Grand Cayman Diving

For the last four years in a row I've taken a trip to Grand Cayman with my brother Pete and his wife Jill, in the second week of December, just before the mad Christmas rush.

As you can see, Seven Mile Beach isn't exactly packed with touristas this time of year. Oh, Tan Man, where art thou ?

On this occasion we were joined by a fun group of Pete & Jill's friends from Madison, Wisconsin.
Jill's brother RJ was also able to make it this time, which was especially nice for me because I now had a certified dive buddy and didn't have to settle for the usual diveboat potluck.
Here he is, drawing a deep breath.

Actually, diving is a great way to meet interesting people from all over the world.
This year I dove several times with Hans and Frans™... Sorry, Hans and Michael from Sweden, ja, before RJ showed up.
Here they are, decompressing after a long, deep dive.

The deep waters off the North Wall of Grand Cayman are a good place to look for hammerhead sharks and eaglerays.
There were no confirmed sightings of hammerheads on my dives this time (naturally, there are always claims, but it takes a second sighting to certify it, given the level of N₂ in the blood at that depth). But a big spotted eagleray put on a splendid performance for us and I'm glad I had my camera handy !

For those of you who were with me that day, here are the fullsize images I promised.

Eagleray closeup (309KB)

Eagleray cruising (557 KB)

On previous trips I had explored dive sites along the famous Cayman Wall on the west, south, and north sides of the island, usually with Bob Soto's Reef Divers. But I had never ventured over to the east side before, and this time I was determined to plug the gap. So I reserved space for RJ and me on a boat with Ocean Frontiers.

It's true what they say about the East Wall. The diving is spectacular, the sites are pristine and Ocean Frontiers proved to be an excellent choice (only 3 dive operations serve the East Side).

For some further background on the Cayman Islands, see also this link.

"You can't beat fun."
- Silas "Chum" Spengler

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