Devil’s Grotto + Eden Rock: Scuba Diving in Grand Cayman

Some of the best diving in the Caribbean can be done in the Cayman Islands. There are 365 dive sites to explore between the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. Grand Cayman has the most dive sites with 245 located around the island. We ended up exploring two areas on the west side of the island: Devil’s Grotto and Eden Rock.

Dive 365 was an initiative to bring the total number of dive sites in the Cayman Islands up to 365–one for every day of the year. One of the great things about scuba diving in Grand Cayman is that there are dive sites for everyone. Whether you want a shallower or deeper dive site, they’ve got a little bit of everything for all skill levels.

Scuba Diving in Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman is a great place to go diving because of how warm the water is and how good the visibility is. You can swim year round in the Cayman Islands because the water is a constant 80-85º. You’ll also have great visibility with depths ranging from 60-100 ft (18-30 meters).

It’s also a great location because of the different types of diving you can do. You can find numerous wreck dives off the coast including the 251 ft USS Kittiwake and the Doc Polson wreck which is still 80% intact.

If wrecks aren’t your thing, there are many reefs to check out or you can do one of the famous wall dives. Grand Cayman’s walls can be found all around the island and range from 45 ft to over 2,000 ft in some spots. Or you can choose to stay a little closer to home. You can shore dive in Grand Cayman to both Devil’s Grotto and Eden Rock.

Marine Life

There’s also an incredible amount of marine life you can see while scuba diving in Grand Cayman. The island is of course known for seeing stingrays at Stingray City, but we also saw them while diving. In fact, I’ve never seen more stingray than I have while in Grand Cayman.

At one point we stopped to look at a stingray nearby, then we pointed out a second, and a third. Pretty soon we counted about six stingray around us near the reef. And shortly after that, we saw a spotted eagle ray. Other marine life that you might see while diving are sea turtles, nurse sharks, tarpon and silversides.

Where to Go

Because of the location of both Devil’s Grotto and Eden Rock, it’s easiest to dive the sites as a shore dive. The Eden Rock Diving Center is located right on the water in front of both sites. There’s a parking lot just to the side and an outdoor, covered area with tables and a restaurant/bar.

Location: 124 S Church St, George Town KY1-1110

Hours: 7:30am-5:30pm Monday through Saturday, 8:30am-5:00pm Sunday

The dive center here is extremely convenient and a chill place to hang out between dives or after diving. You can get ready out on the patio and there are two stairways leading directly into the water. You’ll swim out to one of the buoys before descending in the water.

While you can opt for taking a guided tour of Eden Rock or Devil’s Grotto, I’d highly recommend exploring on your own. Both reefs are located within a marine park and close to shore, so you don’t really have to worry about boats or getting lost.

Scuba diving in Grand Cayman will cost about $125-150 for a guided 2-tank dive. Renting gear on your own will cost about $90 for a 2-tank dive, or about $72 for a 1-tank dive.

Best Time to Go

For snorkeling – Since you’ll be looking down on the reef, you can really go at any time. Though you’ll likely have calmer waters in the morning.

For scuba diving – The time of day will matter if you want to get the best lighting–that is, the light beams dancing from above. Because of the way the reef tunnels are open at the top, the best time to go is around the middle of the day when the sun is directly overhead.

We unintentionally went right around noon and once we were underwater, I was glad we went when we did. We had a fantastic light show of beams shining through the crevices at the top of the grottos. It was pretty magical swimming through.

Diving Devil’s Grotto

The first dive site we wanted to do was Devil’s Grotto and we didn’t know much about the reef so opted for a 1-tank dive during the middle of the day. After getting our gear, the people at the dive center showed us a map of the reef and told us the best route to go.

Devil’s Grotto is between 15-40 feet deep throughout the reef and has several tunnels that you can swim through. The route was pretty straight forward and we didn’t have any trouble staying on the path. Looking out at the water, this reef is on the left side from the dive center.

The reefs are pretty interesting too on your way to the tunnels. We saw brain coral and all sorts of different fish. But the tunnels are incredible.

As I mentioned earlier, we went at just the right time. The sun was directly overhead and we had light beams dancing in the tunnels while swimming through. When I say it was magical, it was magical. The light beams were incredible. And the tunnels were fairly long and really fun to explore. Diving here was one of my favorite things to do in Grand Cayman.

We didn’t have a hard time finding our way back to the reef path or the buoy and once there, we were able to swim back towards the shore and ascend. There are outdoor showers and rinse bins for your gear. And afterwards, you can sit out in the sun and grab a cold beer by the water.

Diving Eden Rock

We had such a great time exploring Devil’s Grotto that we decided to dive Eden Rock the next day. We spent twice as much diving over two days rather than doing a 2-tank dive on the same day but we didn’t have our plans ironed out too well. But plan on doing both because the diving was great.

Eden Rock is on the right side when you’re looking out into the water and fairly similar to Devil’s Grotto. Once you’re in the water, you go down the same reef path and can even take the first tunnel in Devil’s Grotto before heading to the right. The depths of the reef are about the same here.

Surprisingly, my husband got turned around almost immediately underwater. Usually I’m the one who has zero sense of direction but I was so confused why he kept trying to go the way he was. We didn’t quite end up on the right path, but eventually made it over to the right reef area.

We saw some more fun coral within the reefs and spotted some massive tarpon coming out of one of the tunnels. I wasn’t sure what they were at first since they looked really big from far away, but once up close they looked a little less intimidating.

Despite getting turned around a bit, we enjoyed this one also–though I have to say Devil’s Grotto was my favorite.

Snorkeling

If you aren’t certified, both Devil’s Grotto and Eden Rock are great places to do some snorkeling. You can enter the water in the same place, bring your own gear and explore at your leisure within the marine park. Though you won’t be going through tunnels, there’s still a lot of marine life to see around the reef.

I’d recommend snorkeling over Eden Rock as we noticed the reefs got pretty close to the surface there. Part of the trail that was recommended to us took us on top of the reef and we could see snorkelers just above us. So whether you plan on going snorkeling or diving here, this place is a must!

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