Ship wreck Tour

[kfc195]

Anyone know about a good spot in Grand Cayman for a snorkling shipwreck tour, or something along those lines??

[BostonGal07]

kfc195 -

 

Looks like the ship wrecks are right off the beach. Walk/swim out and snorkle. I found out the info on one of these threads. Here a web link http://www.grandcaymancruiseexcursions.com/GrandCaymanSnorkeling.htm for more info which even gives a map where to snorkle.

 

Have fun.:)

 

BostonGal07

[cruiser2202]

We were in Grand Cayman in June and walked/snorkeled all day with our kids. It was one of the best days we had and definitely the best snorkeling! We snorkeled at four spots: two were ship wrecks (a lot for one day - we wore our kids out with all the walking). I would only recommend two of the spots we snorkeled (The wreck of the Cali and Eden Rock).

 

The link that was listed above has excellent directions and information on it. I printed it out and took it with me so we wouldn't get lost.

 

We first went to Eden Rock. When you get off the ship, walk to the right until you reach the restaurant/bar called Eden Rock. You can rent equipment there, although we had our own, but we did rent life vests. They hold your ship cards until you return the equipment. We rented a locker and put all our stuff in it except our towels and some money for lunch and we were set for the day. There are stairs right there to get into the water and the lady who works at the rental shop was very helpful. As soon as you get to the water you will see HUGE tarpon - up to four feet long. We were assured they did not have teeth. They stay at the edge of the water, waiting to be fed. You have to swim past them to get to the colorful fish.

 

This was amazing and my first pictures with all the colorful fish are from Eden Rock. My daughter took dry cat food in a baggie and fed the fish - all the little colorful fish swarmed her - it was so cool!! They also have a water trampoline out there, but we stayed with the fish.

 

The wreck of the Cali. This was amazing. If you are adventurous, do this on your own instead of booking an excursion. From Eden Rock, we walked back the other direction (towards the tender) and just past Hammerheads there is a little dive shop. They have a ladder at the end of their dock or you can get in the water to the right of that but there is some coral, so be careful. We got in the water to the right because we didn't see the ladder until we got out.

 

The wreck of the Cali is quite a ways out, just swim out to the white buoys. Keep an eye out for boats. We got there early enough in the day that we beat the ship and private excursions to the wreck, so we had it all to ourselves. The excursions starting coming in as we were leaving. The wreck is amazing - and fairly strung out, so just keep swimming until you see it all. The anchor is closer in than the wreck. We took our kids, 7, 13 and 17 and they all managed the swim just fine. We spent quite a bit of time here - it was my favorite place. There was a boat anchored beside the wreck. As I swam closer I started to see figures in the water, there were so many tarpon (I lost count at 50) and some as long as my 17 year old daughter. I made a u-turn and went back to the wreck. The tarpon stayed under the boat and I only saw one after that. We saw some amazing fish at the wreck - not tons of fish, but really unusual ones. It made me realize I need to invest in a good underwater camera.

 

We ate lunch at Hammerheads before continuing on. We thought they were fairly expensive compared to other Islands where we have eaten and they added to our bill for the exchange rate (not in favor of US dollar), I was a bit confused, but did not argue. Four of us shared meals, the kids all had juice or lemonade and we had three or four beers. Came to $75.

 

Anyway, we continued on to the Wreck of the Gamma (which you can see from the ship--off to the left) when you anchor. It started raining, well, pouring, but it was warm and we kept going. This is a really long walk. Following the directions from the above link, we were not able to cut through the parking lot (there is a fence and it was locked), so we had to keep walking until we were able to walk through an apartment complex to get to the water. It was really hard to get in and out of the water. There is sharp coral at the water's edge and the water is very shallow. We swam out to the shipwreck and it was very dissapointing. The ship looks really cool sticking out of the water, but there is no coral and hardly any fish to see. Getting out of the water was tricky with it being so shallow and with sharp coral and sea urchins about two feet below us. The waves were crashing in and I ended up with part of a sea urchin in my hand.

 

Our last snorkel was at Cheeseburger Reef, which was on the way back to the ship. We had past it on the way to the Gamma, so we knew where to go. By the time we got here everyone was tired and no one wanted to swim out with me. I swam a ways out by myself but didn't see too much. The water here was dirty and there was a lot of garbage on the floor of the ocean (sad!). I think you have to swim pretty far out to see anything good.

 

I hope this helps. It was one of the best days I've ever had! We did not see any barracuda as some have said, which I was hoping to see. The fish we saw that day were the most beautiful and amazing that I've ever seen.