Scuba Diving in Grand
Cayman is an
unforgettable experience. The Cayman Islands are known for the fantastic
scuba diving the Islands offer. What is not always known is how
to get to dive sites without a boat. We have unlocked some
of Grand Cayman's (the biggest Island in the Cayman Islands) best secrets for you to discover the next time you will
be scuba diving in Grand Cayman. Please note that conditions are
not always favorable for offshore scuba diving in all locations.
Dive smart and recognize when it is too rough for an excursion.
The pictures depicted in some locations were taken in less than
ideal conditions to show that it is not always calm.
Distance from shore:
30(miniwall) to 100yards(wall)
Tanks or
equipment
available on site: YES
Accessible:
Most of the year
Marker buoy:
Yes
Dept:
40ft
Map:
The
West Bay Miniwall is a Grand Cayman Island favorite
scuba diving location, a
colorful shallow dive,
with an array of sea life and an excellent night dive. The
entrance is simple but you can get in the water two different
ways. One way is by the dive shop but one must rent tanks
from there and go down a steep long lather, we found on some
night dives with rougher conditions the swells were a bit much
and kept pushing us against the steps.
If
you do not have tanks this location is fine but if you have
rented tanks from somewhere else take the entrance on the left
(our favorite) where you can jump in pretty easily and we did
find less swells. The entrance here is right next to the
Turtle Farm, it is more adventurous, but on the other hand, it
gives a more remote feeling before and
after the dive. The way to the miniwall is easy and very
short swim to the right of both entrances.
If you are scuba diving here in the
day, we suggest swimming on the surface to the left until you
get to the end of the Turtle Farm wall, the fish life there is
spectacular because of the Turtle
farm outlet. Than, double back under water to the right to see
the miniwall. Undoubtedly, during a night dive take a
right straight to the miniwall to view humongous Elephant Ears
and lots and lots of marine life and critters.
The wall at Northwest Point is spectacular,
starting
at a mere 55ft, the caves will take you downwards to a dept of
100ft overlooking the deepest blue you have ever seen. The
entrance is not the easiest and one has to be careful walking to
the edge in order to jump in the water.
The easier way to
do this is to carry your scuba dive gear to the edge and simply throw
it in the water to your dive buddy (not on top of your
dive buddy) you can then jump in and put you gear on in the
water. Do practice this on sandy bottoms or in calm
waters before you do this, you'll find it
much easier that
carrying all the weight on your back before getting in the water
and might enjoy it so much that you will continue doing it, we
did.
Most of us swim with the gear off to the dive sites
before we put our equipment on. Inflate your BC to the fullest
and use it as a raft, the snorkeling
is fantastic to most of these dive sites and you'll conserve all
your air for the "real" dive.
Before
attempting this dive location, walk to the edge and take a look,
if you are comfortable with the exit, and there is no wave
action, jump on in. On the way out, you will have to do the
same as when you entered, just backwards. Dive buddy takes
off the gear and exits, you hand him/her the gear, then you
can
get out.
There
is a small ledge right on the edge of the water you can use a
platform, that will make the exit a lot easier.
Cheeseburger reef is so named because of the land mark you'll see on
shore once you arrive on the reef. A beautiful shallow
scuba dive, it's easily accessible from shore by a beautiful beach
entrance right next to the main road entering George Town.
Gearing up before the dive is simply done on
the adjacent parking lot by the entrance. The relatively
shore swim will take you to a submerged coral formation in about
40ft of water.
Eden Rock adjacent to Devil's
Grotto are a favorite shallow dive.
Riddled by numerous large caves in shallow depths, this dive is
easily accessed from Club Paradise Restaurant by step carved out
of the iron shore entering the water. Dive
tanks have to be rented by the onsite dive shop during the day
but you'll have to bring your own equipment and dive tanks for
night dives.
