WorldDiving.info

by David Miner

Flying into Georgetown, the “big” city on Grand Cayman, where the large resorts and hotels, a shopping district, cruise ship hangout, and restaurants galore reside is much different than the rest of the island. Georgetown offers a very different atmosphere than what we were about to encounter as we rented our van and made our way east out of the city. Now don’t get me wrong, Georgetown has a lot to offer and is a very cool area to hang out and see on a trip to Grand Cayman, but we were looking for more solitude, quietness, and diving that only the East End could provide.

The drive east took us along the azure blue water that breaks on the fringing reef that surrounds Grand Cayman. The blueness of the water is so addicting to diehard divers that it’s almost impossible for us to keep driving without stopping for a quick snorkel out to the reef. But we knew that great diving and snorkeling was waiting for us, so kept the van pointing east.

We passed through small towns like Savannah, Lower Valley, and Bodden Town as we made our way towards East End, a small town on the very east end of Grand Cayman. Along the way, we stopped at a local grocery store and stocked up on food and drink for the week…eating out every day would have cost us a small fortune. Food on the island is much more expensive than in the states, even in the grocery stores. Our final destination was small area about five miles northeast of East End just off the main road that borders the island.

Arriving at our hotel, we quickly checked in, unpacked all of the gear, and checked in with the dive operator who would be taking us to some of the best diving spots on the east end. Diving in Grand Cayman is all about wall diving. Just outside the fringing reef, a wall drops away and plunges to depths of 7,000 feet. It’s almost hard to believe just how deep that is, but well over a mile of water separates the surface from the bottom of the ocean. The rules on Grand Cayman allow recreational divers to only dive to a maximum depth of 100 feet, meaning that we’d only being seeing the top 1.5% of a water column that descends to depths that only special submersibles can reach. With few ever descending below 100 feet, it proves just how much of our oceans have never been explored and probably never will be.

We had six dives planned for the next few days, each of them on the walls and the reef just a few hundred yards off the beach. Wake up calls for 7:45 AM were established with the boat leaving at 8:30 AM each morning. A short walk separated us from our hotel room and the boat. Each excursion out to the wall consisted of a two-tank dive, with the first dive taking us out to the face of the wall through amazing swim-throughs and cutouts and the second dives on top of the walls and surrounding reef, which also offered some amazing cavernous swim-throughs, reef life or all kinds, and breathtaking views. Visibility averaged around 80 feet with water temperatures in the mid 80s F.

The cutouts and swim-throughs that create a passage from the top of the wall to the face of the wall and massive drop-offs were some of the coolest parts of the dives. The seafloor below you just dropped away to nothingness…just a black void that appeared to never end. The feeling of swimming out over the wall was like a road runner cartoon, where the road runner races down a dirt road so fast that he can’t stop before finding himself perilously out over the edge of a canyon with nothing below him but air and a long fall to the bottom. Luckily for us, the air in our BCs kept us from plummeting to depths beyond our survival and allowed us to hover in blue (outer) space taking in our surroundings while trying to comprehend what was below. This massive wall surrounds the entire island making for hundreds of possible dives meaning that you could make many trips to Grand Cayman and never dive everything.

Reef life and critters of all kinds abound on the walls and reef. Tube sponges, barrel sponges, and soft and hard corals provide for spectacular sightings. Black coral, a rare and beautiful coral that only lives in deeper water, grows from the walls in all directions. Turtles, snapper, and tropicals of all sizes, shapes, and colors make their home throughout the reef. The rules for divers in the Caymans are “no gloves allowed,” removing the chances that divers will touch and potentially harm the reef life. The Cayman Islands know what they have and with thousands of divers traveling to their beaches every year and spending lots of money, they want to preserve this magical place for generations to come. We applaud their efforts!

One of the greatest second dives we did was on a place called Snapper Hole. Although we did see some snapper, the place should be called “Tarpon Alley with Big Cavernous Swim-Throughs.” Huge tunnels, caverns, and overhangs made this dive truly exciting. Huge tarpon hung out at every turn. Swimming “inside” and “under” the reef was a thrill and made for one of the best dives of the trip. It’s hard to imagine just how this place was formed. Erosion, plate tectonics, and time (a lot of time) created a masterpiece of a dive site, one that is a must if you’re diving in the East End of Grand Cayman.

