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Stingray City has grown over the last 16 years into the world's most popular in-water big animal encounter. Photography by Stephen Frink |
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Dive industry pioneers started greeting cruise ship passengers on Seven Mile Beach in the 1950s, with hopes of ushering them to Grand Cayman's reefs and into scuba's golden age. While people in other parts of the world were looking quizzically at frogmen in rubber suits, divers on the Sister Islands were naming dive sites. Not much has changed since then. There are more resorts and loads of dive operators now, posher restaurants, more flights and thicker traffic, but the dramatic walls and the dizzying marine life are as beautiful and prolific now as they were when Christopher Columbus dropped by in 1503.
Perhaps the greatest thing about these islands is that they are so many things to so many divers--newbies and old salts, techies and snorkelers, die-hards and been-there, done-thats. Whether you like pretty reefs or intriguing wrecks, shallow dips or deep walls, big animal encounters or little critters, you'll find something here for you.
Grand Cayman
The largest, most populous and thoroughly developed of the three islands, Grand Cayman is typically where Cayman Island vacations begin. The 22- by 8-mile chunk of limestone shoots almost straight up from the seafloor, with wall diving on all four sides. The most popular area is along the western edge, where resorts abound and conditions are typically calmest. The north is dived less frequently and has bigger animals. The south is where operators usually go when the west side is blown out, but it also has some awesome walls. The East End is a destination all its own, about an hour away from Seven Mile Beach and West Bay Road.
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Giant stride back in time at Sunset House, one of Grand Cayman's first dive resorts, built when fins were found only on fish and cars. Photography by Macduff Everton |
What Makes Grand Cayman Unique
RESTAURANTS, SHOPPING AND NIGHTLIFE: All the American fast-food chains are on Grand Cayman, but there's also a range of haute cuisine choices. Seafood, Italian and Asian restaurants are among the hottest places to nosh. Seaside bars are popular during the day, and nightclubs and discos are the place to see and be seen at night. Interested in shopping? Any island with 500 banks is going to offer plenty of places to spend that cash.
SHORE DIVING: Eden Rock, Cemetery and the wreck of the Cali, as well as Cobalt Coast, Sunset House, the Seaview Hotel and Coconut Harbor's house reefs, are all popular places to wade in and blow bubbles.
4 Timeless Grand Cayman Dive Sites
ORO VERDE: The "Green Gold" was loaded with marijuana when it was seized and scuttled off Grand Cayman's western shore. Often overlooked by experienced divers, it's time to rediscover the Oro Verde: Plenty of structure and tons of fish mean cool photo ops.
BABYLON: If you've got the energy, you can do this one as a shore dive (it's about three football fields offshore), but it's more easily dived by boat. The northeast's rugged ironshore gives way to a tumbling wall with coral pinnacles that are perforated by swim-throughs, tunnels and caves.
IRONSHORE GARDENS: This East End site is shallow, a brain coral-covered mini-wall that drops off to a labyrinth of passageways and cracks filled with horse-eye jacks, tarpon and glassy sweepers.
THE BALBOA: Smack dab in the heart of George Town Harbor lies the scattered wreckage of the Balboa. Get here by dusk to get a feel for the wreck in the fading light. When the sun goes down, the coral polyps come out, as well as octopuses, crabs, lobsters and squid.
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Picking the day's dive sites on the Brac. Photography by Stephen Frink |
Cayman Brac
The easternmost of the three Caymans differs in one very noticeable way--its tall, rocky spine runs the length of the island and culminates in a 140-foot sheer drop-off on its eastern tip. Roughly the same size as Little Cayman, it has more than 15 times its population--still not much. The Brac has kept its down-home, pastoral charm.
What Makes Cayman Brac Unique
GEOGRAPHY: The Brac's rugged interior affords visitors a chance to explore several caves, including one populated by bats and another that
was used to shelter the island's residents during the hurricane of 1932. A 12-mile drive from the resorts will take you to the Bluff, where you can look out over the Caribbean 140 feet below.
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS: Can't choose between the Brac and Little Cayman? During a weeklong stay on Cayman Brac, odds are good you'll make the 45-minute crossing to Little Cayman to dive the famed sites on Bloody Bay Wall.
