Cayman Islands
CAYMAN ISLANDS OPERATORS |
CAYMAN ISLANDS TRAVEL INFORMATION
CAYMAN ISLANDS UNDERWATER PHOTOS |
CAYMAN ISLANDS UNDERWATER VIDEO
Cayman
Many books, picture guides and magazine articles have been
published on the subject of diving in the Cayman Islands, and,
quite simply, these islands have the best scuba diving that
you'll ever find. The sheer number and diversity of the dive
sites is truly amazing.
A few of the many dive opportunities include wall dives, cave
dives, coral garden dives, reef dives, wreck dives, Stingray
City dives, and the list goes on. We won't mention dive sites
by name since these won't mean anything to you, but suffice it to say, that after you've
visited us and dived our waters, the dive site names will be embedded in your memory.
There are several hundred named and regularly visited dive sites on the three islands and
the underwater visibility is well over 100 feet.
The dive industry is well established and operates to high standards. All operators employ
dive masters with professional certification and safety is paramount. Of course, we are not
accident free, but the island has a decompression chamber and most cases of
decompression sickness or "the bends", can be successfully treated locally. For beginners
who want to get certified, courses are widely available and thousands of divers have
earned their certification while on vacation here.
Conservation of our undersea world is crucial to the well-being of these islands and we
ask you to observe the following simple rule when diving our waters - LOOK, BUT
DON'T TOUCH!!! Coral reefs are extremely sensitive to being touched by divers and
you may create more damage than you ever imagined. Some coral grows less than an inch
per year and breakage by careless divers can take decades to be repaired. Please don't
bump, stand on, break or even touch the coral.
The coral reef and other undersea colonies have evolved over thousands of years and
nature has determined the correct balance of marine life. In spite of what you may see
others doing, please do not feed the fish, including stingrays. Constant feeding by humans
disrupts nature's delicate balance and can have dramatic effects on the future of the reef.
If a fish population expands due to constant human intervention by feeding, and that food
source is then disrupted, there could be negative consequences for the entire surrounding
area.
Once you have arrived and decided to dive our waters, you'll need to find a company to
dive with. There are some "cattle boat" operators with disproportionate numbers of divers
to instructors, so you should inquire about the maximum numbers of diver on a given trip.
Quite often it's better to go with a smaller group where you get more personalized service,
and, smaller groups also create less stress and damage to the reef.
