Grand Cayman Photos - July 2004 Diving Adventures Spanish Bay Reef Sunset House – Grand Cayman Treasure Island Resort – Grand Cayman Divi Tiara Beach Resort – Cayman Brac Brac Reef Beach Resort – Cayman Brac Little Cayman Beach Resort – Little Cayman

Abanks Watersports — Phone: 1-345-945-1444

Ambassador Divers — Phone: 1-345-916-1064

Aquanauts — Phone: 1-345-945-1990

Blue Water Divers (Little Cayman) — Phone: 1-345-948-0095

Captain Marvin's Aquatics — Phone: 1-345-947-4590

Cayman Dive College — Phone/Fax: 1-345-949-4125

Cayman Diving School — Phone/Fax: 1-345-949-4729

Cayman Marine Lab — Phone/Fax: 1-345-945-5586

Clint Ebanks Scuba Cayman — Phone: 1-345-947-4049

Dive Tech — Phone: 1-345-949-1700

Divers Down (www.diversdown.net) — Phone: 1-345-916-3751

Eden Rock Diving Center (www.edenrockdive.com) — Phone: 1-345-949-0842

Fisheye of Cayman (www.fisheye.com) — Phone: 345-949-4209

Indies Divers — Phone: 1-345-947-5025

Neptune's Realm Divers — Phone: 1-345-949-6444

Off the Wall Divers — Phone/Fax: 1-345-947-7790

Paradise Divers (Little Cayman) — Phone: 1-345-948-0004

Parrots Landing Watersports — Phone: 1-345-949-7884

Quabo Divers — Phone: -1345-945-4769

Red Baron Divers (www.redbarondivers.com) — Phone/Fax: 1-345-947-0116

Reef Divers (Cayman Brac) — Phone: 1-345-948-1323

Reef Divers (Little Cayman) — Phone: 1-345-948-1033

Bob Soto¹s Reef Divers (www.bobsotosreefdivers.com) — Phone: 1-345-949-2871

Seaview Dive Center — Phone: 1-345-945-0577

Treasure Island Divers — Phone: 1-345-949-4456

Dive Site: Seaview Reef
Location: West Side
Depth: 25 – 100 feet
Description: This dive site has something for everyone. You can dive or snorkel. The shallows near the shore start at about 10 feet of depth and gradually slope out to the mature coral reef starting in about 25 feet of water. As you follow the coral fingers, the depth gradually increases to about 60 feet where there are lots of great corals to explore and critters to find.

Dive Site: Eden Rock / Devil¹s Grotto
Location: George Town West Side
Depth: Shallow – 45 feet
Description: This is one of Grand Cayman¹s best loved dive sites with two of the island¹s most alluring reefs close to shore. Eden Rock and Devil¹s Grotto is a mountainous terrain made up of grottos, caves and tunnels that rise up 40 feet from the sand bottom to a few feet below the surface, making it perfect for both divers and snorkellers. Here you will find a huge variety of fish, sponges and fans as well as a large family of resident tarpon that glide through the cavernous openings in the grottos.

Dive Site: The Wreck of the Cali
Location: George Town West Side
Depth: 15 – 24 feet
Description: After approximately 50 years underwater, this wreck forms the base for large amounts of brain coral, sea anemones and sea fans. The Cali does not offer any access for penetration as it has been demolished for safety reasons. This is the perfect site for divers who like to do a shallow wreck/reef dive.

Dive Site: Soto¹s Reef
Location: George Town West Side
Depth: 30 feet
Description: Here you will find schools of tarpon during the day. Take your time to discover nudibranches, box crabs, green turtles, spotted eagle rays, stingrays, and a large variety of juvenile fish. This site is also and excellent night dive featuring octopi, lobsters, eels, and large clinging crabs.

Dive Site: Carribean Club Sand Chute Wall
Location: West Side
Depth: 25 – 50 feet
Description: This is a site that offers the best of both worlds ­ a beautiful dense reef system and the wall. As you follow along the outer edge of the reef finger, be sure to check under ledges for lobster, crabs, nurse sharks, and eels. When you get to the end of the finger, the wall drops off at the Caribbean Club Sand Chute. Look for Southern Stingrays as they like to feed in the sandy area.

