Honduras coast hosts the Bay Islands which is a compilation of eight islands and 53 small cays and these islands are one of the best scuba diving places in the world. The amazing diversity and dive sites for all levels are just one of the reasons why the Cayman Islands is also one of the top dive destinations in the Carribean. The Cayman dollar is exchanged at a rate fixed to the US dollar (CI $1 equals US $1.25). Our DSD is $99 USD per person and includes all equipment needed and a fantastic shallow dive to a max depth of 40ft. If you are into grottos or swim-throughs, then you must head out to the west side of Grand Cayman and explore the three long tunnel swim-throughs of the Trinity Caves. Also, check out our article where we review the top 25 things to do in Grand Cayman. This is a deep wall that drops several hundred feet into the abyss. Get in touch with our specialists Beginners can enjoy another smaller chimney instead. Diving is available year-round. Exploring this site requires you to initially descend to 18 meters (60 feet) deep where the wall starts. Continue with Recommended Cookies. Lighthouse Point is located in West Bay in Grand Cayman. Hotel prices are sourced from a sample of U.S. News Best Hotels rates through 2015-2016. The entire experience is about 3 hours long from the time we pick you up from your hotel or condo along Seven Mile Beach to drop off. It is common to see barracudas and schools of horse-eye jacks in this area. There are lots of other fish and coral. ScubaDiveGeek.com also participates in other affiliate programs and Google Adwords and is compensated for referring traffic and business to these and other companies. The Cayman Islands dollar is legal tender in these islands. The best time to visit the Cayman Islands is between March and June when the hotel rates drop. Divers of all levels can explore the engines, pistons, and pieces of the wreck that are scattered at 18m/60ft. December and July are good times for families because children are out of school for the holidays and summer. Drop us a comment below and tell us your favorite site! Seven Mile Beach is considered the most popular tourist area in the Cayman Islands, thanks to its stunning white sand beaches and crystal-clear waters. This world-class scuba destination is colorful, bright, and teeming with life. Best Time to Dive Cayman Islands Diving is available year-round. 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. Eden Rock has lots of coral and fish, and Devils Grotto has underwater caves that you can explore. Under its 1986 declaration covering an area of hectares (23 acres) are dive sites that are popular to tourists and divers alike. StingrayCity. Still great for diving with great walls for all levels of divers and the walls and the Russian destroyer 356 aka Russian destroyer. When to go Best time Low season Off season Where to go when Grab your gear and dive into the crystal clear waters of Grand Cayman! The main gateway to the Cayman Islands is through Grand Cayman. As of 2023, you can renew your passport online. From the mooring, divers often descend through a cut in the reef and out onto the wall. It is only a 10-minute walk from the cruise ship port in George Town to Eden Rock. Wheres the best place(s) to stay when looking into a diving trip in the Caymans? Read more about diving in Bonaire. Sharp-eyed divers can find leopard flatworms and the tunnels are also popular hangouts for rays and green moray eels. If you have time, you should also take a flight to Little Cayman from Grand Cayman, and dive at Bloody Bay Wall. There is a lot of soft coral here, which makes for an interesting experience. "High Season" at the hotels is mid-December to mid-April, so rates will be higher then. Today, Cayman is one of the top dive destinations anywhere. Over 200 permanent boat moorings are installed to avoid damaging corals with the dropping of boat anchors. 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. Drift dives are possible here depending on your operator. 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. Cayman Islands International Film Festival. The three islands that make up the nation, Cayman Brac, Grand Cayman, and Little Cayman, are diverse and have distinct diving. The highlight of the dive is the photo opportunity with this Cayman reefs most famous resident. Visibility in the Cayman Islands is wonderful, averaging between 60 and 100 feet (18-30 meters). Three long, wide tunnels, accessible to the majority of divers, extend from the sand flats to open out onto the reef wall. Besides the thick black corals, keep an eye out for tarpon, large yellow tube sponges, and ginormous barrel sponges. We conduct this course from our shore location where the water is ideal for new divers! The best time to visit the Cayman Islands is between