Grand Cayman Island: Silversides and Tarpon at Devil’s Grotto

It turned out that mid-July is a special time in Grand Cayman because schools of Silversides inhabited the grotto’s (tunnels and caves under the reef) at the dive site named Devil’s Grotto near shore in George Town on the west end of the island. I have always enjoyed seeing schools (otherwise known a s bait balls) in the Florida Keys, so I expected this would a be quite an experience.

The first trip we made to Devil’s Grotto was mid-week on Wednesday, July 17th. At that time there was an impressive sized school of Silversides in the grotto system. As a results there were some nice sized Tarpon swimming around and inside the grotto system. I was able to have some close encounters with a few.

On Thursday, July 18th we went to the same area. As I swam through the grottos, the schools of Silversides seemed a lot smaller. However, I did have some great Tarpon encounters. One of my favorites was at the end of the video below where I swam up out of the grotto through an opening in the ceiling and came right up under a nice sized tarpon.

Later on I was swimming above the grotto system while the others in the group went through. This time I was able to see a school of Silversides from above and also watch a beautiful school of Blue Tang swim by.

I went again on Saturday, July 20th, which was my last day in the water for the trip. By that time I did not see any Silversides as I swam through the grotto system. I’m not sure if they all were eaten, swam away or some of both.

Grand Cayman Island: Stingray City

My goal for 2019 was to go to a diving destination I had not been to before. After some careful research I decided to go to Grand Cayman Island. I was looking for a place with a top notch dive operation and dive guides. After looking at a dozen or so options I decided on Sunset House and Sunset Divers in George Town.

Sunset Divers turned out to be everything I had hoped for this trip. Top notch customer service, safety procedures, dive briefings and dive guides!

One of the most popular attractions for divers in Grand Cayman Island is Stingray City.

I learned a lot during the dive briefing. The females are the large brown ones. The males is the smaller ray that has more of a blueish tint to it. It also has claspers under its tail.

Our dive guide was able to find and bring back two females and a male to bring back to our group. I was amazed how we were able to feed them squid out of our hands and how they liked us rubbing their snouts a bit.

Some people don’t like the fact that local dive shops offer tours to Stingray City because they don’t like the concept that people feed, touch and interact with wild stingrays. I think it shows how smart stingrays really are! I loved the experience and would enjoy going back!