Divers can observe the bow guns and go along the rails to make some great photos. 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. Keith Tibbets- This Soviet-built Frigate that was owned by the Cuban navy was given to the Cayman Islands to purposefully sink it. "High Season" at the hotels is mid-December to mid-April, so rates will be higher then. As for temperature and weather, the Cayman Islands are tropical, meaning it's warm 365 days a year. Best Time to Dive in Little Cayman. you are in the right place at the right time to see the very best The water depth here is around 18-meters. Drift dives are possible here depending on your operator. 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. an enquiry. The prices of hotels and short excursions that would normally be prohibitively expensive fall to more reasonable levels during this time. In the Cayman Islands, spring is in full force. For beginners or those who get nervous in enclosed spaces, there are plenty of decks around the exterior to check out. 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. 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. They have ladders that you can use to enter and exit the water safely. This is a shore dive, meaning that you enter the water from the shore, and then swim to Cheeseburger Reef. 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. The depths start at around 12m/40ft and end at 30m/98ft. Having done a lot of dives in Florida, one thing we did notice was that there were not as many fishes on the reefs in Grand Cayman as in south Florida, but after looking at my pictures after this trip I did notice many small fishes and critters. Take your camera and get a snap with one of the abandoned bicycles that have also found a home here. Still great for diving with great walls for all levels of divers and the walls and the Russian destroyer 356 aka Russian destroyer. Ghost Mountain Grand Cayman is another great spot for wall diving where you can further reach a protruding limestone that silhouettes like a ghost from afar. if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,100],'scubadivegeek_com-leader-1','ezslot_4',120,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-scubadivegeek_com-leader-1-0'); By descending down to 15 meters (50 feet) deep, you will arrive at what divers call the hanging garden which is a vertical limestone wall filled with black corals, barrel sponges, and purple sea fans. The Cayman Islands boasts world-class beaches, luxurious properties, worldwide culinary influences, high-end shops, local stores, and everything in between. 310-915-6677 There are also lots of tarpon and small silver sprats in this area. And as you might imagine, the coral-encrusted archway makes for a fantastic photo opportunity. Please Sign-in or Register Canyons and drop-offs provide a varied topography making the site a firm favorite with photographers. Northerners also want to get away from the cold and snow of winter. 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. While diving is a year-round activity in the Cayman Islands, June to August is considered to be the best time of year to dive Grand Cayman and the nearby islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. Wilderness Wall starts at 15 meters (50ft) before plunging down into the depths. For example, let's look at one airline flying from Miami to Grand Cayman. Part of the Bloody Bay wall, descending from the mooring here reveals a brightly colored vertical reef packed with sponges, corals, and vertebrate and invertebrate marine life. Our DSD is $99 USD per person and includes all equipment needed and a fantastic shallow dive to a max depth of 40ft. There's much to discover beyond theme parks in this Southeastern state. Bloody Bay Wall is considered the epicenter of scuba diving in this marine park. The Caymans have one major event that also may impact the best times to go there. StingrayCity. As the name suggests, this Cayman dive site is known for eagle rays. Erwin Poliakoff, Baton Rouge, Louisiana USA Nikon D7000, Tokina 10-17 zoom, Nikkor 60mm, 85mm, and 105mm macros, Nauticam housing Bloody Bay Wall. If you want to enjoy these five dive sites . "High Season" at the hotels is mid-December to mid-April, so rates will be higher then. Dive vacations in the Cayman Islands are a good choice for underwater photographers with their many opportunities to capture the beauty of the place and wonderful visibility, and also for travellers looking for deep dives - you can find many along the Cayman walls. The best time to go to the Cayman Islands is in March and April because there is spring break from school and April has a combination of warm temperatures and a low risk of rain. Grand Cayman Monthly Weather: Rain, Temperatures, Grand Cayman Vacation Tips: Hotels, Attractions, Weather, Cayman Islands overnight visitor statistics; Caribeez.com. DIVEIN.com was founded in 2009 by the two brothers Torben and Nicolai. For this reason, wreck junkies and aficionados often have the Keith on their to-dive lists. This is really a divers paradise. Press the question mark key to get the keyboard shortcuts for changing dates. Despite the name, there arent actually caves here. Purposely sunk in 2011, she now sits upright in the sand at 18 meters (60ft) and is a teeming artificial reef encrusted with coral. Otherwise, it is clear that December through April are the best months of the year to visit Grand Cayman, especially early April. Answer 1 of 11: Does anyone have firsthand experience with any of the dive operators on Little Cayman that they will share? Penetration is encouraged but to get the most out of the experience, take a torch. There are also usually direct flights from Boston, Chicago, and New York. Once you decide which route you want to go, it's time to get in the water! Clearly Cayman Group Specials - Big savings on 7-night stays! Perhaps because of this, the coral isnt looking a healthy as it could. Get forecasts each morning for every major island. There are lots of other fish and coral. June to October brings higher topside temperatures (up to 33C, 91F). Only ten miles long and one mile wide, this is a place where you can truly focus on your opportunity to relax. Phone +1 345-949-7111. She met her end on the reef in the late 70s, allegedly due to mutiny aboard. Hotels, resorts and cruise ships dont like unsold rooms and cabins, so they are more likely to offer discounts to attract customers. 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. 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. We could easily get to reefs and wrecks by ourselves from shore and take as much time as our tanks allowed. Aside from corals, barrel sponges are sprawling in this vibrant reef that is also filled with tropical reef fish like groupers, butterflyfish, angelfish, moray eels and lionfish which is believed to be an invasive species. December through April are especially popular times to go because of low risk of rainfall and more moderate temperatures. Click the link below to read our article about the USS Kittiwake: Wilderness Wall is located on the south-side of Cayman Brac. If youre thinking Cheeseburger is an odd name for a dive site, you probably wont be surprised that this shore dive probably took its name after the Burger King that was located across the road! While Grand Cayman receives the most publicity and visitors, all three Cayman Islands - Cayman Brac and Little Cayman being the other two -- offer outstanding scuba diving. Other highlights include barracudas, yellowtail snappers, hawksbill turtles, and stingrays that sleep in the sand. This site is my attempt to live the adrenaline my life is missing and be able to live real-life storybook stories with my wife and children. With world class conditions and a robust dive industry, the Cayman Islands is one of the best places to learn how to dive. Why? Usually you will see at least a few tarpon at this spot. From spotting blue iguanas to kayaking in a bioluminescent bay to diving through intricate shipwrecks, here is a guide to making the most out of a first-time visit to Grand Cayman. My wife and I are traveling there in February 2015 and are PADI AOW and Nitrox certified with ten years of recreational experience diving. This world-class scuba destination is colorful, bright, and teeming with life. Would also recommend spending an afternoon at Rum Point, where you can relax and also do some snorkeling if you like. 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. Lemon Reef is a mini-wall dive site located on the North Wall in Grand Cayman. Average rainfall jumps to more than five inches in May, June and July. While diving is a year-round activity in the Cayman Islands, June to August is considered to be the best time of year to dive Grand Cayman and the nearby islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. All the information you need to plan your dive vacations anywhere in the world. The ship has been opened up with large access holes so that you can swim through the interior of the ship. 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. Located near a popular resort is a vertical drop off that is filled with all sorts of marine life the North Wall. Intermediate divers can begin their dive at the chimney, a narrow tunnel starting at 12m/40ft and ending at 24m/80ft. After being intentionally sunk to become an artificial reef, this former 76 meter (251 feet) long naval vessel now rests at 18 meters (60 feet) deep near the world-renowned Seven Mile Beach. Here youll find more than 50 dives sites including the famous Bloody Bay. Cayman Islands Reservations Phone: (345)-947-0000 Our Reservations Office is located on site at the Dive Shop & Resort in the Cayman Islands. Their sister company, Tortuga Divers, operates from Morritts Tortuga Club in East End. Your dive profile in Stingray City is relatively shallow since your maximum depth is just only 6 meters (20 feet) when you reach the sandy seafloor. You can dive along this wall and explore the different entrances. 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. The flight and hotel fares are discounted up to 50 percent this time of year. So, either way, the experience is well worth the money. Plenty of schooling reef fish call Ghost Mountain home and the pinnacle is also carpeted in deep, bloody-red finger sponges. If you are vacationing in Cayman Brac, then you need to visit this spot. Bloody Bay Marine Park is a particularly popular diving destination as it is home to 12 different dive sites, gorgeous coral, and diverse marine life. 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. Look in the blue off the wall for passing sharks, rays, and turtles. I make money by sharing links to services that I personally use and recommend. While the upper part of the reef is already teeming with corals, it becomes denser as you traverse the vertical limestone where it is now intermixed with sponges and sea fans. MV Captain Keith Tibbetts is an ex-Soviet Union ship that was built in 1984 for the Cuban Navy. For us divers, the financial self-sufficiency of the Cayman Islands is only the icing on the cake.