March and April. Even though July is a popular month, it is not necessarily a good time to go because of the reasons below. There is a lot of marine life among the coral and resident angelfish and groupers are found at the stern of the ship. Cayman Islands, as well as our suggestions for the best places to Another top option for divers, Cayman Brac Beach Resort is, as its name implies, located on the third island in the Cayman Islands: 15-square-mile Cayman Brac. You may see hammerhead sharks if you are lucky. Boat rides were no longer than 15 minutes, with most being around 5 minutes. For scuba diving, the best time to dive the Cayman Islands is pretty much any time except peak hurricane season. Click the link below to read our article about Macabuca: Tarpon Alley is located at the North Wall in Grand Cayman. Cayman Turtle Centre. DIVEIN.com was founded in 2009 by the two brothers Torben and Nicolai. I know there are shore dives that can be done, and we plan to do some of those next time. I make money by sharing links to services that I personally use and recommend. Located 133 kilometers (83 miles) northeast of Grand Cayman is its little sister island Little Cayman. 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 I quickly learned that if I poked at an area with my stick, the groupers would go right there, a great tool to get them to pose right where i wanted them in my reef scenes. 310-915-6677 Click the link below to read our article about Cheeseburger Reef: Sunset House is located on the south-side of Grand Cayman, near George Town. You need to take a boat to reach this wreck. 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. Black coral and colorful sponges decorate the near-vertical face and the shallows are dotted with large coral heads teeming with marine life. Dining can be pricey but the meals I have had have been wonderful. Macro photographers should keep an eye out for the neck and decorator crabs who make their homes here. When we talk about Fiji, what immediately comes into our mind is a tropical dream holiday. You need to protect your fingers from the eager snappers though. The water is about 100 feet deep, and there is a good variety of soft and hard corals. In February, the cost is roughly $1,044 round trip . The top of the wall is around 9 meters (30ft) so the site can be enjoyed as a shallow or deep dive. While the visibility here is often a little clouded, thats thanks to the nutrient-rich flow of water which enriches the corals on the pinnacle. The Cayman Islands are widely regarded as the birthplace of recreational scuba diving, thanks to some pioneering efforts by local operators in the 1980s. 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. Founder of Georges Watersports & Thingstodocayman.net. Reservations Office is open Monday-Friday | 8:30am-5:30pm Cayman Islands time. Although the rays who made this site their home permanently have moved on, there is still a good chance of spotting them here. Book your fun dives, snorkelling trips and courses online with thousands of PADI Dive Centers. . Grand Cayman Monthly Weather: Rain, Temperatures, Grand Cayman Vacation Tips: Hotels, Attractions, Weather, Cayman Islands overnight visitor statistics; Caribeez.com. Little Cayman is a lovely, quiet little island with a population of less than 170. Take a walk along the coast line or rent a bicycle and ride around the island. December through April are especially popular times to go because of low risk of rainfall and more moderate temperatures. The prices of hotels and short excursions that would normally be prohibitively expensive fall to more reasonable levels during this time. Our Original Diving experts, made up of marine biologists, 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. marine life, be it the tiny critters or bigger beasts of the ocean. You will see many sea creatures such as octopus and arrow crabs. Cruise lines can reduce the number of ships that visit Grand Cayman in the fall, but hotels and resorts cant reduce the number of rooms. Were a free review guide run by passionate Divers, Sports, and Outdoor fanatics. Even if they are stingrays and have the potential to inflict painful wounds via their tail, do not panic as they are not in their aggressive or defensive mode. Our team will meet you at the airport and fast-track you through. It is rich with tunnels, chutes, cervices, and beautiful reefs. Of course, the Soviets didnt call her Keith Tibbets, she was renamed for a local dive operator after the Cayman government purchased the wreck for dive tourism. Named for a historical anchorage, Anchor Point features a tight chimney-like descent at the beginning of the dive. Seahorses - While the Cayman Islands are best known for their stunning coral reefs and diverse marine life, don't forget about the