Ultimate Dives
11/29/2006 2:33:31 PM by Stacy Wynn
From the Florida Keys to the untouched Galapagos Islands, there are plenty of extreme adventures to be had under the waters of our planet. We’ve compiled a sampling of some of the more exotic locales, walls, reefs, tunnels, marine life and other reasons to pack your dive gear and plan a dive vacation.
The Cayman Islands
Diving in the Cayman Islands is broken down into three popular segments: Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. Grand Cayman offers the most options with more than 160 dive sites ranging from walls decked out with spectacular corals and sponges to shallow reefs packed with schools of colorful fish. One of the most popular dive locations is Orange Canyon, which gets its name from the massive elephant ear sponges that live there. Grand Cayman’s North Wall is a world-class dive site with resident eagle rays, jacks, tarpon and blacktip sharks. For those looking for a swim-through experience, there are the Big Tunnels — a series of swim-throughs, tunnels, and towering pinnacles that take divers on a dramatic journey through schools of fascinating blue tangs and blue-striped grunts. Before you set off for Little Cayman or Cayman Brac, be sure not to miss Stingray City. As awesome as its name makes it sound, this 12-foot deep location allows snorkelers as well as scuba divers a rare chance to view and cautiously interact with Southern Stingrays.
Bloody Bay Wall, off of Little Cayman, puts the Cayman Islands on the world map when it comes to diving. The Wall starts a mere 20 feet below the sea surface then plunges a heart-stopping 1,000 feet. Even in an area such as the Caribbean, which boasts some spectacular walls, Bloody Bay Wall stands out. At the opposite end of the watery spectrum is Marilyn’s Cut. This shallow dive boasts a twisting fissure as well as exotic marine life.
On the shallower end of the dive options is Greenhouse Reef, a coral “garden.” Divers can commune with angelfish, spotted trunkfish, trumpet fish and yellowtail damsels. Those staying on Cayman Brac can arrange day trips to Little Cayman’s popular dive sites as well.
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Some of the most remarkable waters in the world are in the Florida Keys. The longest living reef system in the western hemisphere offers more than 500 wrecks and about 600 varieties of fish and countless types of coral including brain, tree, stag and elkhorn corals and sea fans. The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary was formed by the U.S. government to protect this fragile habitat, which is the only living-coral barrier reef in North America.
At the northern end of the 120-mile island chain is the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, which features the infamous Statue of Christ of the Abyss, a bronze statue in 25 feet of water at the Key Largo Dry Rocks that comes so close to the water’s surface that both scuba divers and snorkelers can enjoy its reverent presence. Also off of Key Largo is the wreck Spiegel Grove, a 510-foot Navy transport ship intentionally sunk in June 2002 as yet another must-see, man-made reef/wreck.
Nearby, Molasses Reef is notable for its perfect high-profile coral heads and wide variety of tropical reef life. The Benwood Wreck was a victim of World War II that now plays hotel to copious amounts of grunt and porkfish. The Elbow contains several must-see historic shipwrecks. Make sure to keep an eye peeled for friendly moray eels and barracuda. 
Off of Islamorada, the “Sportfish Capital of the World,” are plenty of easy-access, highly impressive dives. The intentionally sunk 287-foot The Eagle rests in 100 feet of water to attract both divers and sportfish such as grunt, tarpon and jack. A colorful patina of entrusted sponges and coral make it a breathtaking sight. Marked by a 136-foot-tall lighthouse, Alligator Reef is the site of the 1822 wreck of the USS Alligator. Only the twin piles of ballast stones remain, but the 25-foot deep coral reef is abundant with marine life.
The Conch Wall is just what it sounds like: a precipitous sloping wall noted for its extreme concentrations of barrel sponge and gorgonia punctuating the seafloor. For a more dramatic experience, there’s the 450+ Crocker Wall in 50 feet of water with 30-foot declines housing grunts, yellowtail, grouper and spur and grove as well as block coral. Pickles Reef is a scientific display of reef minutia including everything from flamingo tongue cowries to banded coral shrimp. As its depth ranges from 15 to 25 feet, it’s also excellent for snorkeling.
At the southern end of the Keys lies Key West, a literal treasure trove for divers. This is where Mel Fisher discovered the Atocia. People still search the complex corals and enormous reef structures in search of missing doubloons. Also offshore is Joe’s Tug, a classic tugboat sitting in 65 feet of water, and home to spotted morays, barracuda and horse eye jacks. Ten-Fathom Ledge consists of interesting coral caves and striking overhangs, making it also a great site for lobster (in season) and grouper. The 180-foot Cayman Salvor is a steel hulled buoy tender sunk as an artificial reef in 1985. Her upright, spacious open hold attracts baitfish and grunts, as well as a resident jewfish and green moray eel. It seems with every few feet, one seems to see another dive charter ready to take scuba enthusiasts into the fascinating realm of The Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
The Galapagos
The Galapagos Marine Reserve encompasses 27,000 square miles of ocean and 870 miles of coast. As one of the last untouched, unfished areas on the planet, the waters teem with reef fish, sea lions, sting rays, golden rays, eagle rays, invertebrates, morays, garden eels, turtles, marine iguanas, white tip reef sharks, hammerheads, whale sharks, whales and pelagic fish. Most of the dive sites in this clean pacific water center around where small islands rise from the sea, such as Cousins Island.
The location includes diving on walls, slopes and ledges, as well as viewing Galapagos’ endemic species: black coral supporting thrilling marine life, sleeping green sea turtles and the biggest sea horses of the Pacific — more than 10 inches long — as well as sharks, eagle rays and very often, Pacific barracudas, as well as adorable sea lions playing with fur seals.
One of the main attractions for divers are the Wolf and Darwin Islands. Pods of dolphins surround Wolf Island, while deeper down, tropical fish habitat the boulder slopes and walls. Amberjacks, trumpet and coronet fish, butterfly fish, tangs and marbled rays abound because the rocky cliffs which reach below the surface of the water combine with The Galapagos’ currents to create extremely nutrient-rich waters.
Darwin Island is even smaller than the miniscule Wolf Island. The site of the famous Darwin’s Arch, diving includes some of the largest fish in the ocean, including the whale shark. Mammoth schools of hammerhead sharks, Galapagos sharks, silky sharks, manta rays, blue spotted jacks, rainbow runners, streamer hogfish, spotted morays, sea turtles, hawksbill turtles, bottle nose dolphins, sailfish, and at times members of the whale family all share these untainted waters.
Other not-to-be-missed sites include Roca Redonda — a dive site that is actually the tip of an active volcano that rises several thousand feet from the sea floor. Hydrogen sulphide bubbles come up through the sandy sea floor, showing continued activity. Diving Punta Vicente Roca at night, you’ll be joined by sea lions who use the light from your underwater flashlight to hunt. As if all this wasn’t enough, there are countless Galapagos indigenous species on land to visit with as well.
Great Barrier Reef
World-class scuba diving doesn’t get any more “one-stop shopping” than on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. As the world’s largest coral reef system, the ecosystem consists of 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands extending over an astounding 1,616 miles. Sometimes called the “single largest organism in the world,” the reef, which is actually comprised of millions of tiny coral polyps, is so large that it can be been from outer space.
Located in the Coral Sea off the coast of Queensland, this World Heritage Site is home to 1,500 species of fish, 360 species of hard coral, one-third of the world’s soft corals, 4,000 species of mollusks/shells, 1,500 species of sponge, 800 species of echinoderms such as starfish and sea urchins, 500 species of seaweed and 23 species of marine mammals.
The celebrated Ribbon Reefs on the outer Great Barrier Reef edge is not normally found on day boat trips, but rather on liveaboard dive vacations. This ecosystem borders the continental shelf off of Cairns and Port Douglas and is filled with stunning glorious coral walls, abundant fish and pinnacles, resulting in a lush, colorful experience with plenty of variety in one spot. Because the reef is at the edge of the open sea, it features strong currents, so drift diving is an option.
Other breathtaking adventures can be had at Steve’s Bommie, a 99-foot deep coral outcrop which is home to barracuda, a wide variety of small exotic fish and colorful coral. Be sure to swim through the tunnel where you will be surrounded by fish as curious about you as you are about them. Dynamite Pass is an underwater channel where fish congregate for social hour. Amongst those seen are trevally, grouper, mackerel, tuna and barracuda all coming to feed in the current. The dramatic backdrop is crafted of black coral trees and sea whips on the walls, as well as guest visitors in the form of eagle rays and reef sharks.
At the quieter waters of the far northern end of the Great Barrier Reef there is a large selection of great dive spots that are often missed by the average tourist. Notable spots are Mantis Reef’s Silvertip City, which boasts sharks, pelagics, potato cod and beautiful lion fish living along a 150-foot wall. Visiting Magic Cave is like swimming through a Disney version of the perfect underwater environment with endless colorful fans, soft corals and tiny reef fish. The reefs off of Raine Island, the world’s largest green turtle rookery, offer the unique site of turtles sleeping in their caves. Also, at the northern end, is the 80-foot deep extremely colorful and aptly named Rainbow Wall, a perfect spot for a drift dive with the incoming tide.
Truk Lagoon and Palau
To the southwest of Microneasia lies a diver’s paradise, the 343-island archipelago of Palau. The world-class, virtually untouched reefs, blue holes mammoth caverns and other dive delights start off in knee-deep water and plunge straight down to depths over 1,000 feet. The area offers an extremely diverse display of marine life, coral formations and wrecks, with visibility in excess of 200 feet.
The most famous of all Palau’s offerings can be found in Truk Lagoon, with its sunken fleet of over 60 ships. In February 1944, Japan’s fleet at Truk Lagoon was attacked by Task Force 58 during Operation Hailstorm. After two days of continuous bombing, strafing and torpedo runs on ships anchored in the lagoon, the Japanese fleet was decimated and eventually became the Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon.
Unusually warm tropical water, plentiful marine life and favorable lagoon currents have all combined to act as a natural incubator for the fleet, which remains in good condition considering the decades they have spent below the sea. Stand-out wrecks are the Fujikawa, Shinkoku, Sankisan, Seiko, Hino, Kanso, Hoki, Hoyo, Rio de Janeiro and Yamagiri Marus. All are stopped in time and incredibly beautiful with brilliant underwater life.
So next time you’re in the mood to go for a once-in-a-lifetime dive, make sure to check out one of the aforementioned sites. It’s a plunge you won’t regret taking.