrop3483@aol.com. Thank you. TKS

[shrop3483]

@ Tim. . . . I think you have your dive companies mixed up. You seem to have a lot of incorrect information re: Off The Wall Divers. If you'd like to know what I know. . . . I welcome your e-mail. shrop3483@aol.com
Thank you-

[blaineD]

The OP must have made a typo. BOTH Off the Wall AND Divetech have the WORST safety records for diver deaths, mortality, incidents, leaving divers behind, etc. in the Cayman Islands. Add Red Sail to the list and you've got a perfect list of the three dive companies to avoid when diving in the Cayman Islands.

Much better choices for SAFE, affordable, CROWD FREE diving in Grand Cayman,
Living the Dream
Neptune's
Cayman Diving School

They are all very experienced small dive outfits, all with perfect safety records, and only take 8 divers max.

[dhenderstat]

Since no one else responded I will, with the referecnce sources here
http://www.cdnn.info

Divetech, Red Sail, and Off the Wall have had the most diver fatalities in the Cayman Islands.

[shrop3483]

Since no one else responded I will, with the referecnce sources here
http://www.cdnn.info

Divetech, Red Sail, and Off the Wall have had the most diver fatalities in the Cayman Islands.

The information listed by DHENDERSTAT" about Off The Wall Divers is simply not true. According to the former owner of the company, they have never had a diving fatality and I've never heard of one at this company.

Stop the incorrect post. Get your facts straight. (If you wish to continue this discussion, you are welcome to do so at shrop3483@aol.com)

[NicoleT2]

The dive company we used to use in Grand Cayman went out of business so we tried Off the Wall last time for one day of diving on our last trip a few months ago. They did an okay job but not in the same league of highly personalized outfits operating in the Caymans now, like Living the Dream and Neptune's.

Our rule of thumb for diving in Grand Cayman, based on almost 10 trips to the Cayman Islands, and including 2 to Little Cayman
BEST Grand Cayman dive companies
Living the Dream
Neptunes
Cayman Diving School


WORST Grand Cayman dive companies
Red Sail
Divetech
Ocean Frontiers (mostly because of their ridiculously high prices and extremely rough sea conditions)