Diving in the Cayman Islands – in pictures

With their brilliant yellow eyes, French angelfish (Pomacanthus paru) are just as likely to swim right up to a diver’s mask and stare in as they are to eyeball each other. Photograph: Carlos Villoch/Specialist Stock

Green moray eels (Gymnothorax funebris) grow to nearly 2 metres in length. During daylight hours, they are more normally seen lurking among the rocks than crossing the sandy seabed. Photograph: photolibrary.com

Its magnificent long antennae often give away the lair of the nocturnal spiny lobster (Panulirus argus), which tends to hide under rocky overhangs during the day. Photograph: Robert Smith

The vibrant colours of a brittle star are displayed to perfection against folds of the brain coral that thrives in Cayman waters. Photograph: Hal Beral

With crystal-clear visibility and warm waters, Little Cayman’s renowned Bloody Bay marine park is the perfect spot to snorkel – and within sight of a sandy beach, too. Photograph: Alamy

For many visitors, the southern stingray (Dasyatis americana) epitomises the underwater attractions of Grand Cayman, where it is renowned as the star attraction at Stingray City. Photograph: Stephen Frink

Vivid yellow tube corals have colonised the rusting superstructure of the MV Captain Keith Tibbetts, a Russian frigate that was sunk as a diving attraction off Cayman Brac in 1996. Photograph: Stephen Frink/Image Bank

Distinctive for its vivid scarlet markings, the tiny saddled blenny (Malacoctenus triangulatus) is one of many reef fish that enliven the star corals of the Caribbean. Photograph: photolibrary.com

Walls, tunnels and swim-throughs characterise many of Cayman’s dive sites – home to huge shoals of fish, and corals whose improbable colours shine out in the light of a camera flash. Photograph: Lawson Wood

Wreck divers in the Cayman Islands have plenty of choice, ranging from ships that sunk off the reef to those, such as the USS Kittiwake, that were scuppered expressly for divers. Photograph: © Biosphoto / Didier Brandelet/Copyright : www.biosphoto.com