Mention Bloody Bay Wall to an experienced diver and you can expect an enthusiastic response – Little Cayman's top dive site is among the world's best. And the good news for divers is that the conditions that prevail in these quiet waters are replicated around all three Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac). With no rivers running off to muddy the waters, visibility is exceptional, ranging from 30 metres to 60 metres. Add to this consistently warm waters, averaging 26C in winter and 29C in high summer, healthy coral teeming with colourful fish, and it's little wonder that the Cayman Islands' tourist industry has been built on diving.
Picture crystal-clear, shallow waters sheltered by fringing coral reefs, which drop off almost vertically into the deep. These walls are alive with myriad species of coral, enormous barrel sponges and swaying sea fans, offering homes to a diversity of the tiny creatures beloved of macro divers (who focus on marine photography using macro lenses).
With more than 350 designated dive sites around the islands, all with individual moorings, there are plenty of exploring opportunities. Few sites are more than a 20- or 30-minute boat ride from the islands, and many are much closer to land, with shore diving an option in some areas. Even when the wind is up, there will always be somewhere where the waters are calm. Stringent conservation rules mean that there is never more than one boat at each mooring, and tuition and safety standards are among the highest in the world.
For the novice diver, the calm waters within the reefs – especially those to the west of Grand Cayman – are a perfect training ground. Here, in depths of just five metres or so, divers can make a leisurely exploration of the reef, or the coral fingers known as spur-and-groove formations, taking in everything from iridescent parrot fish chiselling into the coral to the steady progress of a conch as it makes its way along the sandy seabed.
For more experienced divers, the choice is even greater. Caves, tunnels, runs and swim-throughs abound. One minute you'll be finning alongside a sea turtle or in the midst of a shoal of jacks, the next, eyeballing a curious French angelfish. In the shadows lurk moray eels and spiny lobsters, which come into their own during night dives as they make their way into the open in search of smaller prey. And while it's tempting to keep your eyes glued to the reef walls, think again: you might spot a silver tarpon hanging motionless in the blue, or the unmistakable outline of a hammerhead shark far out to sea.
As if this natural diversity were not enough, all three islands sport their own wreck dives. Some of these ships, such as the Cali, just 45 metres off George Town, foundered on the reefs. Others, however, including the Russian frigate MV Captain Keith Tibbetts off Cayman Brac and the USS Kittiwake off Seven Mile Beach – which slipped beneath the waves to great ceremony in January this year – have been sunk deliberately to add a further dimension for divers and snorkellers alike.
For most visitors, no visit to Grand Cayman would be complete without a trip to Stingray City. Or perhaps "cities" is more appropriate, since there are two sites: one, the popular sandbar, best for snorkellers; the other, some distance away, where divers kneel in wait just four metres down. Whether snorkeller or diver, the attraction is the same: female southern stingrays, which glide silently through on soft, broad "wings" in search of a morsel of squid, and leave behind a lasting impression.
