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Grand Cayman's Secret
- By Stephen Weir
- Published 06/7/2007
- Diver Destinations
- Unrated
Stephen Weir
Stephen Weir is a well-known Toronto based communicator. He has been writing and taking photographs for Diver Magazine for almost 30 years.
View all articles by Stephen WeirGrand Cayman's Secret
Rick the Pirate needs to be seriously bribed. The next diver to Georgetown, Grand Cayman, owes it to the scuba community to slip a C-note to the official Carrribean island greeter and ask him not to tell people just how good the diving is on the Island's remote East End.
When Rick isn't shouting at every bilge rat sporting a Hawaiian shirt and Tiley hat passing through the cruise ship gates, he's on local radio VIBE FM, where the hot topic is often cruise visitors and the inverse relationship between the throngs coming ashore and a driver's abiltiy to get anywhere on the small island.
"Arr Matey," he tells me, "the only scuba they be askin' for is out along Seven Mile Beach and Sting Ray City." Although the island is only 21 miles in length (35 km), East End diving takes too much time for this cruise ship crowd, he assures me.
Grand Cayman is oddly shaped, looking rather like an open mouthed C-clamp. The east end is not all that far away and ringed by a healthy barrier reef; almost every day is perfect for diving. While Georgetown on the west coast, and its nearby Seven Mile Beach (actually six miles in length), never sleep, the East End has trouble keeping its eyes open after sun down. In contrast to Georgetown's shopping malls, bars, miniature golf clubs and other attractions, the East End is 'sleepy hollow', where Mother Nature rules while civilization drools.
Here you'll find amazine scuba diving sites close to shore in north, south and easterly directions. Hardcore divers will have hear of, but probably not visited the top five sites that ring the eastern end: Babylon, Snapper Hole, Jack McKenney, River of Sand and the unforgettable Maze.
Local divers treat Babylon as a shore dive, in fact, Shorediving.com ranks Babylon as having perfect reef conditions. However, it is a long swim and getting there by boat is so much easier. Because it is close to Sting Ray City - a shallow area where hundreds of sting rays congregate to be fed by an equal number of snorkelers and divers - Babylon is often the first stop on a three-tank East End adventure.
The site is named after one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - the Handing Gardens of Babylon. While the HGB never made it into the A.D.'s, the underwater version defies time and is still the biggest, baddest dive site on the island. Here the hanging gardens are made up of dangling soft corals, massive sponges and thick forests of black coral. It's breathtaking to drift down through a deep dark canyon at the top of the reef and punch out at 10 feet (33m) on the wall, gazing into the Big Blue. Here, visibility is incredible, pelagic fish abound and, but for your own presence there's no sign of human intrusion.
In Cayman there is an active underwater association that installs mooring balls, sets dive standards, and polices the dive operations. It also names the dive sites. It's a real honour to have a dive site named after you. Even though former DIVER Magazine contributer and filmmaker Jack McKenney has been dead for 18 years, there's still a site in the East End that bears his name.
"This was a favourite dive site of the celebrated filmmaker," wrote Ocean Explorers' co-owner Stephen Broadbelt. "It's a site with deep verticle canyons leading to the deepest drop-off in the northern hemisphere - 25,000 feet [7,600m]! It's the top dive site for sharks and eagle ray sightings at the East End."
To the east and south of the island there are natural cuts through the reef. Sometimes the cuts are filled with sand, other times they are filled with life.
'River of Sand' is a section of the outer wall where the clean white sand tumbles from 50 feet (15m) down to a depth of 130 feet (40m). The underwater dune looks so much like snow that divers have been known to take skis with them for some fun photo ops.
The nearby 'Maze' has similar cuts through the wall. Instead of sand filling the void, soft corals and sponges flourish. Divers get out onto the wall by swimming through a confusing network of caves and canyons. There are parts of the natural maze where stone pillars rise 100 feet (30m) towards the surface, looking like an underwater version of Jordan's Petra Canyon.
'Snapper Hole' isn't as deep as the 'Maze' but also offers cave and canyon swim throughs. Don't tell Rick the Pirate but there's a 19th century anchor fused into the reef bed at this location.
Ocean Frontier is one of the only three full service dive operations at the far end of the island. They have Nitrox, well-maintained rental gear, a GUE instructor and underwater video/photography service managed by British Columbia diver Justin Bongers. Ocean Frontier owners have been in the forefront of preserving Cayman's underwater habitat, spearheading the mooring pin program, a shark watch project and a new endeavour to sink a ship as an artificial reeg off the eastern end of the island.
The shop, pool and air fill station are part of a small condo hotel called Compass Point Dive Resort. The units are full service, luxurious and all balconies look down onto the dive dock . Ocean Frontier also has a shop at the nearby 110-room Reef Resort Hotel.
"Never have to go into town, we go it all here," says Broadbelt. "If you really crave entertainment beyond our star gazing and night dives, you can go down the road and see the Barefoot Man at the East End's Reef Resort Hotel." He said Ocean Frontier along with Cayman Diving Lodge and Tortuga Divers all end to cater to repeat divers. "It's easy diving for the people who live to get wet," he said.
Ocean Frontier
Austin Bonnoly Drive
PO Box 200 EE
US: 1-888-232-0541
Phone: 1-345-947-7500
Fax: 1-345-947-7600
oceanfrontiers@cayman.org
Cayman Diving Lodge
East End
PO Box 11 EE
US: 1-800-TCL-DIVE
Phone: 1-345-947-7555
Fax: 1-345-947-7560
caymandivelodge@cayman.org
Tortuga Divers Ltd.
