Diving in the Cayman Islands

This article is intended to provide the already qualified Scuba diver with information which will help to plan dives in the waters of the Cayman Islands, whether as a local resident or a visitor. Information is provided without prejudice, and is not guaranteed accurate or complete. Use it at your own risk.

Understand

The three Cayman Islands are the exposed tops of an underwater mountain. The underwater sides of this mountain are near vertical in places, sometimes within a few hundred metres from the shore.

In addition to the coral reefs, with their typical Caribbean fish, and invertebrates, the wall diving is an unusual experience for most scuba divers. Scuba diving in the Caymans can be done from a boat, or at some dive sites, from a shore entry.

Visibility is good due to the island's geography. There is very little runoff of silt or fertilizers from the land, and the steep walls result in the reefs being unusually close to deep ocean water.

Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman dive sites may be split into roughly into 4 regions;

• Seven Mile Beach and the Northwest Point
• The North Wall
• The South Side
• The East End

The prevailing south-east winds make it unusual to get to dive the South Side dive sites, though it is done when possible as the sites are really lovely. There are a wide variety of dive sites providing opportunities for all levels of diver.

• Stingray City is a series of shallow sandbars found in the northwest corner of North Sound of Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, just inside a natural channel that passes through the barrier reef and consists of a string of sandbars crossing the North Sound from Morgan Harbour to Rum Point. It is a tourist attraction, where southern stingrays are found in abundance and visitors can pet and interact with the animals. It is

Cayman Brac and Little Cayman

These smaller islands are thin strips of land lying roughly east to west, and there are dive sites on both the north and south sides, but the prevailing south-east winds, make it unusual to get to dive on the south sides.

Dive sites on Little Cayman include:

• Bloody Bay Wall
• Jackson Bay

These are both on the north side of the island and are not accessible year-round because of weather conditions.

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