Another day of wonderful diving at Little Cayman begins with a visit to the Big Wall where the reef drops 3,000 feet straight down to the bottom of the ocean.
Heather taking a photo of a tiny reef-dweller on the Big Wall.
There are so many awesome sand channels and swim-throughs in the reef around Little Cayman. They are an absolute blast to explore.
After a wonderful swim-through, we discovered a lionfish hanging out on the Big Wall.
Coming up for a safety stop before heading to the next dive site.
We found some black coral on a deeper section of the wall in a swim-through. Black coral is usually much deeper on the reef but this one came up above 110 feet.
There are some amazing huge swim-throughs where it’s a good idea to have a dive light to see where you’re going. These big ones are really impressive. But it’s important to always be sure you have enough bottom time and the right equipment to back-track in case you hit a dead end.
We visited Ann’s Attic dive site on the north side of Little Cayman. This site was named in honor of Ann who was a long-time divemaster on Little Cayman before she suddenly passed due to cancer.
Heather checking out some tiny things on a big coral head.
Heather saying hello. She was using her Olympus TG-5 on this trip. Hopefully she’ll get around to posting a few photos.
There is such a riot of fish along the big wall!
The reef edge is basically one huge school of blue chromis fish that are constantly going back and forth in search of food and fun.
Our first day of diving at little Cayman introduced us to some epic swim-throughs where tunnels cut through the reef from the shallows to the big wall drop-off.
Doing a swim-through with a chimney exit.
Heather was in her element taking photos of all of the tiny sea life.
Our first taste of the Big Wall. The reef starts out at about 15 feet deep and heads down to around 60-80 feet before it goes straight down a sheer cliff to 3,000 feet deep.
The deep blue that you get looking down into the abyss is a very special thing.
Our dive group was usually about 8-10 people throughout the week. I think the most divers we had in the water at any one time was 14. While the guide was available to follow around, you can go off and do your own thing as long as you follow your max depth and bottom time limits.
A ray out in the sand.
A puffer fish was zooming around, checking out all the divers.
A few divers swimming in front of the sun. The reef around Little Cayman is one of the healthiest that I’ve ever gone diving on. It’s hard to imagine what it would be like in a pristine world.
At the edge of the reef where the rocks drop straight down 3,000 feet. This was the start of our next dive.
Heather taking a photo of something tiny right at the edge of the big wall.
The big wall is really amazing.
On the bridge of the dive boat heading out for some more diving.
We flew from San Francisco to Dallas and then on from Dallas to Grand Cayman Island before switching from jets to a very small twin prop plane to make the journey to Little Cayman.
The little prop plane was a de Havilland Canada DHC 6–300 Twin Otter, part of the Cayman Airways Express fleet.
There isn’t a door between the cockpit and the passenger compartment on this little plane!
Heather enjoying the short ride between Grand Cayman and Little Cayman.