We were only able to sample a small section of diving in Grand Cayman. Hundreds of dives dot that circumference of the island from the north to the south and from the east to the west. It would take living there or many, many trips there to dive all of the sites. Our trip to East End offered a glimpse into the diving available and only wetted our appetite to come back for more. Our exploring minds often wondered what the mooring buoy to our left or right offered, so we’ll just have to go back and explore this diving mecca even more.

Traveling notes
Many major carriers fly to Grand Cayman so shop around before purchasing your tickets. When departing, arrive at the airport at least two hours (if not more) before your flight departs. Getting your boarding pass, checking luggage, going through security, customs, and immigration can take a VERY long time.

As mentioned, food is very expensive on the island. If you’re staying for an extended period, you may want to consider shopping for groceries so that you don’t have to eat out all of your meals…a number of good grocery stores are available to stock up. There are many very good restaurants around the island, so if dining out is your thing, Grand Cayman has you covered.

Because Grand Cayman gets so many diving travelers, many of the dive operators cater to the more novice diver with an almost “hand holding” approach. If you’re an experienced diver and want more freedom on your dives, make sure you call the different dive operators and ask questions about their diving practices before committing. If it’s your first trip, try a couple different dive operators and compare so that you know for your next trip.

If you really want to “see” the island, then you must rent a car. From George Town to East End is a 45-minute drive and there is much to see and do around the entire island, so having a car at your disposal can be key. Places like Rum Point and the Turtle Farm are on opposite ends of the main road and both are worth checking out.

by Divingindepth.com member Mrpat

For the second year in a row I was the winning bidder in the DAN auction for a week on any Nekton voyage. The first time I went to Puerto Rico on the Rorqual this time I scheduled Belize on the Nekton Pilot. Eventually six of us signed on and traveled direct from Atlanta to Belize City on Delta. No problems with the airline, baggage, airports, etc.

One of the few trouble spots on this trip was the airport pick up and transfer to the boat. Unlike many liveaboards the Nekton vessels don’t allow an afternoon embarkation or serve dinner on board that first night. Our group was picked up at the airport early in the afternoon and taken to the Princess Hotel & Casino. We cooled our heels at this location until 8:00pm when we were finally picked up and driven to a grocery/convenience store to buy all our booze and sodas for the trip.

My group requested, and were assigned, cabins on the upper deck. These are superior to the lower deck cabins because the lower cabins often have problems of cold air from the A/C on the metal plate ceilings which can cause condensation droplets to dribble down onto diver’s berths, luggage, or floor space. Guests were cautioned about this during their cabin briefings but not all heeded the warnings to raise their room temps up when they weren’t occupied. The 17 cabins can hold up to 34 divers. Our trip had 28 aboard. All the normal utilities functioned as expected. The boat was clean and in reasonably good repair although some paint was rusting on the rails and some carpeting needed replacement. Food was plentiful although not particularly inspired.

Basically a very comfortable vessel the Pilot is really quite roomy despite its relatively short length. The wide beam and the fact that most of the engineering components are located in the submarine pontoons makes for a lot of deck space, lounge space, and roomy passenger cabins. Their unique elevating dive deck hangs off the stern and all your gear stays in place for the voyage. Their standard tank is the steel 95 allowing an approx. five pound reduction from your weight belt. Some AL 80’s and 65’s were also available. 32% nitrox was pumped all week for those certified who paid the $250 premium. Most dives are done from the back of the mother ship, which is great if you like the ease and convenience, but limits you to those sites equipped with the giant mooring pins necessary to hold this high profile hunk of steel.

The often mentioned smooth ride in rough seas is indeed a fact. I’ve been on four Nekton trips and you hardly feel the “motion of the ocean” enough to develop “sea legs”. I enjoy the rocking of a small ship and always miss it on a Nekton voyage but those prone to seasickness (including my wife) appreciate the stability of the Nekton SWATH design. Capt. Ephey and his 10 man crew were personable, professional, fairly well organized, and seemed genuinely interested in our having a safe and enjoyable trip. Dive rules were standard: no deeper than 130ft, no decompression, sign in and out on the board, no drinking & diving, and they encourage, but don’t rigidly enforce, the buddy system. Lots of crew help out on the dive deck and they’re practically falling all over themselves to have an excuse to get in the water with you and show off the sites. However divers were allowed to go their own way and long bottom times seemed to be the norm.

