DIVE IN
THE PURE PARADISE OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS
THREE ISLANDS TO CHOOSE FROM
Comprised of three unique islands – Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman – the Cayman Islands offers both the novice and the experienced some of the best diving and snorkelling in the world.
Each of the three islands is surrounded by a shallow, environmentally protected coral reef. Our secluded location, far from other land masses, is what keeps our waters clean and clear and our coral healthy. The Cayman Islands offers the most spectacular wall diving in the Caribbean partly because the islands are on top of submerged mountains.
DIVERSE RANGE OF UNDERWATER ACTIVITIES
With a wide range of diving activities available in the Cayman Islands, from vertical walls plummeting to depths of 2,500 ft. to ship wrecks, reefs, colourful shore diving and technical diving, the Cayman Islands diving experience – in water temperatures of 80 degrees year round – is second to none. You can even rent dive propulsion vehicles (DPVs) and see more of your favourite dive sites in one dive.
PREDIVE SAFETY CHECK
During the dive, you and your buddy need to stay together so you can lend assistance to each other if necessary, not to mention because it's more fun. Ideally, stay within a couple of meters/a few feet of each other. Staying together is easier if you agree on who will lead, your relative positions, and the general course to follow until you both acknowledge a change. If separated, the general guideline is to search for each other for not more than one minute, then surface and get back together. In some instances it may be better to avoid surfacing to reunite. If this applies on a particular dive, it's important to agree on another course of action that reunites you within a few minutes.
The buddy system only works when divers stay together. Remember, it's your responsibility to stay with your buddy and follow the rules, guidelines and recommendations for each other's dive safety. No one can do if for you.
Plan your dive together and dive your plan together. Before each dive, run through each other's equipment using the predive safety check. Use the phrase Begin With Review And Friend to help you remember the checks:
GRAND CAYMAN DIVING
With its calm, clear waters, dramatic vertical walls, stunning shallow reefs and storied wrecks, Grand Cayman is one of the world’s premier dive destinations. Yet incredibly, many areas have yet to be explored. Even more astounding is that there is marine life galore – everywhere.
240 DIVE SITES FOR YOU TO EXPLORE
In the waters surrounding Grand Cayman you'll literally find it all, including the world's best 12 foot dive at the legendary Stingray City. There's so much to see, everyone can enjoy an experience unlike any other – 365 days out of the year.
REEFS & MARINE LIFE
Deep walls sporting sponges and corals in a breathtaking array of colours. Shallow reefs teeming with schooling fish. Large silvery tarpon, huge barrel sponges, glittery silversides and beautiful French angelfish. Gorgonions and hard coral, each with their own unique characters and special inhabitants. Marine life is teeming in the waters off Grand Cayman, as are the number of sites you can visit. Even better, no site is more than a few minutes offshore.
STINGRAY CITY
If there's one site almost every diver and snorkeller wants to add to their logbook while visiting the Cayman Islands this is it. Stingray City offers an exhilarating, one-of-a-kind, adventure, which is why it's been dubbed the world's best 12 foot dive. On a sandy seafloor in Grand Cayman's North Sound, large groups of gentle, graceful Southern Stingrays flock to visiting divers for their daily snacks of squid, putting them literally within arms reach as you feed and swim with them.
LITTLE CAYMAN DIVING
Though world famous for walls that plunge to almost incomprehensible depths, Little Cayman diving also offers spectacular shallow reefs that host an amazingly abundant and varied collection of marine life.
60 DIVE SITES FOR YOU TO EXPLORE
A true “hideaway” from the everyday, complete with shimmering white sand beaches and swaying palm trees, this idyllic laid-back island paradise has become a mecca for divers everywhere thanks to the copious amount of marine life, brightly hued sponges and spectacular coral that abounds in its clear, bathtub-like turquoise waters.
REEFS & MARINE LIFE
Being off the beaten track has its advantages. Thanks to only minimal dive traffic, the underwater citizens of Little Cayman barely notice your presence, making this dive vacation destination the perfect spot for underwater photography. Coral, fish, barracudas and grouper are plentiful. Turtles, jacks and parrotfish abound. And, in the evening, octopus roam the reefs and squid dart about, lashing their vibrant colours at the enthralled divers who have joined them.
BLOODY BAY WALL
Ask any diver who has experienced it and they will tell you that Bloody Bay Wall, Little Cayman's most famous attraction, offers the finest drop-offs in the entire Caribbean and has to be one of the most spectacular and varied dive locations in the world.
Imagine a wall starting at only 20 ft. and then plummeting to an astounding 6,000 ft., covered with spectacular formations of yellow tube, strawberry and orange vase sponges, tangled masses of scarlet rope sponges, and waving sea fans. As you traverse the wall, eagle rays, barracudas, sharks and grouper join you. In a word, heaven.