amazing small critters that call these waters home . We dived 3 days in February 2014, and they were all excellent and memorable dives. Both are wonderful underwater. Ive been to Grand Cayman and Little Cayman. Pinterest Do you love diving in the Caymans? Stingray City is in only 12ft (4m) of water and is a huge draw for divers and underwater photographers. Despite the name, there arent actually caves here. Rainfall starts to climb in May. Grand Cayman scuba diving is also more popular than on the other islands due to the stingray population there. Cayman Islands Reservations Phone: (345)-947-0000 Our Reservations Office is located on site at the Dive Shop & Resort in the Cayman Islands. link to Fiji: Dive the Soft Coral Capital of the World, link to United Arab Emirates: Unspoiled Dive Sites, Wall diving, drift diving, cave diving, shore diving, boat diving, deep diving, and wreck diving, 100 different species of hard and soft corals plus over 500 species of tropical fish like the South-Atlantic stingrays, eagle rays, manta rays, nurse sharks, Caribbean reef sharks, flying gurnards, Nassau groupers, tarpon fish, Grand Cayman: Snorkeling at Stingray City, visit Dolphin Cove, hiking in the Mastic Trail, Pedro St. James National Historic Site, Cayman Islands National Museum, and the Cayman Turtle Farm. The non-divers with us were content to lounge by the pool, visit the spa, ride bikes, and go for walks. The most interesting topside activities for us were exploring the island in a rental car and driving on the left side of the road. 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. December to April is also the busiest time of year for tourism, so it's important to book your dive trips in advance. We gave our Gear Lovers one job: There's much to discover beyond theme parks in this Southeastern state. For big animals - you can find a good number of turtles and groupers, tarpon, nurse sharks, great barracuda, and stingrays. Some resorts offer "Hurricane protection". This is an especiallygreat time to visit clear, calm waters are perfect for snorkeling, diving, sailing and fishing. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a country in Western Asia located at the northeast end of the Arabian Peninsula in the Persian Gulf. 1. Grand Cayman, the main island, is often one of the most popular destinations in the Caribbean, especially with western Caribbean cruises. 4. If you enjoy snorkeling, then check out our article where we discuss the top 25 snorkel spots in Grand Cayman. The boat dives were offered mostly in the mornings, and we were on our own in the afternoons. It exceeds six inches in August and jumps again to more than eight inches in September and October. If you don't feel comfortable using my referral links, you can always go directly to their site and bypass me. It does not make the product pricier for you. Located 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) northwest of the Capital City of George Town is one of the most popular dive sites, not just in the Cayman Islands, but in the Caribbean the Stingray City which is classified as a sandbar that has been naturally aggregated with southern stingrays that have been accustomed to human presence because of feeding. It was named Orange Canyon because of the large orange Elephant Ear Sponges that can be found here. 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. PADI Dive Resorts for all budgets, in the best dive locations around the world. Named for the bright orange elephant ear sponges that characterize this site, Orange Canyon doesnt contain a closed canyon per se, but an open channel with lively reef on either side. Find the best travel insurance for you with these U.S. News ratings, which factor in expert and consumer recommendations. Our travel experts have highlighted our favourite places to visit each month, Terms & Conditions There is also an air pocket in a decompression chamber that you can pop into and chat with your buddy!! Purposely sunk in 2011, she now sits upright in the sand at 18 meters (60ft) and is a teeming artificial reef encrusted with coral. PrivacyPolicy, 2023 Original Diving | Web Design by D3R. Lemon Reef is a mini-wall dive site located on the North Wall in Grand Cayman. I like the idea of being able to dive off both islands while staying on one. While Grand Cayman, the most popular island, has a mix of accessible shore and boat diving. The chart to the right using data from the Caribbean Tourism Organization shows that March is the most popular month of the year to visit followed by December and July. Eels, rays, sharks, and turtles are frequently seen. The wall dive also has several other topographical features including swim-throughs and tunnels. Grand Cayman is the most commercial island, with cruise ships visiting, but it has some wrecks