Grand Cayman - East

[jcrist]

We are staying on the West side on 7 mile beach. We are probably going to do 3 days of dives with Divetech since they are convenient and highly recommended. I've heard the diving on the East side is a bit better so we may drive over there one day to check it out for a couple dives. Can someone please recommend what would be the top dive(s) on the east end of Grand Cayman?

Thanks!

 

[Drew Sailbum]

Rule #1 of East End diving is that the weather dictates everything! East End is the windward side of the island and dive site accessibility is highly dependent upon wind direction.

Sites along the south side of East End are accessible when the wind is any direction from due east to NW. Sites along the north side of East End are accessible when the wind is any direction from ESE to SW. West winds are so rare as to be a non-issue, but any site would be accessible with that wind direction. Finally, there are a few excellent shallow reef sites along the eastern tip of the island that are only accessible with relatively little wind.


My top few choices are:

Wall sites South side:

Jack McKenney's Canyons
Tunnel of Love
The Maze
​

Shallow reef sites South side:

Ironshore Gardens
Tarpon Taproom
Grouper Grotto
​

Wall sites North side:

Anchor Point
Babylon
Turtle Pass
​

Shallow reef sites North side:

Black Rock
Little Bluff
Omega Reef
​

Shallow reef sites Eastern tip:

Chubb Hole
Cinderella's Castle
Snapper Hole
Dragon's Lair
​

For East End diving there are only three dive operators. Cayman Diving Lodge, Ocean Frontiers, and Tortuga Divers serve East End. (I work at Tortuga.) All dive an area which is roughly east of Frank Sound Road.