With both night dives and dawn dives on the menu many guests logged five or six dives a day. I kept to a more relaxed schedule but still managed to log 21 dives with an average time of 58 minutes. Some of the deep walls demanded a vigilant eye to depth and time, but many dives ended with a wonderfully shallow reef top or sandy sections of eel grass flats that allowed 90 minute total bottom times. We started and ended our trip off Turneffe Island with “Dos Cocos”, “Sayonara”, and “ Coral Gardens ” offered up. None of these were stand outs. Luckily we spent the bulk of our voyage cruising back and forth between sites off Half Moon and Long Caye in the Lighthouse Reef Atoll. “ Silver Caves ”, off Long Caye, is an exceptionally beautiful wall reminiscent of Bloody Bay in Little Cayman . With a reef top of 25 to 30ft one can go deep, stay awhile, and plan to off gas for a half hour or so in safety stop land. Very healthy coral, very fishy site. Large mixed schools of Doctor and Surgeonfish maraud through the reef raiding the resident Damselfish’s algae plantations. The next moment a wall of mixed Grunts slides from one grotto to another. “Cathedral” is another beautiful site with high profile coral swimthroughs where late one afternoon I watched the mating dance of Yellowheaded Jawfish and a canoodling couple of Indigo Hamlets.

On a dawn dive at “ Dolphin Pass ”, off Half Moon Caye, we searched the sides of the wall as the night fish went to bed and the day fish woke up. Larry, my long time buddy, pissed off a pair of possibly amorous Black Grouper and got slammed in the chest for his coitus interruptous. He’ll think twice before he spotlights big black grouper in the future. One of the most memorable aspects of the diving in Belize was the tremendous schools of fish that accumulate beneath the boat at almost every site.  Huge groups of Horse Eyed Jacks, Bermuda Chub, Grouper, Wrasse, Tangs, and other reef fish circle and swirl in the shadow of the ship. The vessel tends to swing back and forth in a long arc off its mooring line and divers either hold onto, or sit on top of, the rigid deco bar which hangs at 15 ft. Riding back and forth for a few of these circuits gives one the chance to see the topography go whisking by, all the while starring in awe at the raw tonnage of fish flesh that’s lined up in neat choreographed synchronization.

One of the reasons I picked this trip over other liveaboards in Belize is the fact that they try to make it down to Glovers Reef Atoll. Unfortunately on my visit the French owners of a resort on Glovers had destroyed the Nekton moorings in an ill conceived sense of reef ownership. Undaunted, we were offered a live drop off the back of the boat for a drift dive following a dive master with a float ball. Everyone surfaces together and boards via a quick swim in small groups towards the stern once the Capt cut the engines and the huge screws quit turning. Then he rev’ed up the motor before being driven by the wind up onto the reef. The crew looked worried during these maneuvers and the wall was a just a sandy slope with isolated coral heads, occasionally a clump, which really wasn’t worth all that effort.

But without a doubt “Aquarium”, off Long Caye, got my vote for the hottest site of the trip. A truly world class place with healthy hard and soft corals and more fish per gallon than anywhere else. St. Majors, Chub, Horse Eye Jacks, Barracuda, big Black Grouper, Parrotfish, Durgeons, Wrasse, Angels, Tangs, Trumpets, Chromis, Hogfish, Eels, Snapper, Squirrelfish… the list went on and on. In over thirty trips to various locations throughout the Caribbean I’ve rarely seen a location with as many of the Caribbean regulars, along with such a profusion of healthy reef structures.

My last trip to Belize was years ago on the ill-fated Wave Dancer and with so much degradation and damage to reefs all throughout the Caribbean I was greatly heartened at how well everything has held up. Considering that a week on the Nekton was $300-$450 cheaper than the Dancer and $500-$600 less than the Aggressor I would heartily recommend this vessel unless you absolutely need that extra level of pampering and don’t mind paying for it.

Casa del Mar (Hotel)  & Living Underwater (dive op)

The venerable old Casa del Mar is still hanging in there. I first stayed there in 1995 and it seems to have changed very little. Biggest change is that the sand has been sucked off the beaches along this stretch of shoreline leaving the underlying limestone base exposed and barren. Most resorts are slowly building, or rebuilding, bulkheads and trucking in sand to create a new beach environment for the tourists. The hotel itself had been completely renovated with fresh paint evident, new A/C units, and wireless internet in the lobby. Each room has a small balcony with gear drying pegs. All utilities functioned as expected. I had booked an all-inclusive package and the food and booze was of surprisingly good quality. Breakfast started at 7:00 and included a large buffet including breads, fresh fruit, cold cereal, eggs and omelets cooked to order, sausage, bacon or ham, and several carbohydrate choices like pancakes, grits, hashbrowns, and other starch offerings. Lunch and Dinner was ordered off the same comprehensive menu of Mexican and American entrées. I particularly enjoyed the stuffed and rolled fillet of grouper in a cream sauce, the spicy garlic squid, and their steak dinner with enchiladas and quesadillas. Somewhat surprisingly their house guacamole was one of the best I’ve had anywhere in the world. My package didn’t allow lobster or shrimp dishes without additional charge but the friendly and attentive wait staff often suggested delicious meal choices I might not have otherwise tried. During my early July visit a large contingent of Canadian students provided much youthful exuberance and some wonderful topless presentations around the poolside bar. Copious allotments of Bacardi Anejo was poured without additional charge.

Around 8:00am the Nautilus submarine dock across the street got pretty busy as hordes of divers milled around waiting for their respective dive boats to arrive. I had booked two days of two tank morning dives with Jeremy Anschel’s Living Underwater. Jeremy was under the weather with Dengue fever and couldn’t participate.  I shuffled between two of his Bimini topped fast boats alternately booked by experienced Canadian divers and a family from Minnesota . Jeremy prides himself on providing Cadillac service including cold drinks, fresh fruit, cookies and crackers between dives as well as long dive times with LP steel 95’s and 120’s. My dive log attests to that fact with 106ft for 76min on Palancar Gardens followed by 77ft for 73min on Paso del Cedral, 163ft for 63min on Maracaibo , and a lengthy 90 min dive on La Francesca. But the dive spots just weren’t what they used to be.

Reefs above 50ft were basically scoured clean of living coral. Whips, sea fans, and other gorgonian that used to sway in the current were no longer evident; fields of finger coral lay blasted on the bottom, and much of the shallow reefs were covered by a fine layer of sand that seemed to choke the substrate. Many famous “second dives”, like Deliah and Paradise , were no longer highlights on the menu.  First day, dive boat Alfa, the family requested dive sites that were shallow so the kids wouldn’t have to go below 60 ft. I suggested Palancar Gardens where I could pop over the wall into the triple digits and they could stay close to the reef top. I promised Eric, the divemaster, that I’d keep the group in sight and would come up along with everyone else. It wasn’t long before they were all cruising on down to the better sponge and coral growth which started getting good between 60 and 80 ft. We saw several Hawksbill Turtles along the way and three large Black Grouper in some sort of mating or territorial interaction. Although I racked up 6 or 7 min of deco by the half way point the big 120 cu ft tank gave me plenty of time to clear my obligation during the shallow half hour and I surfaced well into the safe zone on my computer.

Like many of the dive ops on Coz. Living Underwater brings their boats to one of the public tourist beaches during the surface interval. There is a minimum purchase necessary to use the facilities. We lounged around Playa Palancar eating nachos and quesadillas priced at about $5.50 each. Second dives at Paso del Cedral and La Francesca were very different than I remembered. The beautifully delicate coral, fans, and sponges that used to adorn these sites had pretty much been wiped out. Caves, overhangs, and leeward facing grottos were the only spots where isolated remnants still existed. There were, however still a large number of fish. We saw schools of Tangs and Black Durgeons, Stingrays, Filefish, all three Angels, Porkfish, Grunts, Soldier and Squirrelfish,  along with many other Caribbean regulars. There did appear to be fewer of the predators. Only a few Bar Jacks were spotted and noticeably lacking were the old Green Morays and Barracuda.