and the wall dives are close boat rides. They can offer up their first-hand You can spot eagle rays, reef sharks, sailfin blennies, tilefish, peacock flounders, garden eels, or yellow-headed jawfish. Some of the nicest dive resorts in the Caribbean are in the Cayman Islands, and many of them have great shore diving and boat diving. Interested in diving the Cayman Islands? The visibility at Donnas Delight on Little Cayman is typically good and the relaxed and easy diving here is suitable for all levels. As a diver, with a PADI account you can access your eLearning along with many more tools to help you on your adventures. You can dive from shore because they have ladders that you can use to enter and exit the water. This is a must do dive. Grand Cayman has dives for all experience levels, and our on-site dive shop Ocean Frontiers Diving Adventures offers a range of PADI dive courses and signature dive adventures. In general, the tourism industry in the Cayman Islands is designed with divers in mind. As said earlier, Grand Cayman has over 50 dive sites and we will not leave this section without mentioning other noted dive spots. Another great wall diving site in Little Cayman is Joys Joy. Cayman gives both the novice and the experienced some of the best diving in the world, as environmentally protected reefs surround each of our three islands. They look dark brown without light but the first time my strobes lit one up I was amazed at the super bright rich red color. you are in the right place at the right time to see the very best ASK US HERE! Generally, the off-season is the cheapest time to visit Grand Cayman, from May through November. My favorite were the groupers who followed us like pets. They were all guided dives. This is a wall that drops 2000 meters to the sea floor. 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 . [CDATA[ Sidetrip: Visit Little Caymans Booby Pond Nature Reserve. but the best time to visit is between May and October. It was then sunk in Grand Cayman in 1980 to make a new dive site. Eagle Ray Pass is located along the North Wall in Grand Cayman. Theres plenty to do if you are not diving. Eden Rock Dive Center. These hot temperatures start in May and last into November. [] Moray eels and angelfish move among the coral, and turtles are often seen cruising over the reef. Butterflyfish, triggerfish, shrimp, snapper, and more hand out in and around the large coral heads that sit nor far from the waters surface. Best Liveaboard Destinations in the World, Vaccines recommended: Hep A; Typhoid if you will travel to rural areas, Visa: None needed for US citizens or European Union, Safety: Generally safe but petty theft can occur. Sunset Reef is a popular shore dive just 60 meters (200ft) off the Sunset House Resorts pier. Bay Islands, Honduras. 3. They became my favorite focus on the reef. If wall diving is your thing, check out diving in Turks & Caicos. Its land area is slightly bigger than Little Cayman with a measurement of 19 x 2 kilometers (12miles x 1.2miles). There are 365 dive sites throughout the islands, offering something for all levels of experience. But they are sometimes the cheapest months to visit. In the Cayman Islands, spring is in full force. 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. Instagram, My Ideas Located near a popular resort is a vertical drop off that is filled with all sorts of marine life the North Wall. Because the site is prone to strong currents, it isnt frequently dived which makes a trip to this very healthy reef even more special. We highly advise you ask your local dive shop on the dos and donts in diving a particular dive site. We were lucky enough to see the tail end of silversides on the wreck of the Balboa right in the Harbor too. You can hand-feed wild Southern stingrays. Hurricane Ivan in 2004 cleaved the 100m/328ft ship in half but divers can still explore both sections of the wreckage. The Cayman Islands certainly offer diversity without a long trip from the states. Bloody Bay Wall- Most scuba divers will say this is their favorite dive site in the Cayman Islands. We could easily get to reefs and wrecks by ourselves from shore and take as much time as our tanks allowed. September and October are the riskiest months to visit Grand Cayman because of the higher than normal amounts of rain. Although this is a wall dive, the cut in the sites name comes from the swim-through many divers use upon descent. Youtube+ The water is about 12-feet deep here. She met her end on the reef in the late 70s, allegedly due to mutiny aboard. Diving in the Caymans offers something for everyone, whether divers are taking their very first fin stokes or have years of experience under their weight belts. If you want to enjoy these five dive sites . Nature lovers are lured to diverse hiking trails, caves, and a variety of flora and fauna around the island. Stingrays, stingrays, and more stingrays is what draws divers to this Cayman site. For beginners or those who get nervous in enclosed spaces, there are plenty of decks around the exterior to check out. 