Dive Site: North West Point Gardens
Location: North West Point
Depth: Averages 80 feet
Description: This site is not frequented so it has very healthy coral formations that have changed little over the past 25 years. The area is full of deep canyons that house a multitude of vibrant corals, fish and other marine life. This site is particularly great for photography.

Dive Site: Penny¹s Arch
Location: North Wall
Depth: 20 – 55 feet
Description: There is a shallow area around the mooring ball that is suitable for snorkeling with the top of the reef being at about 20 feet of water. Large grouper usually hang around the arch area and there are over one hundred different species of fish here including a rare adult spotted drum. Moray eels abound with frequent sightings of green, golden tail and snowflake morays.

Dive Site: Turtle Farm Reef
Location: West Side
Depth: 20 – 60 feet
Description: This is a ³mini-wall² site where you can do a night dive without being concerned about going too deep. You will find a large variety of sponges on the vertical side of the drop off, schools of tarpon, and turtles. The nutrient-rich run-off from the turtle farm attracts many reef dwelling species and many uncommon creature can be found here.

Dive Site: The Maze
Location: East End
Depth: 60 – 110 feet
Description: This incredible wall outside the South channel drops to over 2,000 feet and is named for the section of tall and narrow crevices divers swim through to reach the wall. This area is home to a group of Caribbean Reef Sharks

Dive Site: Keith Tibbets Wreck
Location: North Side of Cayman Brac
Depth: 30 – 100 feet
Description: This ship has been down since 1996 and was sunk as an artificial reef. You will commonly find barracudas, big groupers, scorpion fish, French and Queen angles, and a green moray affectionately named ³Physco.² The ship lies in a pristine sand flat area, home to many Southern stingrays, eagle rays and garden eels. Close by is Buccaneer, another beautiful shallow reef.

Shipwreck: David Nicolson
Location: Southwest tip of Grand Cayman
Depth: 65 feet
Year Sunk: 1992
Description: Landing Craft (LCM) – This ship was sunk as an artificial reef and has been a great attraction to divers. Originally a Korean Landing Craft, she then served the Cayman Islands as a mail delivery boat. Once decommissioned, she was purchased by Sunset House.

Shipwreck: Carrie Lee
Location: Southern tip of Grand Cayman, Jackson Point area
Depth: 165 – 260 feet
Year Sunk: 1988
Description: 195 foot Cargo Freighter – This ship was accidentally sunk during a Nor¹wester storm while carrying freight to the Brac. She originally sank in 110 feet of water but storms have moved her into deep water, hanging over the edge of a wall. She is encrusted with sponges and teaming with hydroids and corals, and can be dived by technically certified divers.

Shipwreck: 12-Mile Bank Fuel Barge
Location: 12-mile Bank, 7 miles west of Grand Cayman
Depth: 115 feet
Year Sunk: 1988
Description: Fuel Barge – This ship was intentionally scuttled. The barge sits on top of the bank at 115 feet, and is prolific in sponges, reef fish and pelagics. This ship is normally only accessible during the summer months on an all day trip.

Shipwreck: Balboa
Location: Georgetown Harbour
Depth: 30 – 35 feet
Year Sunk: 1932
Description: 300 Foot Freighter – This ship was accidentally sunk during a 1932 hurricane. She was loaded with lumber and had sailed from Mobile, Alabama. She was in port and during the hurricane started to break up and sink. She sank with one entire side out of the water and became a navigational hazard. In the late 1950s, the Royal Navy blew the ship up and she is now one of the most prolific dive site in the Caymans. Her props were the Œsignature¹ photo of Cayman diving for many years.

Shipwreck: Capt. M.V. Keith Tibbetts
Location: North Side of Cayman Brac
Depth: 45 – 80 feet
Year Sunk: 1996
Description: Russian Destroyer / Frigate – This ship was intentionally sunk as an artificial wreck. Over 300 feet in length, she was sunk in sand flats on the North side of Cayman Brac. She offers three decks to penetrate and is the largest wreck in the Cayman Islands. She is normally dived as a boat trip from the Brac or Little Cayman, but can also be reached from the shore. The ship is abundant with Eagle Rays that love to circle her.

Shipwreck: Cali
Location: Georgetown Harbour North
Depth: 12 – 28 feet
Year Sunk: 1948
Description: 4-Masted Schooner – This ship was sunk during a storm while transporting a cargo of rice from Columbia to Cuba. She is an easy dive teaming with schools of reef fish, and surrounded by fringing coral reefs.