Swim on the surface until you get
to the white buoys about 50yards away from shore, which will
bring you right at the start of the site. By swimming a
few feet farther out, you can then descend on the sand bottom to
40ft and start exploring the caves.
Eden
Rock offers great marine life with large schools of Silversides,
Tarpons and multitudes of other fish species and sponges.
The Blue Parrott bar was
unfortunately damaged during a storm
in 2001. Gone are the days of night dives before a good
night at bar to swap dive stories. The diving is still
excellent and now you can drive all the way to the edge of the
water and suite up on the edge of the water in a large parking
pier facing the dive site.
The entrance is easy, one can
simply jump in from the pier or use the steps carved out of the
rocks. The shallow reef lays in 40ft of water and offers a
large amount of Groupers, Angel Fish, Turtles, Tarpons, Eagle
Rays and an array of other tropical species.
At
night you might very easily spot huge crabs walking along the
bottom as well as Eels, Octopus and even sleeping Turtles.
(Do not flash dive lights at the Turtles while they sleep!!
Imagine how you would feel...)
The wall is about 100yards out
and worth the swim. The collection of barrel sponges and
black coral is impressive. For photographers, the
collections of Feather Dusters that collect on the anchor chain
by the humongous buoys near by are excellent for micro
photography. Get there before they clean the chains.
Entrance
difficulty:◊◊ If weather is optimal e.g. no waves
Distance from shore: 100yards(wall)
Tanks or
equipment
available on site: NO
Accessible:
Only a few months a year. Mostly June-October and
during rare winter North West Winds
Marker buoy:
NO
Dept:
Wall lip 55ft
Map:
I have to admit this is one of my favorite
dives, perhaps
because of the cave entrances on to the wall or the abundant sea
life, on a calm day this is where you'll find me. The
entrance is fairly easy, once again you'll have to use the carry
your gear with you rather that on you, to walk to through the
channel.
This dive should not be attempted under
any circumstances if there are waves braking on the reef!
I did and it was no fun at all, we lost a Nikonis (if you find
it you can keep it!) a fin and had a massive leg cramp. Having
said that, when conditions allow this offshore dive, you'll be
longing to get back in as soon as you are out of the water.
Set up your gear in the parking
lot and carry it to the beach. You'll find the channel
easily, walk "through" it, it's only 3ft deep until you
get out of the channel. Swim on the surface to the left and try to line up
with the pink house on shore until you get to the edge of the
wall. There you will find a series of caves at 55ft, you
can submerge into the caves and come out on the wall at 105ft.
I
have spotted an Eagle
Ray and Turtles on every dive I have been on in Prospect.
The shallow reef on the way back is also incredibly beautiful,
so if air allows, swim back underwater to decompress slowly.
The beauty here is mostly attributed to the very few divers that
dive this area, it's a bit too far for dive boats to reach from
George Town so the area is mostly untouched, please keep it this
way. As always, take only pictures and leave only
bubbles!!
Accessible:
Only a few months a year. Mostly June-October and
during rare winter NorthWest Winds
Marker buoy:
NO
Dept:
Shallow dive 55ft
Map:
In order to get to this dive site you need to drive to Pedro
St. James
and take a right on West Lane St.
Not to
discourage, but I'm not sure why we have included this dive
location. It's not that this dive site is not a "good
one", the weather makes it inaccessible throughout most of the
year.
If anything,
just the view and location makes it worthwhile visiting the
area and it's hidden enough to make it a fun exploration.
The reef formation lays at approx 50ft on a sandy bottom, the
marine life is abundant and the water clarity is exceptional.
This is one of the spots where the famed 250ft visibility can be
experienced and truly, you will not believe your eyes.
The entrance is not the easiest, so do "take a
look" before you take your gear to the edge of the water.
The whole area is on a cliff (a cliff by our standards, it's
about 15ft in this spot) you will have to walk down to the edge
of the water on iron shore. The iron shore "cliff" is not
very sharp; walking on it is not very difficult.
