Twitter ScubaDiveGeek.com is a participant in the Amazon.com Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. (Closed Circuit Rebreathers/CCR) allows you to massively extend your dive time. The Cayman Islands are one of the Best Liveaboard Destinations for Beginners. Cayman Brac offers a good mix of wall, wreck and reef diving for all experience levels. The non-divers with us were content to lounge by the pool, visit the spa, ride bikes, and go for walks. For water sports lovers, there are great spots for snorkeling including night snorkeling with bioluminescence, options to go sailing or on a catamaran cruise. Through this site,my intent is to be able to sponsor the new chapter in my life as a scuba diver. Visibility in the Cayman Islands is wonderful, averaging between 60 and 100 feet (18-30 meters). The water is about 10 to 20 feet deep. Lionfish have become an invasive species and some of the dive operators offer culling excursions. 4. Devilishly deep drop-offs, wicked wreck dives and some of the coolest coral in the Caribbean have made the Cayman Islands a world-class dive destination. . Orange Canyon is a popular dive site on the west-side of Grand Cayman. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. From these locations, I was able to dive the west end and also the North Wall. The months of January and February are the coldest, with average lows in the low 60s. There are 365 dive sites throughout the islands, offering something for all levels of experience. [CDATA[ Even though July is a popular month, it is not necessarily a good time to go because of the reasons below. Princess Pennies Pinnacle is located on the North Wall in Grand Cayman. September is the worst month of the Caribbean hurricane season, which officially goes from June through November. The best dive site is either Bloody Bay Wall in Little Cayman or the USS Kittiwake in Grand Cayman. Many divers who have been diving in this area said that this is really an up close and personal experience with stingrays as they are literally touching and surrounding you. The best diving depth at this Cayman site, between 30 and 40 meters (98-130ft) means its best for deep certified advanced divers. Both are wonderful underwater. Hurricane Ivan in 2004 cleaved the 100m/328ft ship in half but divers can still explore both sections of the wreckage. We did see some nurse sharks, sea turtles and a few rays. He is the author of four books about cruising in the Caribbean, Alaska and Mexican Riviera. It was quite crowded with dive and snorkel boats when we got there, but it was no big deal once we got in the water. Press the question mark key to get the keyboard shortcuts for changing dates. Bloody Bay Wall- Most scuba divers will say this is their favorite dive site in the Cayman Islands. Otherwise, it is clear that December through April are the best months of the year to visit Grand Cayman, especially early April. Sharp-eyed divers can find leopard flatworms and the tunnels are also popular hangouts for rays and green moray eels. Rum Point Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned diver, Grand Cayman has a dive site for you. It exceeds six inches in August and jumps again to more than eight inches in September and October. Besides the thick black corals, keep an eye out for tarpon, large yellow tube sponges, and ginormous barrel sponges. Trinity Caves is a popular dive site that is located off the coast of West Bay in Grand Cayman. Book an introductory scuba diving package to learn the basics of diving from certified PADI instructors. There is a lot of soft coral here, which makes for an interesting experience. Best time to dive When to dive in the Cayman Islands entirely depends on your own personal preferences. East End 5. While the gazebo itself is actually an arch, this small dive site never fails to please. Despite being small measuring only 16 x 1.6 kilometers (10 x 1 mile), tourism is booming and tourism facilities are sprawling especially in South Town. Often you can see massive tarpons, barracudas, and schools of silversides. Stingrays, stingrays, and more stingrays is what draws divers to this Cayman site. When diving through the cut itself, look under and in crevices, plenty of little critters make homes for themselves here. Best Time to Visit The Cayman Islands are mostly sunny and warm year-round, but it may be best to visit between March and June when the hotel rates drop. ASK US HERE! I have worked in the corporate world and had little time for adventure. You will find the Cayman Islands to be very diverse, from quiet Little Cayman, to bustling Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman. Head to around 30m/98ft for some of the best wall views. September can bring rougher waters if there is a tropical storm, and that is also the month with a higher chance of a hurricane, although hurricanes are not common. Click the link below to read our article where we explain the difference between Deep Stingray City and Stingray City Sandbar: Macabuca is located in West Bay in Grand Cayman. You can see Spotted Eagle Rays flying passed this area from depths of about 30 to 100 feet. This is how we pay ourselves. Here are a few of our favourite dive sites in Grand Cayman: 1. All levels of divers can enjoy the site as there is plenty to see at shallow depths or at deeper parts. December rainfall drops back down to about three inches. Occasionally, a nurse shark rest on the sand. [] Naturally, this is also the most expensive season, and reservations must be made at least three months in advance. This is one of the deepest sea-walls in the world. Sunset Reef is a popular shore dive just 60 meters (200ft) off the Sunset House Resorts pier. Some resorts offer "Hurricane protection". Named for a historical anchorage, Anchor Point