4 Timeless Cayman Brac Dive Sites
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ANCHOR WALL: This wall starts deep in about 70 feet of water. Wedged between a coral chimney and a mini-wall is a 10-foot anchor. The tops of the coral pinnacles are covered with sea plumes and gorgonians, and are tended by creole wrasse.
BLUFF WALL: The easternmost island's easternmost dive sites lies 140 feet below a rugged ironshore cliff. Expect the same topography below water, where a steep wall is covered with sea fans, black coral and tons of sponges. You may encounter the big stuff here, like sharks, rays and turtles.
RUSSIAN WRECK: A 330-foot Russian warship--the world's largest diveable one--was towed here from Cuba in 1996. This popular wreck is also called the 356 and MV Capt. Keith Tibbetts, and depths range from 90 to a very diver-friendly 35 feet.
EAST CHUTE AND THE CAYMAN MARINER: A classic Brac night dive, you'll know you've found the wreck of the Cayman Mariner when your flashlight is reflected in the wide eyes of the resident squirrelfish at 50 feet. Off the Mariner's bow, East Chute Reef is brimming with barrel and vase sponges occupied by slinky brittle stars. {mospagebreak}
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The sites of Bloody Bay Wall are picture-perfect wall dives, starting in less than 20 feet of water and plummeting into the Caribbean's abyssal depths. Photography by Stephen Frink |
Little Cayman
With a population of 100, Little Cayman is a half-hour flight and a world away from Grand Cayman. One of a handful of small resorts will be your home for a week, and the Caribbean's most dramatic drop-off, Bloody Bay Wall, is your backyard. If you can't relax on Little Cayman, it's time to step up your medication.
What Makes Little Cayman Unique
BLOODY BAY WALL: Perhaps the best known wall in this mecca of wall diving is at Bloody Bay and Jackson Bight. Made up of a series of dive sites, the double crescents are the definition of wall diving. The almost perfectly vertical wall starts in about 18 feet of water and drops thousands of feet.
PEACE AND QUIET: If you can't relax here, you just can't relax.
4 Timeless Little Cayman Dive Sites
MIXING BOWL: More divers come to this confluence of currents between Bloody Bay and Jackson Bight than perhaps any other site on Little
Cayman. And for good reason. A table-edge drop-off slopes to a sand flat with a mini-wall riddled with sand chutes, chimneys and tunnels.
SOTO TRADER: This is Little Cayman's premier night dive. The cargo holds are penetrable through the top of the wreck, and you can point your light into portholes to find supermale parrotfish stuffed inside. Explore the reef just off the bow to find nocturnal squid, lobster and squirrelfish.
BLACK HOLE: One of Little Cayman's best southern dives, Black Hole is a great alternative when the boats aren't going to Bloody Bay. A giant crevice in the gradually tumbling drop-off leads to the wall base. Mountainous star coral, gorgonians and plate coral give this site an otherworldly feel.
GREAT WALL: Starting in just 18 feet of water, the wall here drops into the inky blue abyss. You'll see grouper, spotted eagle rays and the occasional blacktip shark. Not all the fun is deep--macro photographers will enjoy the wall top and its basket stars, sponges and other invertebrates.
Cayman Dive Skill: Diving with Stingrays
It's important to know that the stingrays won't sting you, as long as you don't grab them by the tail. Hold the squid in your clenched fist, keeping your thumb over the bait. As the stingray approaches, catch its front edge with your thumb and quickly release the food toward its mouth while pulling your hand away. These critters are pretty quick, so jerk your hand away fast. If you're empty-handed, you can fool a stingray into thinking you've got food by shaking your hand. But after a few passes, they'll get wise to you and swim away.
Cayman Dive Skill: Navigating a Wreck
Descend to the wreck and pause to orient yourself. If the wreck is scattered, there's even more reason to figure out where you are so you can return there. Find a visual aid--a winch, anchor or gun turret. Pick a route that returns you to the starting point. Use an out-and-back pattern, or circle the outside of the wreck. Remember to save air for a slow, controlled ascent, and always perform a three- to five-minute safety stop at 15 feet. Master these skills and you'll be ready to come back to dive Shipwreck City--the Cayman Islands' plan to sink five more ships.
