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WINTER 2017
ut that was then, and this is
now. Despite more than three
decades of diving these islands,
I continually find inspiration. In
more recent years I’ve chosen Little
Cayman as the setting for my
digital masters classes for the
simple reasons that the water is so
clear, the reefs are so colorful and target-
rich, and the fish populations are so tame and tolerant.
Backscatter Underwater Video and Photo has done the
same, hosting their Digital Shootout in Little Cayman
every other year. What makes these islands so special?
From a diver’s point of view, the Cayman Islands
are small bits of land that rise from the sea, the upper
elevations of a submarine ridge that extends from
Belize to Cuba, rising 25,000 feet to form the northern
edge of the Cayman Trench. Created by volcanic
activity more than 50 million years ago, the structure
is nearly vertical, at least underwater. Larger pelagic
species ply the deep water surrounding the islands,
and the shallow mangrove-shrouded lagoons along the
shores provide an ever-replenished nursery for fish
that ultimately migrate to the coral reefs. Add to that
a legacy of marine conservation, and the conditions
are propitious for diverse and abundant marine life.
The above-water geography is quite flat. Cayman
Brac’s high point, a bluff at the east end of the island,
is 140 feet above sea level, while Little Cayman’s is
only 40 feet above the surface. Cayman Brac’s total
area is just 15 square miles, and Little Cayman’s is 10.
Such small islands have very little runoff to degrade
visibility. With no rivers and minimal population
influences, there are few Caribbean islands that have
less terrestrial impact on their underwater wonders.
Water clarity benefits as a result.
Situated south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica,
the islands are just 450 miles south of Miami. This
makes for a short flight, but the islands are a world
away. There are only about 200 full-time residents on
Little Cayman and 2,000 on Cayman Brac. Of course,
the number of dive tourists can swell the population
at any given time, but even so the resorts are small,
intimate and highly targeted to the scuba lifestyle.
The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism has
officially named 365 dive sites surrounding Grand
Cayman and its sisters, one for each day of the year.
Of these they attribute 65 sites to Cayman Brac and
60 to Little Cayman. There is enough dive diversity to
occupy even the most dedicated diver for a two-week
holiday. Most dive sites can be reached in 10 to 20
minutes. The farthest one might ever cruise to a site
would be about 45 minutes, and that would be for special
expeditions — to sites along the bluff on Cayman Brac,
for example, or to commute between Little Cayman
and Cayman Brac. Most dive packages for either island
will include at least one day visiting the other. From
Little Cayman you’d want to visit Cayman Brac’s
Tibbetts
shipwreck, and divers on Cayman Brac wouldn’t want
to miss at least a day on Bloody Bay Wall. Wrecks, walls
and shallow reefs are the underwater attractions that
drive tourism in the Sister Islands. The topside ambiance
is quiet and laid back, and for many that’s a highlight.
CAYMAN BRAC
Cayman Brac is 12 miles long but only 1 mile wide,
with the western part of the island flat and relatively
featureless aside from Ironshore Formation limestone
on one side and a white sandy beach on the other.
There is a scenic limestone bluff to the east that gives
the island its name (
brac
is Gaelic for “bluff”). Most of
the diving is along the northwest tip of the island, with
the most popular wall dives and the iconic shipwreck
MV
Captain Keith Tibbetts
a short boat ride from
the island’s most popular dive resort. These sites are
also the nearest reach for day boats traveling to the