On my second day I was assigned to Jesus’ on the dive boat Gaviotta with a more experienced group of divers that wanted to do Maracaibo . Unfortunately Jesus missed the  site, but gave us the backroll signal anyway, so we spent 25 minutes swimming over sand flats below 145’ and then doing 30 minutes of prescribed deco performed rigidly with 30 for 10, 20 for 10, & 10 for 10. None of us had more that 11 or 12 min of 10ft obligation when we started lifting off the bottom and the needlessly long deco stops were a little boring for me and annoying for some of the others.

But overall Living Underwater gets a hearty thumbs up. Jeremy was honest with me in our e-mail communications, stating he’d have to fit me in with groups of varying experience. Great customer service and attitude was demonstrated by all his employees. They changed tanks between dives, rinsed and stored your gear at the end of the day, and had it ready on board tomorrow. The boats were well equipped, drinks and snacks were first class, long dive times with big capacity tanks was the rule, and an mind-set of letting experienced divers do their own thing completely outweighed the $85 price per two tank trip. I would use them again.

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Blue Angel Dive Shop & Casa Mexicana

Located at the Caribe Blue Hotel, Blue Angel Diving had a pretty organized, professional operation. My buddy had dove with them for years but this was my first time. Alejandra, the owner wasn’t around during our visit, but the on-site manager, Victor, was both personable and seemingly anxious to get us the kind of diving we requested. The 22 room hotel caters mostly to divers and provides wireless internet, fresh water pool, secure “milk crate” lockers, decent gear rinse and outdoor shower facilities, and a restaurant/bar with reasonable prices for drinks and standard Mexican & American food. The place was freshly repaired, cleaned and painted, appeared mostly full, and has a lot of loyal repeat customers.  The dive op seems prosperous with 4 or 5 fast boats with Bimini tops that carried a maximum of eight, and a cabin cruiser presumably holding larger groups. Boats I was on had first aid and DAN O2 kits, VHF radio, cold bottled water, and a camera rinse bucket. 95cu.ft. tanks and Nitrox were available.

On our first dive day they took out an afternoon boat for just two of us.  Jose’, the divemaster, let us select our sites, provided a decent briefing, and was competent both above and underwater. On Santa Rosa, which turned out to be in better shape than several sites I’d seen, we had a pleasant dive curling in and out of the columns and crevices along the wall stumbling across several schools of large HorseEye Jacks, a 6ft Nurse Shark tucked in an overhang, and a large Caribbean Octopus foraging out in the sand. One of the weird unforeseen results of November’s hurricane Wilma seems to be that octopi are coming out during the day much more often than in the past. Whether this is because their predators are fewer or because their food supply is diminished and they’re working harder to find prey has not been determined. Another memorable dive was a ripping flight across Tuniche where we pulled ourselves cross-current on hand holds of dead coral to traverse from side to side of the principal reef spine. Dropping down behind coral boulders we joined large schools of grunts hunkered down out of the rushing torrent.My overall impression was good. I liked the feel of the hotel and dive shop combo and the dive op went out of their way to satisfy us. I’d use them again. But I wasn’t staying there.

I’d signed on with a small group that was staying at the recently opened Casa Mexicana. This is a high end downtown hotel right on Ave Rafael Melgar, the main coast road. Somewhere I read that the architect had won awards for the design and this five story structure does have an interesting modern Mayan look about it. The ground floor street level rents out to various high end shops. A pair of escalators slide guests up to the large lobby located on the second story. The internet computer room, swimming pool, and miniscule bar are also located on this level looking out over the hustle and bustle of the main road. The small decorator styled pool looks nice in the brochure photos, with bikini girls stretched out on the lounge chairs, but somehow its location right in the lobby sort of restricts folks from many poolside activities. This is an affluent, staid, and proper clientele and nobody’s  going to tolerate a herd of screaming kids running and jumping all over this place.

An open core up the middle of the structure is covered with a giant skylight and surrounded by guest rooms. At the bottom (floor # 2 –third story) is a garden with patio type tables which is used for the complimentary breakfast buffet each morning. My friends stayed in one of the better rooms which have an ocean front balcony with a birds eye view of the action down below. My garden view balcony looked out on the steamy garden which was never used by anyone except at breakfast, so the most exciting thing I observed was the birds flying in stealing food from the plates of the less vigilant. Both class of room were expansive, had nice tile floors, refrigerators, room safe, large tub/shower units, hair dryers, internet service, 50 channels of TV (two in English), and functioning utilities.