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. that the underwater world (and overwater, if you plan on surfacing The North Wall is one of the most visited diving sites and plunges to a depth of 6000 feet (1800 meters). Grand Cayman is a beautiful dive destination with many options for accommodations and for diving. But these arent the only good and bad times. The Cayman Islands boasts world-class beaches, luxurious properties, worldwide culinary influences, high-end shops, local stores, and everything in between. You can also go wreck diving as there are some shipwrecks that can be explored like the remains of USS Kittiwake. We are proud to off-set 100% of the carbon generated by our clients' flights. You need to take a boat to reach this area. 2. This is one of the top island destinations in the United Kingdom. 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. 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. Often you can see massive tarpons, barracudas, and schools of silversides. Aside from being outside the high season which means that Grand Cayman dive resorts all-inclusive hotel prices and Caribbean dive packages are cheaper, this is also the months that the diving parameters are at its best. And, thanks to a keen focus on conservation, many of the country's famous underwater spectacles are still well worth a visit today. Here are a few of our favourite dive sites in Grand Cayman: 1. Bloody Bay Wall Bloody Bay Wall is located in Little Cayman. Dive N Stay Vacation Packages - Compass Point Dive Resort - Cayman Islands (1st January 2023 - 31st December 2023) We offer pre-set Dive & Stay Vacation Packages for 3, 5 or 7 nights, and can also customize your package for any number of nights and for various group sizes. 6. You will find Nassau gropers, triggerfish, and other unique marine life at the Bloody Bay Wall. You will need little more (and some prefer less) than a 3 mm full length wetsuit. During this time, you can expect to see a variety of marine life, including turtles, rays, and a wide array of tropical fish. You could spend . The best time to visit the Cayman Islands is any time of year, but hotel rates drop in March and June and temperatures rise to around 80 degrees. For deep divers, we highly suggest you explore the elephant-ear sponge laden reef of the Orange Canyon or go cave diving in Bonnies Arch. 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). Besides scuba diving, there are plenty of other things to do on the Cayman Islands. Located in the Bloody Bay marine park on Little Caymans north side, Marilyns Cut is largely unspoiled and offers up pristine soft and hard corals. Other highlights include barracudas, yellowtail snappers, hawksbill turtles, and stingrays that sleep in the sand. 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. Stingray City has very large, friendly stingrays. From full scuba certification courses to one-day experiences for those who've never breathed off a regulator, the Cayman Islands qualify as an scuba diving shrine. The Cayman Islands-- Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac--have been attracting scuba divers for decades, including beginners! The rainiest months in Grand Cayman are September and October during the height of the annual hurricane season. Eagle rays glide past in the blue water, triggerfish, Nassau groupers, electric yellow sponges and much make this site popular with divers in the Caymans. Around the coral fingers, stingrays, eagle rays and yellowhead jawfish rest on the sandy patches. The sea is always warm in the Cayman Islands, with surface temperatures never dropping below around 25 o C (78 o F). 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. Discover these empowering women's history destinations selected by the U.S. News travel editors. The worst time is September during the hurricane season. There is also a small restaurant and dive resort. Best Time to Dive Cayman Islands. Bloody Bay Wall is considered the epicenter of scuba diving in this marine park. From our 24hr helpline to our expert local guides and selection of handpicked reading lists. View Map. Ocean Cabanas Dive Resort: Great views, amazing stay - See 33 traveler reviews, 112 candid photos, and great deals for Ocean Cabanas Dive Resort at Tripadvisor. Originally coined 356, this wreck is now called the M/V Captain Keith Tibbetts after a well-known Cayman Brac politician. This is currently number 20 on the 100 Best Dives list.. After exploring the area, here are some of the best dive sites in the Cayman Islands: 1.