The Cayman Islands are an excellent scuba diving destination for their diverse diving experiences, incredible water clarity, and abundant marine life. Comprising three islands—Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac—the destination offers a variety of sites including world-class wall dives, fascinating wrecks, and shallow reefs.
Excellent dive conditions
- Visibility: The waters are famous for their crystal-clear clarity, with visibility often reaching and even exceeding 100 feet. This allows for stunning views of the reef and marine life.
- Warm water: Divers can enjoy comfortable temperatures year-round, which typically range between 78–85°F (26–30°C). Many divers don't require more than a thin wetsuit.
- Calm currents: Most dive sites offer calm conditions with little to no current, making them suitable for all levels of divers.
Diverse marine life and features
- Famous stingrays: Stingray City, a shallow sandbar on Grand Cayman's North Sound, is world-famous for its tame southern stingrays that interact with divers and snorkelers.
- Large pelagics: Divers often encounter large marine animals, including sea turtles, spotted eagle rays, and a variety of sharks.
- Vibrant reefs: The reefs feature diverse and healthy coral formations, colorful sponges, and a wide array of tropical fish, from angelfish and parrotfish to schools of tarpon and snapper.
- Fascinating macro life: The reefs are also home to intriguing smaller marine life, including seahorses, octopuses, and reef squid.
Diverse dive sites across three islands
Grand Cayman
- Wall diving: Grand Cayman is renowned for its wall diving, where reefs plunge dramatically into deep trenches. The North Wall is particularly impressive, dropping thousands of feet.
- Wreck diving: One of the most popular sites is the intentionally sunk USS Kittiwake, a former US Naval submarine rescue vessel accessible to divers of all levels.
- Shore diving: Several sites, such as Devils Grotto and Eden Rock, are easily accessible from shore, offering excellent reef exploration without a boat.
Little Cayman
Bloody Bay Wall: Widely considered one of the top wall dives in the world, this protected marine park features a dramatic vertical drop-off covered in vibrant corals and sponges.
Jackson's Bight: This site offers a series of swim-throughs, sand chutes, and coral pinnacles, making it a favorite for photography and marine life spotting.
Cayman Brac
- MV Captain Keith Tibbetts Wreck: This purposefully sunk Russian frigate has become a thriving artificial reef, providing an excellent wreck dive for divers to explore.
- Mix of sites: Cayman Brac offers a good variety of wall, wreck, and reef diving for divers of all skill levels.