Cayman Dive Skill: Wall Diving
Wall diving will bring you closer to flying than any other activity that doesn't require parachutes or wings. Best of all, it's cheap, easy and safe; just giant stride in and descend to the shallow portion of the wall. Determine the direction of the current, and start your dive swimming into it along the wall. Go deep first, then work your way back up the wall as your dive progresses. Always monitor your gauges, as it's easy to go far deeper than you planned. When you or your buddy suck half your tank dry, turn around and follow the same course back to the boat. Spend your remaining bottom time exploring the shallows near the boat, and remember to make a safety stop at 15 feet for three to five minutes.
Cayman Islands History Lesson
1503: Columbus names the islands "Las Tortugas" because the land and seas are thick with turtles.
1586: Sir Francis Drake arrives with 23 vessels and spends two days on uninhabited Grand Cayman.
1655: England captures Jamaica (which includes the Cayman Islands).
1666: First settlers arrive on Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.
1700: First settlers arrive on Grand Cayman.
1773: Population reaches 400.
1802: Population reaches almost 1,000.
1835: All slaves declared free.
1932: 108 killed in hurricane.
1937: With 450 passengers, the cruise ship Atlantis is Grand Cayman's first.
1950s: Several hotels open, and tourism takes off.
1953: Owen Roberts Airport and the first commercial bank, Barclays, open for business.
1957: First dive operation opens on Grand Cayman.
1959: Constitution adopted, no longer dependency of Jamaica.
1962: Islands decide to remain a British Crown Colony.
1970: Population hits 10,000.
1987: Stingray City opens for business.
1996: MV Capt. Keith Tibbetts sunk off Cayman Brac.
2003: Cayman Islands celebrate 500 years of recorded history.
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In the Cayman Islands, cozy old-school diver hotels and opulent modern resorts-- like the Hyatt Regency Grand Cayman-- co-exist peacefully. Photography by Macduff Everton |
Reader Comments: Cayman Islands
Grand Cayman
"Water temps were warm ... Lots of swim-throughs, great coral and fish life ... Night dives incredible ... Lots of sharks ... Stingray City--very much fun ... Island very clean, seems safe ... East End still relatively untouched." --A.G., New Orleans, La., Aug. '02. "Great variety of marine life ... Lots of color." --K.S., Rio Rancho, N.M., Sept. '02. "A lot of vertical canyons, swim-throughs, great visibility, wildlife ... The best diving I've ever done." --D.P., Iowa City, Iowa, May '03.
Sister Islands
"Beauty above and under water ... Friendly people ... Attentive service, good meals." --D.B., Lilburn, Ga., April '03. "Great wall diving, spectacular coral, wonderful tropical fish." --B.B., Oakland, Calif., Aug. '02. "Little Cayman and Cayman Brac are very low-key ... No crowds or noise ... The reefs have very little dive pressure, so they're in extremely good health." --J.C., Tucker, Ga., May '03. "Bloody Bay Wall was amazing ... Cayman Brac is a nice, slow-paced dive experience ... You'll get lots of personal attention." --R.S., League City, Texas, May '03.
In Depth
Weather: Expect daytime highs in the 70Fs in winter, and in the mid- to high 80Fs in the summer.
Water Conditions: Temperatures drop into the high 70Fs in winter and peak in the low 80Fs in summer. Visibility varies from 80 to 200 feet, with peak water clarity occurring during the calm summer months. Bring at least a Lycra skin or 1mm wetsuit to ward off abrasions. You're almost never totally blown out of diving in the Cayman Islands. On the Sister Islands, you'll be able to go north or south, and the beauty of Grand Cayman is that there's always a lee.
Electricity: Bring all your electronics--voltage and plugs are the same as in the U.S. and Canada.
Money: U.S. greenbacks are accepted everywhere, but you'll likely get change in Cayman Islands dollars, which are roughly equal to $1.25.
Just in Case: Grand Cayman has a recompression chamber staffed 24 hours a day (949-2989).
For More Info: Call the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, (800) 346-3313, or visit them on the web at divecayman.ky or caymanislands.ky.