Diving the aircraft carrier Oriskany with Down Under Dive Shop
by Jeff Petersen

An excerpt from my journal written on August 25, 2006:

“At 30 feet, the superstructure of the flight tower began to appear before us out of the green haze of the languid gulf waters. We triggered our scooters straight down. With just a slight current at 70 feet, we tossed our decompression tanks, dropped down to 135 feet and throttled the scooters parallel with the edge of flight deck as we headed to the stern to check out the props. As we rode along the starboard side, the eerie flat field of the flight deck played out in almost all directions to our right side…”

For this “old” cave diver, there aren’t too many dives that will get me almost 30 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. But, a 900-foot Ticonderoga class aircraft carrier will do the trick. Our circle of divers had been buzzing about checking out this artificial reef since it was intentionally sunk in May 2006. Click here for more information on the Oriskany and to see it as it was sunk.

Back in May, several of us agreed that we wanted to see the ship while it was still fresh and before one of our seemingly unending strings of hurricanes tore into the Alabama/Florida coast again. For this trip, our merry band of mercenaries included three cave divers and three advanced open water divers.

While not a true wreck – it has been stripped of much of the troublesome trapping of an unplanned sinking – the Oriskany still has so much to offer with its awe-inspiring size and configuration that even the jaded wreck divers of the North Atlantic will find themselves smiling as they return to shore. The Oriskany sits upright on a flat sand bottom. The upper reaches of the superstructure are at 65 fsw and extend down to the flight deck at 135 fsw. The hanger bays can be accessed at 160 fsw. The sheared-off rudder and propellers (which are still there) can be reached at 220 fsw, just above the sand.

Penetrating the Oriskany comes in a few different flavors. For the shallowest penetrations, you can access the flight tower from many openings with around 60 feet of vertical exploration. For those on mixed gas, you can drop into the airplane hangers on either the port or starboard sides. These gigantic openings provide access to the truly cavernous gallery running below much of the flight deck. Floating half way between floor and ceiling in the hanger bay will put you at about 165 fsw. At much greater depths, numerous openings exist in the floor allowing for more restrictive penetrations into the bowels of the ship.

For our gang, the dive sounded intriguing, but getting up there for us was no a small feat: it was an eight-hour drive for us from the Tampa Bay area. But once we got there, the Down Under Dive shop based in Gulf Shores, Alabama took good care of us. For both open water divers and technical divers, Down Under is the shop to dive the Oriskany.

Down Under Dive Shop is a full-service PADI training facility, with full rental equipment, air and nitrox fills. They are located just minutes from the beach and only about 10 minutes from the boat marina. We got there the night before our dive, just before the shop closed and filled out our paperwork for the dive the next morning. The technical divers had to provide certifications for mixed gas diving and decompression training and the open water divers had to show proof of an advanced certification, otherwise a dive master would be required.

The shop manager arranged for the nitrox tanks the advanced divers had rented to be transported over to the boat in the morning which saved us from lugging the six aluminum 80s around until the next morning.

Gulf Shores, sometime “affectionately” known as part of the Redneck Riviera, is currently in a state of transition. It is still recovering from the ravages of Hurricane Ivan with towering beachfront condos springing up like mushrooms after the previous landowners had cashed out and headed for higher ground. Even with all the new development, the area still offers scenic views of the placid, white-sand shorelines of the Gulf. Numerous bays and estuaries abound. And every morning, fishing charter boats leave the marinas, scattering out into the Gulf like doves being released at a wedding.

While the Gulf Shores area has a distinctly touristy feel – with an over abundance of airbrushed T-shirt shops, miniature golf, and restaurants – much of this can work out nicely for the visiting diver and family. After dinner at one of the many seafood restaurants, the six of us opted for a Normal Rockwell evening by playing “all-you-can-putt” miniature golf followed by frozen yogurt at the nearby TCBY.

The off season (generally between Labor Day and Memorial Day) offers a few advantages over the high season: less congestion (especially along the beach), better deals on motels and, most importantly, typically better visibility in the Gulf waters. We were there a week before the Labor Day weekend and already things were getting pleasantly quiet.

