Best Dive Sites in the Cayman Islands for a Magical Scuba Experience

The Cayman Islands is a land of breath-taking experiences. This British overseas island is home to mystical caves, unscaled escarpments, tropical forests, diverse wildlife and a plethora of other unique experiences. This is one of the top island destinations in the United Kingdom. In a nutshell, its an island full of land and water adventures. When we talk about water adventures, scuba diving is one activity that everyone wants to try. Even for advanced divers, it is equally intriguing as every single dive has a different experience to offer. In this article, we will walk you through the best dive sites in the Cayman Islands that you can afford to miss.

Set on the Caribbean Sea, the Cayman Islands is a group of three islets. These three islets are the Grand Cayman, Cayman Barc and the Little Cayman. All three islets have equally impressive yet contrasting dive spots.

Best Dive Sites in the Cayman Islands

• USS Kittiwake: Shipwreck Dive Spot
• Little Cayman’s Bloody Bay Wall Site
• Grand Cayman’s Stringray City
• Cayman Brac’s MV Captain Keith Tibbetts
• Babylon in Grand Cayman
• Eden Rock & Devil’s Grotto

1.USS Kittiwake: Shipwreck Dive Spot

USS Kittiwake is one of the popular and top-selling scuba dive sites in Cayman. This dive spot is set off on the shores of Seven- Mile Beach. It gained its popularity in 2011 post the tragic incident when the USS Navy ship sunk off. The remains of the ships are still fresh and intact. You can explore around the perimeter and interiors of the ship in detail and visualise the entire vessel. The growth of aquatic reef and other flora is still minimal in this spot. The depth being little over 20 meters, it is suitable for both advanced as well as beginner levels. The highlight of this spot is the high visibility of water. Even if you snorkel on the surface, the shipwreck is still visible.

2.Little Cayman’s Bloody Bay Wall Site

This is by far the best diving site in the entire Caymans. This dive spot is located on the shores of Little Cayman and is known for its numerous pirates battle. Little Cayman inhabits less than 200 people, everyone is connected to diving in one or the other way.

The diversity of corals and the visibility of this site is unparalleled. As you descend down to 300 meters underwater, you will find a vertical wall clad with bright colourful corals. The stand out about this dive site is the bioluminescent corals. You will find numerous corals which are bioluminescent and you will also find countless fluorescence corals as well. While most diving sites around the world have either bioluminescent or fluorescence corals, this site has both categories of corals.

There are seldom few diving sites around the world where night diving is possible. This is one such site where you can enjoy diving in the dark. At the same time, equipments are a bit more sophisticated hence might result in a few extra bucks that are worth for the experience.

3.Grand Cayman’s Stringray City

This dive spot is tailor-made for the novices. If you are a beginner and never experienced scuba before, this would be the ideal place to set off. The water’s depth is quite shallow and you can easily swim to the surface whenever you panic.

The primary edge of this site is, you will able to witness and swim around with marine life when you descend to a depth of as minimal as 5 meters. The major highlight is that there stingrays of all possible sizes. You will come across stingrays that are as huge as humans. In addition, you can even feed, hug and swim with stingrays in this dive site. There are various operators who offer certified diving courses here. Hence, it is a good platform to start your diving journey.

4.Cayman Brac’s MV Captain Keith Tibbetts

This is again a shipwreck diving spot. Captain Keith is Soviet-build warship that sunk off in 1996 near the less-visited Cayman Brac. The 2004 hurricane further wrecked the warship into two and both fragments are accessible. This is only Soviet-built warship that is conveniently accessible in the entire Western Hemisphere.

The dive is a short boat ride from the north-west shore of Barc. Given the location of the diving site, only a few ardent divers visit this site. Once you dive in, the calmness of waters unfolds in contrast to the boat ride that is usually bumpy. As you descend further you will able to witness the iconic 330 meters, Captain Keith. As the warship is further wrecked, you will able to view the insides of the ship and also the robust Soviet-style artillery. Given its 24 years since the wreck, the sea life and corals are relatively well established than USS Kittiwake.

5.Babylon in Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman Islet has plenty of diving spots around the island perimeter. However, the best dives point are clustered around the north wall. This is a good site for the first time divers as there are many shallow spots with radiant marine species. If you are an advanced level diver you can descend and witness breathtaking scenery. Few rare marine life in this site includes parrotfish, barrel sponges, hawksbill turtles and the hammerheads.

6.Eden Rock & Devil’s Grotto

Eden Rock and Devils Grotto are just to the south of Seven-Mile Beach. It is roughly 46 feet from the surface of the water. Both these dive spots are like an underwater maze longing to be explored. The striking feature of these two dive spots are the tunnels and caverns. You can find species of fishes like huge tarpon that is 4 -5 feet in length, glassy sweepers and silverside fish. If you feel adventurous, try scouting inside the narrow tunnels and caverns for different species of fishes and aquatic life.

Both the dive sites are close to each other and can be covered in one session. But we recommend you take one dive at a time since it will ensure you get enough time to explore the complex reef systems.

The above is just a select set of dive sites in the Cayman Islands. There are numerous dive spots in addition to the above list. Reach out to destination experts at Pickyourtrail to know more and to plan a completely customisable itinerary to the cayman islands. In addition, check out the United Kingdom Packages for exciting offers.

Suggested Read: Unique Experiences in the Cayman Islands for Adventure Seeking Souls