CAYMAN BRAC DIVING
Our relaxed tropical style and multitude of dive sites that are easily accessible from shore makes Cayman Brac a beloved dive vacation spot by underwater enthusiasts around the world.
65 DIVE SITES FOR YOU TO EXPLORE
Whether you're a novice experiencing the sport for the first time, a new diver looking for the perfect spot to complete your check-out dives or a seasoned veteran who wants a dive experience unlike any other, this island paradise with its warm, clear waters should be at the top of your must-do list.
REEFS & MARINE LIFE
Cayman Brac is home to hundreds of varieties of fish, corals and marine life. Swim with giant tarpon and fierce looking tiger groupers. Marvel at the majesty of a queen angelfish as elkhorn corals, star corals and abundant soft corals vie for your attention.
Explore canyons and crevices, small caves and ledges, drop-offs and gullies, while grouper, horse-eye jacks, triggerfish, tarpon, nurse sharks and other brilliantly coloured tropical fish glide by.
MV CAPT. KEITH TIBBETTS
The only diveable Russian warship in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most dramatic wreck dives in the world, the MV Capt. Keith Tibbetts lies scuttled beneath the waters of Cayman Brac's West End. This wreck offers a spectacular multi-level dive while beckoning divers to discover its secrets and the over 100 species of marine life that call this 330 ft. frigate home.
Look carefully and you may even spot this famous wreck's two special residents: two huge, goliath groupers named Natasha and Boris.
SHORE DIVING
The Cayman Islands offers experienced full service dive operators for shore diving with lots of amenities like easy ladder access to the water, dive site maps, briefings, restrooms, showers, rinse tanks and set up areas, tanks and rental gear, making shore diving easier or safer. The fun of going off on your own after boat diving and exploring colourful reefs from shore is not only an adventure but also offers great value for getting a few more dives in on your vacation.
Shallow reefs just off shore are the perfect family activity for your young divers, while deep walls, wrecks and artificial reefs are also readily available for lots of variety. It's laid back diving at your own schedule. You can head off on your own in buddy teams, or hire an experienced guide to take a tour. Shore diving is available at Divers Down, Divetech, Don Fosters, Eden Rock, Lobster Pot Dive Center and Sunset House, all in Grand Cayman.
NIGHT DIVING
FLORO DISCOVERY NIGHT DIVING
Cayman Islands leads the technology revolution in night diving, offering visitors the chance to not only see the bioluminescence of the marine life at night, but also the fluorescence of marine life and corals that can be seen only with special black or blue lights. It's a discovery dive, as you will experience colours and marine life never seen before! Experience a new dimension in diving so new and exclusive that it's magical.
NOCTURNAL MARINE LIFE
Exploring the reefs in the day time is a marvel, but at night all those critters that are hard to find during the day are out and about at night. See octopus, crabs, lobsters, brittle stars, free swimming eels, feeding coral with their polyps open and waiting, sleeping parrot fish and turtles, and the hunting fish out for dinner. It's an experience not to be missed.
SAFETY WHEN DIVING AT NIGHT
Good buoyancy control and awareness of your proximity to the reef system are paramount in night diving. It's an incredible visual experience, but your lights only cast a glow about 10 ft. or so. Be careful when turning around or rolling over and keep your fins up to ensure that you are far enough away from the reefs that you do not damage or touch them – help protect our coral reefs.
UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY
The Cayman Islands is one of the finest underwater photo destinations in the world. Whether you are an amateur with a point and shoot camera or a pro with the finest SLR, you can shoot fantastic photos on virtually every dive.
THERE ARE FOUR MAJOR REASONS WHY THE CAYMAN ISLANDS EXCEL
- Clear, calm water, where most dives have little to no current
- Friendly fish and colourful sponges
- Great variety of dive experiences
- World-class safe diving and underwater photography support
1. VISIBILITY
While many islands offer excellent underwater visibility, the Cayman Islands is consistently superior. There is no river or agricultural run-off. These flat coral islands sit in the middle of the Western Caribbean, where the sea is pristine, so your photos look clear and exciting.
2. COLOUR
When it comes to underwater photography, colour is the spice that makes the pictures exciting. Cayman dive sites are adorned with bright orange, yellow, pink and especially bright red sponges.
3. VARIETY
One of the most compelling reasons photo pros travel to the Cayman Islands is the incredible variety of both wide-angle subjects like shipwrecks, swim-throughs of all sizes, vertical walls covered in colourful sponges and a myriad of small subjects like shrimp and Christmas tree worms found on the shallow reefs.