The next morning we dined at the always-elegant Waffle House in route to the Marina and talked about our strategy for checking out as much of the ship as practical. Along with my carb-rich breakfast, I took another Dramamine tablet to ensure that I wouldn’t be feeding the fish during our one-way, 30-mile boat ride.

Once we got to the marina, a friendly crew and dive master on the Down Under boat greeted us. Their boat is a spacious 46-foot Newton dive boat capable of cruising at 18 knots. The crew talked everyone through the standard “what to do on our boat” rules and we were off. Their boat is very camera friendly with rinse buckets and dedicated camera tables. This was nice for us since, along with all the tech toys, we had several still cameras and a video camera.

Being a “tech diver” on an open water dive boat often creates a frustrating and problematic environment for both the tech diver and the boat’s dive master(s). But, the Down Under Dive shop surprised me with a dive master and crew that were very reasonable and flexible with our gear and our plans. In other words, we got to dive our plans, not theirs. Kudos goes out to Bryan Eslava for his surface assistance on the dives. He and the rest of the crew made sure we and the open water divers were satisfied and happy.

For the tech divers, our plan was to get in the water with two decompression bottles and diver propulsion vehicles (DPVs). A DPV is highly recommended to get the most out of a deeper Oriskany dive. Unlike diving along the Atlantic coast, the currents aren’t an issue, but trying to circumnavigate the ship along the flight deck amounts to a 2,300-foot swim at 135 fsw. The DPV will ensure you can get the most for your money and time.

Since we were planning on going down to 220 fsw briefly, our bottom mix was 20% oxygen and 30% helium. We also planned to spend some time in the hangers at 165 fsw so this mix would be a good compromise for the multi-level profile we were planning.

When our boat arrived above the Oriskany, Bryan Eslava dove in and anchored the boat to the Oriksany’s flight tower. As we suited up, he helped us get our deco tanks and DPVs in the water. Fortunately, the seas were 2-4 feet and not too problematic – even with double steel 104s we had on our backs.

The advanced divers were diving with computers, but, because of the 32% nitrox they had in the single 80s, they limited their depth to a brief 100-fsw excursion. Beyond that, they concentrated their two dives on exploring the 70 feet of the tower itself. Since the tower sits on the edge of the ship’s starboard side, you can look down and see the ship’s outer hull continue on down from the flight deck downward into the dark abyss below.

For the tech divers, we were planning one long dive. We dove down onto the tower and deposited our deco bottles at 75 feet on a roof section of the tower and scootered down to get level with the flight deck and then rode the DPVs along the starboard side, just below the flight deck and headed to the stern to check out the propellers. We had our powerful HID cave lights with us but fortunately, we had a sunny day that provided enough ambient light for a nice eerie glow to everything down to 170 fsw.

When we dove, there were two distinct thermoclines, the first at approximately 100 fsw and the second at 170 fsw. Unfortunately, the water quality below 170 fsw was very murky, reducing visibility to 10-15 feet. So as we dropped down below 170 fsw and underneath the curve of the hull, our HID lights could punch through the dark, colder water, but we couldn’t get the wide-angle perspective we wanted to capture the massive size of the propellers. It looked like our “photo opp” with the propellers had eluded us. Below the 170-fsw thermocline, I could definitely feel the water temperature keenly through my 3/2 mm full wetsuit.

Disappointed, we shot back up to the stern and checked out some of the semi-open areas just beneath the stern landing area. Then we raced each other back along the starboard side to the first hanger bay entrance, just behind the tower. We had heard stories that the water was very murky inside the ship, so we were pleasantly surprised when we got inside that the visibility was quite good.

Under DPV power, we eased our way further and further into the cavernous hanger as the three of us fanned out exploring different areas of the bay. Once separated by some distance, we could really appreciate both the enormous size of the hanger and the exceptional visibility (80+ feet). In some places, wires and electronic equipment hung down from the ceiling giving the Oriskany more of a wreck feeling than the typical barren look of a stripped artificial reef.