There is a ledge on the shoreline you can use to
jump in and get
out after the dive that makes a very good platform so the three
stars rating for difficulty really pertains to the walk to the
water and the usually rough conditions.
Do not attempt this dive if there are waves smashing against
the shore! Do visit this spot for the shear beauty
just in case it's too rough will not be too disappointed.
Note: These pictures were taken under less
than ideal conditions in order to make it clear that it's not
calm all the time in this location, on the day these pictures
were taken I would have aborted the dive and just sat and
relaxed with a beautiful view.
Accessible:
Most of the year especially in the summer months
Marker buoy:
NO
Dept:
Wall lip 55ft
Map:
Another great wall dive can be found here at
Breakers.
This dive has great requisites, a short walk from the car to the
shore, the wall is not too far from shore and the entrance is
fairly easy. Keep in mind that it does get pretty rough in
Breakers at times so this dive, like all others has to be
tackled only on calm days.
You can park
the car on the main road, set up your gear and take it a few
steps into the water. The channel is not marked but can be
easily distinguished
from shore and from the water on the way in. Once passed
the channel, line up with the little church on the left (looking
at the shore line) for the beautiful Oriental Gardens and
Japanese Gardens dive sites.
If you head
straight out from the channel you will find a dive site a friend
of mine calls French Quarter, the caves and tunnels there surely
gave this spot that name. The
wall there starts at 55ft, good water clarity and marine life.
Don't be discouraged by the shark
feeding sign at the restaurant a few blocks away, they feed
nurse sharks there. We dove there many times just to see
sharks and I have never seen one there! Unbelievable!
Accessible:
Most of the year, usually too rough Nov-Jan
Marker buoy:
Yes
Dept:
Wall lip 50ft
Map:
There
are two entrances to this site, one, closer to the Queen's
Monument is the most widely used for some reason. We are
guessing it is because it is easier to locate but we did find it harder to get in the water because of the rocks and the
reef you'll have to negotiate on the way to the dive site.
The entrance #2 is much easier in
and there is no reef in front so you can easily swim out to the
site. These pictures
should help but at any rate just look for the wooden shack
hidden in the trees before you get to the Queen's Monument.
Pull up to the seashore, there
you can put your gear together and then carry it in the water.
The dive site is clearly marked with white
buoys.
Babylon is a spectacular wall
dive on the North Wall. The wall starts at a mere 50ft
with a pinnacle that has detached from the wall to form an
incredible pillar full of Gorgonians and Soft Sponges.
The swim is bit far, in all; it
should take about 20min to get there if you take your time.
If you started snorkeling with your gear inflated and "in tow",
you will enjoy the swim out a lot more because of the fantastic
snorkeling on the way to the wall.
Location:
Anchor Point right next to Barefoot Beach Gardens
Entrance
difficulty:◊
Distance from shore: 120yards(wall)
Tanks or
equipment
available on site: NO
Accessible:
Most of the year, usually too rough Nov-Jan
Marker buoy:
NO
Dept:
Wall lip 50ft
Map:
This dive site is not the easiest to find, which probably
explains the lack of "dive traffic" in this location.
You have to look for a dirt road right
before Barefoot Beach that will take you to the shore. The
cove where you will be gearing up is
fantastic
and it makes a great picnic spot after the dive.
The entrance is easy and sandy but booties still
should be worn because of the rocks in the water shortly after
the beach. The swim out is not as long as Babylon but it
will still take a few minutes to get there, do the "snorkel out" here as
well and you will be rewarded by beautiful shallow reefs with
plenty of marine life.
The wall here is truly spectacular, the sheer
size of the coral formation on the "wall lip" is humongous, if
there is a name for this dive it should be "Mountain Range"
because that is exactly what it looks like, a huge mountain
ridge.
The shallow reefs on the
way back also make a good 25ft stop to see an abundant amount of
colorful juvenile fish.