Morritt's Tortuga Club
PO Box 496 EE
Phone: 1-345-947-7449
Fax: 1-345-947-9486
tortugad@tortuagdivers.com
When Rick isn't shouting at every bilge rat sporting a Hawaiian shirt and Tiley hat passing through the cruise ship gates, he's on local radio VIBE FM, where the hot topic is often cruise visitors and the inverse relationship between the throngs coming ashore and a driver's abiltiy to get anywhere on the small island.
"Arr Matey," he tells me, "the only scuba they be askin' for is out along Seven Mile Beach and Sting Ray City." Although the island is only 21 miles in length (35 km), East End diving takes too much time for this cruise ship crowd, he assures me.
Grand Cayman is oddly shaped, looking rather like an open mouthed C-clamp. The east end is not all that far away and ringed by a healthy barrier reef; almost every day is perfect for diving. While Georgetown on the west coast, and its nearby Seven Mile Beach (actually six miles in length), never sleep, the East End has trouble keeping its eyes open after sun down. In contrast to Georgetown's shopping malls, bars, miniature golf clubs and other attractions, the East End is 'sleepy hollow', where Mother Nature rules while civilization drools.
Here you'll find amazine scuba diving sites close to shore in north, south and easterly directions. Hardcore divers will have hear of, but probably not visited the top five sites that ring the eastern end: Babylon, Snapper Hole, Jack McKenney, River of Sand and the unforgettable Maze.
Local divers treat Babylon as a shore dive, in fact, Shorediving.com ranks Babylon as having perfect reef conditions. However, it is a long swim and getting there by boat is so much easier. Because it is close to Sting Ray City - a shallow area where hundreds of sting rays congregate to be fed by an equal number of snorkelers and divers - Babylon is often the first stop on a three-tank East End adventure.
The site is named after one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - the Handing Gardens of Babylon. While the HGB never made it into the A.D.'s, the underwater version defies time and is still the biggest, baddest dive site on the island. Here the hanging gardens are made up of dangling soft corals, massive sponges and thick forests of black coral. It's breathtaking to drift down through a deep dark canyon at the top of the reef and punch out at 10 feet (33m) on the wall, gazing into the Big Blue. Here, visibility is incredible, pelagic fish abound and, but for your own presence there's no sign of human intrusion.
In Cayman there is an active underwater association that installs mooring balls, sets dive standards, and polices the dive operations. It also names the dive sites. It's a real honour to have a dive site named after you. Even though former DIVER Magazine contributer and filmmaker Jack McKenney has been dead for 18 years, there's still a site in the East End that bears his name.
"This was a favourite dive site of the celebrated filmmaker," wrote Ocean Explorers' co-owner Stephen Broadbelt. "It's a site with deep verticle canyons leading to the deepest drop-off in the northern hemisphere - 25,000 feet [7,600m]! It's the top dive site for sharks and eagle ray sightings at the East End."
To the east and south of the island there are natural cuts through the reef. Sometimes the cuts are filled with sand, other times they are filled with life.
'River of Sand' is a section of the outer wall where the clean white sand tumbles from 50 feet (15m) down to a depth of 130 feet (40m). The underwater dune looks so much like snow that divers have been known to take skis with them for some fun photo ops.
The nearby 'Maze' has similar cuts through the wall. Instead of sand filling the void, soft corals and sponges flourish. Divers get out onto the wall by swimming through a confusing network of caves and canyons. There are parts of the natural maze where stone pillars rise 100 feet (30m) towards the surface, looking like an underwater version of Jordan's Petra Canyon.
'Snapper Hole' isn't as deep as the 'Maze' but also offers cave and canyon swim throughs. Don't tell Rick the Pirate but there's a 19th century anchor fused into the reef bed at this location.
Ocean Frontier is one of the only three full service dive operations at the far end of the island. They have Nitrox, well-maintained rental gear, a GUE instructor and underwater video/photography service managed by British Columbia diver Justin Bongers. Ocean Frontier owners have been in the forefront of preserving Cayman's underwater habitat, spearheading the mooring pin program, a shark watch project and a new endeavour to sink a ship as an artificial reeg off the eastern end of the island.
The shop, pool and air fill station are part of a small condo hotel called Compass Point Dive Resort. The units are full service, luxurious and all balconies look down onto the dive dock . Ocean Frontier also has a shop at the nearby 110-room Reef Resort Hotel.
"Never have to go into town, we go it all here," says Broadbelt. "If you really crave entertainment beyond our star gazing and night dives, you can go down the road and see the Barefoot Man at the East End's Reef Resort Hotel." He said Ocean Frontier along with Cayman Diving Lodge and Tortuga Divers all end to cater to repeat divers. "It's easy diving for the people who live to get wet," he said.
Ocean Frontier
Austin Bonnoly Drive
PO Box 200 EE
US: 1-888-232-0541
Phone: 1-345-947-7500
Fax: 1-345-947-7600
oceanfrontiers@cayman.org
Cayman Diving Lodge
East End
PO Box 11 EE
US: 1-800-TCL-DIVE
Phone: 1-345-947-7555
Fax: 1-345-947-7560
caymandivelodge@cayman.org
Tortuga Divers Ltd.
Morritt's Tortuga Club
PO Box 496 EE
Phone: 1-345-947-7449
Fax: 1-345-947-9486
tortugad@tortuagdivers.com