features a tight chimney-like descent at the beginning of the dive. It sounds like the best time overall, based on the posts so far. The best time to see whitetip reef sharks in the Cayman Islands is from May to August. If you like diving in caves and grottos, Trinity Caves on Grand Caymans west side is the site for you. 10 Go Scavenger Hunting At Seven Mile Beach. While the tropical vacation destination does see fewer crowds, this is the rainiest season in the Cayman Islands so you may have to contend with some showers. Babylon- Grand Cayman Island is surrounded by a wall, but what makes the Babylon site special is the pinnacle with a canyon cutting the north wall. The Cayman Diving Season The islands are very much a year round diving destination. I would like to mention 2 points though, one that it is a bit expensive, both the accommodations and the diving, and secondly, it looks like they allow open water divers to do the deeper wall dives, where you can be as deep as 100 feet, just an FYI, in case youre not comfortable at that depth. Generally, even with up to four dives per day on offer Cayman Islands scuba diving . The islands' location in the western part of the Caribbean shields them from being hit too hard by the annual hurricane season, which lasts from June to November. The dives are shallow and you can closely observe them swimming around or above you. Wakatobi Dive Resort, a private island south of Sulawesi, understands thisand that shooters trek to this country, one of the most biodiverse hotspots on the planet, to capture images of every critter possible. The main dive spot of Little Cayman is located on the northwest coast in a marine protected area the Bloody Bay Marine Park. Grand Caymans North Wall plunges deeper than 1800 metres/6000 feet and offers beautiful wall diving with opportunities to see spotted eagle rays and sea turtles. Discover these empowering women's history destinations selected by the U.S. News travel editors. Before the USS Kittiwake was sunk, the Oro Verde was the wreck dive of choice in the Caymans. Find a Liveaboard -Practical Information - Book a Trip. The Cayman Islands certainly offer diversity without a long trip from the states. Sharks and turtles are frequent visitors as are snappers, groupers, and grunts. I make money by sharing links to services that I personally use and recommend. Below are our recommendations for the best months to dive in Cayman Islands, as well as our suggestions for the best places to dive in each month of the year. Cayman Brac is the last of the islands and also much less traveld than Grand Caymen. It was then sunk in Grand Cayman in 1980 to make a new dive site. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Grand Cayman is the most commercial island, with a lot of resorts, great nightlife, and more tourist attractions. Around the coral fingers, stingrays, eagle rays and yellowhead jawfish rest on the sandy patches. They were all guided dives. to save My Ideas for later. The rainiest months in Grand Cayman are September and October during the height of the annual hurricane season. Grand Cayman is a sophisticated Caribbean island with great nightlife, great resort options, and the wonderful attraction of stingray city, and very good wall diving. In general, the tourism industry in the Cayman Islands is designed with divers in mind. Grandview Condominiums are located on the south end of 7 Mile Beach in George Town on the scuba diving island of Grand Cayman. Black groupers, sergeant majors, yellowtail snapper, and moray eels are just a few of the species you can expect to see. This is currently number 20 on the 100 Best Dives list. Dining can be pricey but the meals I have had have been wonderful. Unfortunately, the tarpons that gave this site its name have moved on, but you may be lucky and catch a glimpse of these silver kings. Photographers will love Greenhouse for its varied macro life. Other highlights include barracudas, yellowtail snappers, hawksbill turtles, and stingrays that sleep in the sand. Black coral and colorful sponges decorate the near-vertical face and the shallows are dotted with large coral heads teeming with marine life. As you enter the cave, you will realize that it is not totally dark as it is illuminated by streaking sunlight streaming from overhead cracks and crevices. You will then follow a sloping reef up to 25 meters (82 feet) deep where the wall starts and drops down up to 900 meters (2,950 feet) deep. Instead, they pass through the vicinity and bring heavy rains and wind to the island. In the shallows, flamingo tongues cling onto sea fans while lobsters, eels, and jewfish can be found hiding in the ridges and gullies. Matt Hampton was a guest of the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism (visitcaymanislands.com), British Airways, which has London returns from 688 (ba.com), and the Westin Seven Mile Beach, which . The Cayman Islands hosts one of the best dives in the World: Bloody Bay Wall on Little Cayman. It was named after the famous free-diver Penny Ventura. The heat may be less of an issue for anyone planning to spend a week there mainly on the beaches during the day and shopping or having fun in the cooler evenings. The top is at 15m/50ft but the bottom is around 90m/200ft so diver ought to watch their depth gauges carefully as they circle the mountain. 