August 17-20, 2022 at Sunset House
Cayman (land and sea tour)
This trip is fully booked, but please check back in case of cancellations.
Enjoy the best of both worlds
Three nights at Sunset House Hotel and weather permitting, a week in Little Cayman/Cayman Brac aboard the Cayman Aggressor V with Cathy Church teaching and helping everyone get photos underwater.
Price (USD)
Cost for this Cayman Islands adventure at Sunset House and aboard the Cayman Aggressor V depends on your room choices. Here are three sample packages, but any combination of room choice is available on a first come, first serve basis.
Payable by check; additional 2.5% for payment by credit card
Package one
$4,470 double occupancy per person
Courtyard room at Sunset House and a Twin room aboard the Cayman Aggressor V
Package two
$4,910 double occupancy per person
Ocean View room at Sunset House and a Deluxe room on Aggressor
Package three
$5,154 double occupancy per person
Suite at both Sunset House and Aggressor
Included
INCLUDED:
- Three nights at Sunset House
- Pizza Party/orientation dinner on arrival night hosted at the photo centre
- Daily breakfast at Sea Harvest Restaurant at Sunset House
- Two morning two (or three tank) boat dives and unlimited shore and shore night diving with Sunset Divers, with tanks, weights and weight belts
- Nitrox
- Instruction and coaching with two instructors plus Cathy for three scheduled sessions. Private classes on earlier days or other hours are available and billed by the hour.
- Transfer from Airport to Sunset House and transfer from Sunset House to the Aggressor. You are on your own to get from the Aggressor back to the airport.
- Seven nights accommodations aboard the Aggressor, (per person, based on double occupancy).
- All meals, snacks and beverages on the Aggressor up to the mid day meal on the August 26. Dinner at Casanova restaurant on the 26th is not included by Aggressor but is included in your package with Cathy and includes beer and wine and a set menu with several choices.
- All diving activities
- Coaching/lectures/critique/troubleshooting/back-up equipment from 7 am to 9 pm available to the group from Cathy above water. Limited assistance underwater as Cathy will be taking her own camera into the water.
NOT INCLUDED:
US$95 port fee payable on the boat
Not included
- Airfare to Grand Cayman
- Gratuities for photo instructors, Sunset dive staff and Aggressor staff
- Travel insurance is always very important for an overseas dive trip and we highly recommend adequate cover – this is a group trip and we do not supply insurance or cover the cost of cancellation
- Diver insurance is required and mandatory as is your Nitrox certification.
Schedule
1
Diving starts in Grand Cayman
Our first dives in Grand Cayman will start with a long three-hour shallow macro dive. You can relax and let the creative ideas flow. Spend enough time to get the subject just right and to get your buoyancy and camera systems fine tuned. On the second day, we will do a wall dive for the unique photos available at Orange Canyon or NW point or even Big Tunnel.
In Little Cayman, the wall starts shallow and you can stay there for a long time, or drop down into deeper water and explore the sheer vertical drop-off. No where else is there diving just like the Bloody Bay Wall of Little Cayman! It is easy, plentiful, and gorgeous. Bring your wide-angle lens for scenic photos and your macro too, and your medium lens for fish and your video for the groupers, and your big memory cards and extra batteries for quick change between dives and your Nitrox card! Every one must be Nitrox certified so you can enjoy more leisurely diving and less fatigue.
2
Arrival day at Sunset House is August 17, 2022
Cathy and three staff meet with you individually to review camera settings and help you perform a complete function test of your assembled camera system as you follow the instructions from a handout e-mailed to you in advance. After we help you test, adjust, and add whatever you might need to make your system as functional as possible underwater you may just relax or go for a shore dive with a buddy to check everything out. There will be orientation and a pizza party dinner that evening at the photo centre—or maybe outdoors.
Cathy has the world’s most experienced underwater photo centre with two veteran instructors: Theunis Neethling and Lisa Collins—both of whom have been teaching underwater photography for well over ten years. This special land/sea combo combines the best diving resort with the best live-aboard in the Cayman Islands.
3
Land plan
The style will be much like the very popular Cathy Church Photo Fest weeks held annually at Sunset House. But this special week has only three nights on land and a week at sea, and it has a smaller group of only 18 guests.
4
August 18 and 19
The group will be diving from two Sunset Diver dive boats that leave around 8 am with nine guests plus one instructor on each boat to help you above and underwater. Cathy will be on one boat per day. Enjoy up to three-hour dives on a shallow reef to relax, and get used to your camera system and plan your photos. When your tank runs low, just go back to the boat and the wonderful Sunset Dive crew will change it to a fresh tank while you enjoy a drink of water and go right back down.
Choose from assorted activities in the afternoon: photo lecture, Lightroom lessons, shore diving, critique, and even sleep.
4
August 20-27
The morning of the 20th is free, then the group will be be transported, with Cathy, in the afternoon to the Cayman Aggressor, where they will enjoy a week of diving around the Cayman Islands with underwater photography expert help from Cathy, until the 27th. Departure is in the morning, so please arrange your flights accordingly. Extra days at Sunset House can be arranged. Please contact us for more details.
Live-aboard
The new 120′ Cayman Aggressor V has 7 crew. There are 3 twin and 5 deluxe cabins and 2 balcony suites, each with individual air conditioning, en suite facilities and hairdryer.
The public areas are all big on this boat. The dive deck is huge and entirely shaded. There are two large double shelved camera tables and diving is done from the stern platform. The boat is always moored to the dive site, so there is no travel time between gearing up and being underwater.
In the oversized salon, there is plenty of room to relax with your computer and look at your photos, assemble cameras, or just read. Cathy meets with those who need to solve problems, share ideas, or just chat. There are no rules except to be polite.
Between dives nap in the shade on the sun deck, or on cushioned lounges in the sun, or even in a Jacuzzi!
Dining
Every day starts with a cooked-to-order breakfast, then a buffet lunch. Dinner is served with elegant table-side service featuring salads, vegetables, seafood, beef or chicken with a fresh homemade dessert. Fresh produce is readily available and their menu includes variety to suit all tastes and diets.
Reservation information
Checks
Payable to Cathy Church Photo Center
Mail to
Cathy Church Photo Center
Sunset House
390 South Church Street
Grand Cayman, KY1-1106 Cayman Islands
Credit Card
345-949-7415 Cayman number
607-330-3504 U.S. direct with credit card information
There is a 2.5% credit card surcharge for all portions paid for with credit card. We accept all major credit cards including American Express.
Payments (USD)
$1,000 with reservation
2nd payment of US$1500 due by September 2020
3rd payment of 50% of trip balance due December 2020
Final balance due by February 2021
Cancellation Policy (USD)
If a cancellation is made
Before 1 September 2020, US$1,000 deposit forfeited
Between 1 September 2020 and 1 December 2020, US$2,500 is forfeited
Between 1 December 2020 and 1 February 2021, US$2,500 plus 50% of trip balance is forfeited
After 1 February 2021, 100% of trip balance is forfeited
PLEASE NOTE CREDIT CARD FEES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE
Dive insurance is mandatory and we strongly recommend adequate travel insurance. This is a group booking with group cancellation terms. We are not insurance agents and can not cover the cost of cancellations.
