Scuba Diving Grand Cayman – Andes Wall

Overall Rating 4.25 out of 5

Scuba Diving, Grand Cayman, Andes Wall (StevenWSmeltzer.com)When you are on your next scuba diving trip to Grand Cayman make a point to dive on Andes Wall, you will certainly not regret it. It is certainly one of my favorite sites on the island and is accessible from the West Side dive boat operators or out of Rum Point. This is a great wall dive and is a premium spot for underwater photography.

Andes Wall is located just past Rum Point on the North Wall. Typical conditions are 100+ feet of visibility and has a sheer drop along the wall of several thousand feet. On this dive you will see Spotted Eagle Rays on almost every dive. There are many pelagics that can be found here from the Grand Cayman past Rum Point, Looking from the mooring ball at Andes Wall (StevenWSmeltzer.com)elusive Tiger Shark to White Tips, Hammerheads and more.

I went with Red Sail Sports on my last dive at Andes Wall and the day was perfect for underwater photography. It was one of those extremely rare days when the north wall was absolutely flat. The visibility was over 150, no current, very little particulates in the water and there were only 8 divers on the boat. This must be paradise. Andes Wall is just about 10 to 15 minutes past Rum Point on the North Side and one of my two favorite dive sites on the Spotted Eagle Ray, Aetobatus narinari, Grand Cayman (StevenWSmeltzer.com)North Wall.

You can dive this site on top of the wall or as a wall dive and I would highly recommend the wall dive. When we descended to the mooring the first thing I noticed on this dive was a Spotted Eagle Ray in the distance Spotted Eagle Ray, Aetobatus narinari, (Euphrasen, 1790), Andes Wall, Grand Cayman (StevenWSmeltzer.com)and a Great Barracuda cruising by. This was one of seven that I saw on this dive. After meeting at the mooring pin, we head to the wall notch, the visibility is absolutely phenomenal. We then made our way through the “notch” to the wall and immediately on my left was another Spotted Eagle Ray. This is going to be a great dive.

As we move past the 90-foot level out to the wall I notice a number of Blackcap BassletsBlackcap Basslet, Gramma melacara, Böhlke & Randall, 1963, Grand Cayman (StevenWSmeltzer.com) swimming upside down in a small indentation in the wall. There are a great variety of fish usually on this dive. Today we see Schoolmasters, numerous types of Basslets, Princess Parrotfish, Bermuda Chub, Blue Chromis, Trumpetfish, Gray Angelfish, Spiny Lobsters, Spotted Eagle Rays and much, much more. The soft corals are amazing on this part of the island, and they are especially plentiful around the mooring ball on this dive. You will find several great places to get photos of sea fans, or sea rods, sea whips and of course many colorful stony corals as well. Green Moray Eel, Gymnothorax funebris, Ranzani, 1840, Grand Cayman (StevenWSmeltzer.com)

Then I got one of my better shots of the trip. I was setting up to take a Spotted Eagle Ray, Aetobatus narinari, (Euphrasen, 1790), Andes Wall, Grand Cayman (StevenWSmeltzer.com)shot of a Giant Slit-Pore Sea Rod and looking up towards the sun to frame the soft coral I noticed one of the Spotted Eagle Rays that had been following us throughout the dive and repositioned slightly and the rest…well I will leave it up to the photo to speak for itself. Needless to say I think I found a great image….

This place is magic and as a scuba diver this is a must dive when you come to Grand Spiny Lobster, Palinuridae argus, Latreille, 1804, Andes Wall, Grand Cayman (StevenWSmeltzer.com)Cayman and if you are an underwater photographer, perhaps you can make a little magic of your own.

The pool is open…..

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *