Cayman Brac Dive Sites - Reef Dives, Wall Dives & Wreck Dives

Diving on Cayman Brac

The Cayman Islands are known as a premier dive destination, rated as one of the best dive locations in the world. Cayman Brac offers pristine beauty with healthy populations of colorful tropical fish, invertebrates, corals and sponges. There are 100 different hard and soft corals in Cayman waters and over 500 types of fish. Cayman Brac's diverse dive sites bring divers back year after year.

Visibility is excellent, usually 100+ feet (30+ meters). Seas are generally calm with little or no current. The water is warm...78 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (25.5 to 26.5 degrees Celsius) in the winter and 82 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit (27.5 to 30 degrees Celsius) in the summer.

Cayman Brac offers a spectacular marine environment with reef, wall and wreck dives. The reef dives are generally spur and groove formations, coral heads and mini-walls. Spurs are coral formations oriented perpendicular to the shore. The spurs are separated from each other by 3 to 15 foot sand channels called grooves. The spurs can range in height up to about 20 feet. They offer great places to explore; it's like diving through mini-canyons or along mini-walls. The wall dives are world renown. They are close to shore and start in about 50 feet of water. The drop-offs into deep blue water are unbelievable with breath-taking corals, sponges and sea life. Cayman Brac is also the site of a sunken 330 foot Russian Navy Frigate (destroyer).

Cayman Brac Dive Sites

The Brac has 28 mooring buoys on shallow dive sites and 25 mooring buoys on wall dives. In addition, the divemasters have identified other shallow dive sites where they will do an anchor drop. Plenty of great diving. Every day that you make a dive, it's not like the day before.

Here is a sampling of some of the Brac's dive sites:

Reef Dives

Buccaneer Reef

Great shore diving spot and also frequently done as a boat dive. There is a large cut in the iron shore that forms a well-protected entry spot. The reef is relatively close to shore. (Photo shows entry spot and boat moored at buoy.) A variety of fish are seen here scorpion fish, juvenile spotted drums, trumpetfish, butterfly fish, and angel fish. Look for the Flying Gurnards (real cool).

Radar Reef

Frequently done as a shore dive. The shore access to the site is at the public boat ramp in Stake Bay. There are steps with rails for entering the water and a breakwater that protects the area from seas. This dive is a spur and groove system well populated with marine life including angel fish, puffers, yellow tails, jacks, silversides, stingrays, black durgon, blue tangs, flamingo tongues, turtles, and lots of beautiful sponges and soft corals. This site also has a bronze sculpture of two dolphins and four stingrays called Oceanic Voyages sitting at 45 feet on a sandy bottom. The statue weighing 3500 lbs was created by sculptor and diver Dale Evers.

Patch Reef

Large coral heads and lots of fish. The coral formations are very unique - tall and mushroom shaped. Abundance of sea life including juvenile spotted drums soldierfish, snappers, parrot fish, hamlets, and groupers. Also a good location for invertebrates.

Charlie's Reef

Large coral heads 10 to 20 feet high with stretches of white sandy bottoms and sand chutes. Sea life includes: turtles, spotted moray eels, lobsters, queen angels and possibly Charlie, the green moray eel.

Grunt Valley

Schooling grunts everywhere including many different species.

Snapper Reef

Some of the best coral reef diving you will ever see. Excellent collection of beautiful fish around large coral heads. Spur and groove formations with sand in the bottoms of the grooves. The spurs rise from the bottom to within 20 feet of the surface offering plenty of places to look for sea life. Look for queen angels, juvenile spotted filefish, french angelfish, trunkfish and trumpetfish.

Greenhouse Reef

This is a large reef system that goes on and on. Spur and groove formations with coral ridges close to the Brac's shallow northern shoreline. Lots of marine life including: Arrow Crabs, Sergeant Majors, Angelfish, Grunts, Schoolmasts, Turtles, Sharptail Eels, and squid.

Lighthouse Reef

Spur and groove formations with great swim-throughs and short tunnels. Lots of fish and sponges.