Shipwreck: Oro Verde
Location: West Side of Grand Cayman
Depth: 60 feet
Year Sunk: 1980
Description: Freighter – This ship was intentionally sunk as an artificial wreck. Driven onto a fringing reef during a storm, she was eventually towed off the reef to the harbour where she was cleaned and then sunk off the West Side. She remains one of the most popular dive sites in Grand Cayman. During Hurricanes Alan and Gilbert, she moved and broke up, but remains part of the natural reef system, her ship structures covered in coral growth.

Shipwreck: Doc Poulsom
Location: Northwest Bight, Grand Cayman
Depth: 40 – 60 feet
Year Sunk: 1990
Description: Cable Layer – This ship was intentionally sunk as an artificial wreck. The Doc Poulson is an intact wreck that is a great shallow dive. She was sunk in a large sand flat area, and is home to schools of jacks who swim around her. The wheelhouse is the shallowest part of the ship, and the wreck has easy penetration into her hull structure. She is also surrounded by fringing coral reefs.

Shipwreck: Soto¹s Trader
Location: South West tip of Little Cayman
Depth: 60 – 70 feet
Year Sunk: 1975
Description: Cargo Barge – This ship was accidentally sunk due to an explosion on board. She hauled cement and general cargo between Haiti, Jamaica and the Caymans. She also hauled diesel fuel between Grand Cayman and the Sister Islands. While loading fuel with the Chief Engineer on vacation, the accident occurred and she ended up on the bottom.

Compared with its sister islands, Grand Cayman is party island. As the largest and by far the most active of the three, attracting 99 percent of the tourists, most of whom flock to Seven Mile Beach area. But mostly Grand Cayman remains unchanged, and the diving is excellent. The gentle stingrays still cluster at Stingray City. During most sunlight hours you'll be water-bound - hoisting your gear onto an early-morning dive boat or positioning yourselves for optimal tanning on Seven Mile Beach.

On Grand Cayman, a hotel without a watersports shop is a rare sight, but those who want to check out the underwater sights without getting wet can descend 100 feet on the air-conditioned Atlantis Submarine; the company also offers high-ticket 800-foot descents to a shipwreck in a two-person sub. Grand Cayman's sparsely populated East End will refresh you with long stretches of craggy coast. In Savannah, the oldest island structure is a castle rumored to have been built by pirates two centuries ago.

Stop by the blowholes for some awesome pictures of watery spires. Nights in Grand Cayman are laid-back. Those who don't have an early-morning dive gravitate to Ramada's Treasure Island nightclub and Island Rock disco. Hopping pubs include the Lone Star Bar & Grill with its 104-shot menu and Tex-Mex fare or My Bar on the shores of Sunset House, where parched dive pros head. If you crave some romantic dining head to the deck of the seaside Wharf or to Lantana's for nouvelle Southwestern cuisine.

Hardly bigger than nearby thumb-sized Little Cayman, the Brac, as locals call it, has the same splendid tranquility as her little sister, with a touch of the "big" island - a modern airport with a real runway and a hotel with telephones and satellite TV. While Cayman Brac isn't exactly overloaded with shopping, fine dining, and nightlife (in fact, there is none), you won't mind because you'll be rising and setting with the sun like everyone else. The attractions here are simple: wind-rustled palm fronds at twilight, hammocks on an untouched beach, and the ubiquitous diving and snorkeling.

Little Cayman is perhaps the closest thing to a private paradise one could ever hope to find. With just 50 residents, a few hotels and no stores or car rentals, Little Cayman is a quiet 11-mile stretch of land dotted with mangrove forests and salt ponds. Adorned with colorful conch shells and seafans, Little Cayman's powder-soft beaches are so secluded, the only sounds you hear are the ripple of the waves.

Yet, life is not unexciting on Little Cayman. Divers of all levels come to explore Little Cayman's spectacular underwater world. Little Cayman is home to famous Bloody Bay Wall, starting at 18 feet and plunging vertically to 1,200 feet. Bloody Bay Wall lets divers explore the unmatched beauty of Little Cayman's colorful coral gardens, black coral trees, tropical fish and swaying seaplumes.