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The Blennylips team went to Grand Cayman Island for two weeks (April/May of 2007) to visit with friends and do some diving.
The markers on the map below show where we stayed, dove, and other points of interest. Click on a marker for more information about that place.
We flew from Bonaire's Flamingo Airport to Puerto Rico's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport where we connected to Miami International to pick up a flight to Grand Cayman's Owen Roberts International Airport, all on American Airlines.
A more direct route would have gone directly from Puerto Rico to Grand Cayman on Caymen Airlines. However, just this leg costs nearly as much as the entire American trip!
Our friends from New Jersey own two weeks of time-share at the 7 Mile Beach Resort and Club where we stayed in a two bedroom condo with a complete kitchen, large living room and a screened in porch facing the central courtyard with a large swimming pool.
We were very happy with the accommodations. It is a low key resort with wireless (did not work so well) and wired (snappy!) internet access. It is within an easy walk of 7 Mile Beach, a convenience store and several decent restaurants.
All but four of our eighteen dives were with 7 Mile Watersports who serve the 7 Mile Beach Resort and Club.
7 Mile Watersports offers a daily two tank dive that leaves the resort at 7:00am for the short drive to one of two marinas on the north sound where we get on the boat for the half hourish cruise out to the north walls just outside of the sound. A typical first dive is to a max of 100 feet for about 35 minutes followed by a 40 minute surface interval before doing the second dive on a shallower reef (max 50 feet for 50 minutes). We were usually back to the resort around noon.
We did our first dive on the Sunset House reef. This dive is famous for The Mermaid, Amphitrite statue. You also have a good chance of seeing the tourist submarine Atlantis out cruising this reef. There is a first class dive operation on the grounds of this delightful resort.
We did another shore dive with Dive Tech on the famous Turtle Reef. The entry to this dive has the distinction of having you walk through a bar!
Later in the trip we did a two tank dive with the east side operator Ocean Frontiers, a very professional operation.
First, the scenery and topography are spectacular! The north side walls are stunning, with many spur and groove formations and swim throughs leading from the 35 to 50 feet shallows to the precipitous walls. Turtle reef was also spectacular with the coral walls overlooking the 50 feet deep sand flats.
The bad news is that the Grand Cayman corals are dying and the fish disappearing.
It was shocking to see. I estimate that the best reef we were on had at most 30 to 40% of the non-sandy areas covered by live coral with much of the rest dead and blanketed with algae.
Fish life seemed very scarce, especially with what we are used to in Bonaire. There were no clouds of Chromis over the reef and the Creole Wrasse trains were rare. There were many times when you could look around and almost see no fish.
The good news:Given the current pace of Cayman development, the future does not look good. I would say that the diving is worth doing, but you should do it sooner rather than later.
Click on the thumbnail images below to watch the video for that dive.
The first dive of the trip was from the shore at the Sunset House Resort reef. Pleasant resort with a easily accessable house reef (shore dive). We saw the famous Amphitrite Mermaid statue and the Atlantis Submarine full of tourists. Perfect place for a checkout dive to make sure your gear (and you) are working.
Our first dive on the north sound wall with 7 Mile Watersports. Spectacular! Along the wall top are a series of deep canyons, some of them almost tunnels, that open out onto the sheer deep drop of the wall. Nice soft corals. Fish highlight was an Ocean Triggerfish.
Second dive of the day where we stick to the shallower part of the reef. We were treated to a squadron of five Eagle Rays cruising along the top of the wall...Magnificent!
Another spectacular wall, with swim-throughs that are almost tunnels. We saw one cruising Eagle Ray in the distance and lots of Fairy Basslets.
Second dive of the day and the fifth of the trip. Another shallower reef along the sheer dropoff. We saw scads of lobsters and one unconcerned turtle passing through.
The site is named for the part of the wall that actually forms an overhang. All the bubbles rising from the deep divers against the wall is quite a sight! We were accompanied by a curious turtle for a while.
Seventh dive of the trip. We saw more fish than any previous dive, almost like back on Bonaire: Yellowhead Jawfish, Nassau Groupers, a small school of Chub, an Indigo Hamlet and a very nice French Angelfish.
Site and plaque dedicated to famed Cayman freediver Penny Ventura. Spectacular black coral down deep. Fish highlights were a maurading Tang Gang and the always odd looking Cowfish.
Some of the prettiest hard and soft coral of any of our Cayman dives. Fish highlights were beautiful Yellow Phase and Bicolor Coneys, a Porcupinefish, a Shy and Barred Hamlet and a very pale blotchy Blue Tang being cleaned.
Some of the prettiest hard and soft coral of any of our Cayman dives. Fish highlights were beautiful Yellow Phase and Bicolor Coneys, a Porcupinefish, a Shy and Barred Hamlet and a very pale blotchy Blue Tang being cleaned.
As this was the second dive of the day, we stayed above the wall drop-off. Memorable highlights include a large moray out for a swim and a large lobster out for a walk.
A very eventful dive! It started with a gliding Peacock Flounder, then a dramatic swim through to find a large turtle and a pair of French Angelfish feeding and posing with Marcia and ended with an encounter with a feisty lobster.
Blennylips Cayman Trip. A new site, recently opened and what a beauty! Georgeous hardand soft coral formations. We saw a pair of pirouetting butterflyfish, a shy stingray, several Diamond Blennies, a turtle that buzzed the camera twice and a wounded ocean triggerfish.
Blennylips Cayman Trip. This time we dive with Tech Divers on the famous Turtle Reef, adjacent to the old turtle farm. Lots of Tarpon, several Southern Stingrays combine with interesting terrain to make this a must-do Cayman dive.
Blennylips Cayman Trip. First of two dives with Ocean Frontiers on the east side. Similar terrain as the north walls. Stupid fish trick: Sprinkle a bit of sand on a Sea Cucumber and watch the acrobatics start! Thanks for showing us that!
Blennylips Cayman Trip. This site just opened up and it was the first time the Ocean Frontiers staff got a look. We all took our chances, but we found it disappointing: Very little hard coral (lots of soft coral), lots of algae and few fish. The wreck is a wreck...scattered about the reef.