Butterfly Reef

Shallow dive with lots of Butterfly fish. Many varieties of fish with elkhorn coral and some pillar coral. Spur and groove with some of the spurs very large.

Tarpon Reef

This site has sand gullies 50 feet below the surface with large ridges that reach within 20 feet of the surface looking like mini-walls. There are a number of swim-throughs and a large assortment of colorful tropical fish. The site is thickly covered with staghorn coral. Tarpon Reef is home to several dozen Tarpon that cluster in groups and remain still and calm when approached. These silvery fish with large scales reach up to 5 feet.

Wall Dives

East Chute Wall

This wall dive is off the bow of the Cayman Mariner wreck. The wall is decorated with an abundance of red rope, yellow tube and barrel sponges. The sea life in this area includes: turtles, green moray eels,schooling barracuda, spiny lobsters, octopus, brittle stars, and coral shrimp.

Strawberry Sponge Wall

This site has sandy valleys perpendicular to shore that look like rivers of sand in the sea. The Face of the wall is covered with a myriad of sponges including bright tube sponges, stove-pipe sponges, rope sponges and strawberry vase sponges. There are also Black Coral trees and deep water gorgonians.

Garden Eel Wall

The wall here starts at 45 feet. Lots of marine flora and fauna--large sponges, black coral, groupers and angels.

Wilderness Wa

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A huge 55' X 40' wide coral pinacle rises away from the upper rim of the wall to within 100 feet of the surface. The wall begins at 50 feet with canyons and crevices cutting through the wall along the drop-off. There is an abundance o f healthy coral, sponges, and marine life. The sponges here are enormous and come in brilliant shades of red, yellow, orange, purple, and green. Schooling Horse-Eye Jacks, Angelfish, Snappers, Nassau Groupers, Stingrays and turtles can be seen here.

Rock Monster Chimney

Great diving. The drop-off is as sheer as wall diving gets. There are numerous ravines and a series of coral chimney swim-throughs that you can follow up or down the wall. Marine life includes lots of sponges, grouper, Creole Wrasse, and a possible Jewfish.

Anchor Wall

This site is named after a giant 10 foot anchor suspended in a narrow canyon that leads to the vertical face of the wall. The wall starts deep, in 65-70 feet of water. There are coral pinnacles, with sea plumes and gorgonians.

Inside Out

Inside Out has a sand basin at about 80 feet with a coral head that rises to within 50 feet of the surface. The wall has swim-throughs you can use to make a deep dive on the drop-off side.

Sea Feather Wall

Incredible dive. Unspoiled forests of soft and hard corals and sponges with colorful fish. There is a tunnel which comes out of the wall at 110 feet. The wall is near vertical down into the beautiful deep blue sea.

Wreck Dives

M/V Captain Keith Tibbetts

A 330 foot Russian Naval Frigate (destroyer) built in the U.S.S.R. in 1984 and sunk by the Cayman Islands Government in 1996. Originally named #356 and renamed the M/V Captain Keith Tibbetts after well-known and honored Brac native and statesman.

The wreck sits upright in a 100 feet of water and the deck at 60 feet. The frigate is in an ideal location with excellent visibility. There are openings in the upper portion of the ship for non-wreck divers to swim through in shallow depths. The site serves as an artificial reef with baracudas, groupers, angelfish, and jacks. There is a nice coral patch nearby.

Cayman Mariner

A 65 foot aluminum crew boat sunk in 1986. It sits upright on a sand flat in about 50 feet of water. Inside the wheelhouse is a colorful growth of red and orange sponges that come to life when you shine a light on them. Moray Eels and a large Jewfish are often seen here. Off the bow is the mouth of the drop-off for the East Chute wall dive.

Kissimee

A 60 foot tugboat lying inverted in about 40 feet of water. It sits on a flat sand bottom surrounded by several large coral heads. There is a nearby reef with spur and groove formations and a variety of fish.

Dive packages can be arranged, which will significantly reduce your costs. These packages can be arranged through the place you are staying, or if you rent a private residence on the Brac, you can make reservations directly with the dive operators. You will need to obtain actual costs from the dive operator.