390 S Church St, George Town KY1-1106, Cayman Islands. Despite the name, there arent actually caves here. Butterflyfish, triggerfish, shrimp, snapper, and more hand out in and around the large coral heads that sit nor far from the waters surface. Our DSD is $99 USD per person and includes all equipment needed and a fantastic shallow dive to a max depth of 40ft. The Cayman Islands-- Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac--have been attracting scuba divers for decades, including beginners! The course includes a 2-hour pool and theory session, and an . Recommended Level: Beginner Intermediate Advanced Dive Type: Boat Reef Wall Macro Wreck Canyon Shore Night Shallow Shark Cave Stingray Swim-Through Drift Liveboard Deep Great Wall East and West Little Cayman Great Wall West - Turtle Watch on for even more in-depth travel advice. I thought it might be too touristy, but it was a lot of fun. Choose from a selection of more than 250 vessels and 18,000 trips worldwide. Once you decide which route you want to go, it's time to get in the water! The 6 Best Dive Sites in the Cayman Islands Cecily Russell 3 April, 2022 The trio of Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory situated in the western Caribbean Sea. Booming in the sense that Little Cayman has over 15 dive sites that have attracted divers from all parts of the globe, and sprawling since all the dive sites are teeming with marine life. The dive schedule would include a deep wall dive followed by a shallower reef or wreck. This pristine wall on the south side of Cayman Brac features an abundance of hard corals, gorgonians, and massive red, orange, green, and purple sponges. If you enjoy diving, then you need to visit the USS Kittiwake during your vacation to Grand Cayman. You could spend . Over 200 permanent boat moorings are installed to avoid damaging corals with the dropping of boat anchors. Top dives include the famous 1000 Steps, the Hilmer Hooker wreck, and Bari Reef. North Wall 2. stingray city 3. 5. With a PADI Travel account, you can favourite dive operators to come back to later on any device or computer. Grand Cayman has more dive sites than Little Cayman. But these arent the only good and bad times. Find the best and most popular products and review them. 1. Get in touch with our specialists Little Cayman, Cayman Islands. But these aren't the only good and bad times. In general, the best time to dive in the Cayman Islands is between January and April, when the water temperature is warm and visibility is excellent. The islands are warm year-round with average highs holding steady in the 80s. Over a 30-year history, the islands have averaged less than two inches of rain from January through April and a little more than two inches in December, according to the Cayman Islands National Weather Service. Diving is available year-round. Best Time To Dive The Cayman Island It is because of the sometimes extreme temperatures and rainfall that the Caymans have distinct spikes and dips in the number of tourists who visit each month. If you want to get rid of the tourist crowd in Grand Cayman and explore a dive site that is remote and that the diver to fish ratio is 1 to a million, then we suggest you head out northwest of Grand Cayman via a Cayman Liveaboard vessel in a site called Babylon. There are actually around two dozen dive sites within the bay, with Bloody Bay Wall top of the list. Topside, the community is expanding with ongoing construction. The Cayman Islands dollar is issued in units of $100, $50, $25, $10, $5 and $1 with coins of 25 cents, 10, 5 and one cent. Our review team always considers durability, price, quality, and value in their reviews. Hotel prices are sourced from a sample of U.S. News Best Hotels rates through 2015-2016. You will need little more (and some prefer less) than a 3 mm full length wetsuit. You can hand-feed wild Southern stingrays. 1 is a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom unit. If you are vacationing in Cayman Brac, then you need to visit this spot. Flamingo tongues can be found on the sea fans, while arrow crabs, bristle worms, and long-spined sea urchins hide in the cracks and grooves. We were lucky enough to see the tail end of silversides on the wreck of the Balboa right in the Harbor too. 2. The islands are warm year-round with average highs. The worst time is September during the hurricane season. The Cayman dollar is exchanged at a rate fixed to the US dollar (CI $1 equals US $1.25). Our Original Diving experts, made up of marine biologists, divemasters and lovers of all things underwater, know the best time to dive in Little Cayman. The dive resorts are more expensive than places like Roatan or Belize, but given the reputation of the islands and the quality and ease of the diving, we find the prices reasonable. This is the most famous dive site in the Cayman Islands - and with good reason. Dive conditions could not have been more perfect, flat seas (the north side is supposed to be more choppy but the day we dived Eagle Ray pass, it was just 2 feet seas, the rest of the dives were on the west side, where the sea was flat both days), warm water (80 degrees for our stay), clear water with awesome 90-100+ feet visibility (great for wide angle photography). Seven Mile Beach 4. The best time to visit the Cayman Islands is between March and June when the hotel rates drop. Phone +1 345-949-7111. Canyons and drop-offs provide a varied topography making the site a firm favorite with photographers. A shallow dive site, the colors here really pop making it a good choice for photographers. A favourite stop for those diving and snorkeling lovers, the Bay Islands' important three islands are Roatan, Utila and Guanaja. You get to enjoy some of the warm weather, which is especially nice if you live in the northern U.S., where it's still winter. May through November, and especially September and October, are the riskiest months to visit. Income disclosure: We are reader supported, and earn affiliate commissions when you buy via links found on DIVEIN.com: If you find a good deal on our site, you click to the retailer and you buy the product, we get a commission of the sale.
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