Since these hangers were used to store the planes below the flight deck, they open on both sides of the ship and interconnect with each other via large, short “corridors.” We rode our DPVs on a roughly 45-degree angle from the starboard side toward the port side and came out through one of the port side hanger openings. As a word of caution, you do reach a “point of commitment” where you will lose the ambient light from the side you entered into as you traverse to the ambient light streaming in from another hanger opening. Because of the depth, lack of natural light, and sheer size of the open area beneath the flight deck, I would not recommend any degree of penetration for divers not trained in wreck penetration and using double tanks.

Once back outside, we frolicked with the DPVs along the port side, running them (and ourselves) along gangways and up and down exterior stair cases until we reached the bow. Since this is an aircraft carrier, the bow at deck level is still quite broad, approximately 100 feet, and we could not see the whole width of the bow due to its size. If you drift off the bow a little way, still facing it, you are treated to the view of the expansive flight deck, looming like a deserted interstate highway fading off into the haze in front of you. Unfortunately, the flight tower is too far aft to be visible from the bow under anything less than ultra extraordinary conditions.

From there, we took the DPVs back to the tower, spiraling around and up the outside of the tower examining its shape, riggings, and design. We were able to use the time exploring the tower as part of our decompression. Our trimix computers gave us just over 30 minutes of decompression after our 50 minute bottom time – a small price to pay for this dive. We lingered around the upper reaches of the tower to make sure we had off gassed our helium. Then we grabbed our stage bottles and drifted up along the anchor line to begin our “official” decompression stops.

We were treated with the sight of a four foot reef shark that skirted around the edge of visibility, checking us out but reluctant to get to close. As we got shallower, the warm Gulf waters became like a protozoan soup teaming with medium and tiny jellyfish. Watching this constant parade of creatures unchanged in millennia made the time fly by. Since the waters in the last 30 feet were so warm (mid-80s), I was now glad I didn’t over commit to neoprene and had chosen to go with the 3/2 mm suit and no hood – which as a cave diver made me feel close to naked in the water.

Once onboard, the crew had sandwiches, fresh-cut pineapple, and cold water waiting for us. With our bellies full, we grabbed a quick rinse off from an overhead freshwater shower and felt re-born.

The next day, we went on a standard two-tank open water dive on the Down Under boat. We dove two small wrecks that felt quite small – as almost anything would after seeing the Oriskany on the previous day. But we did get to see an abundance of sea life that the Oriskany has not yet attracted. Then we hunkered down for the long drive back to Tampa.

So, if you have any interest in a truly awe-inspiring “wreck” dive, call up the folks at Down Under Dive Shop in Gulf Shores, Alabama and make a reservation. Remember, you’ll get a few benefits for diving it around winter: better visibility, less crowds, and better hotel rates. And remember, you need to be at least advanced certified to dive this site so be sure to call ahead and discuss your diving options on the Oriskany before you make the trip to the coast.

Down Under Dive Shop can be reached at www.downunderdiveshop.com or by phone at 251-968-3483. Don’t miss this and other fantastic dives in Gulf Shores!

VIDEO:  go to the video library watch a video of diving the Oriskany!

Diving notes:

Gulf Shores offers all types of diving from basic wreck and ledge/artificial reef diving to the deep stuff like the Oriskany and Tenneco Towers. Whatever type of diving you like to do, Gulf Shores has it. There is even a beach dive out to a wreck.

by Chris Kovaz

Getting there

On our summer 2006 trip to Utila aboard the Aggressor, we took the most direct route. We started from our hometown of Fort Myers, Florida, and from there we made connections in Houston, San Pedro Sula, and La Ceiba before finally reaching our destination in Utila. Traveling here was quite a difficult task, not due to the distance, but rather the amount of equipment we were able to bring. We had a severe weight limit of only 50 lbs per person. We photographers know how difficult it can be to limit ourselves to the bare necessities in this new digital age, with bigger DSLR‘s and their housings. I, myself, usually travel with a spare Rebel 300d with an 18-55 mm lens, housed by Sea and Sea, with a flat port and dome port. So with the weight restrictions, I had to limit myself to the bare minimum with my equipment. This included my camera, the Canon 1DS Mark II, a 28-90 macro lens, a 17-40 wide-angle lens, and a Seacam housing with super dome and flat port. Along with all of that were the necessary accessories, o-ring grease and the tools needed to maintain the housing and ports. My strobes were the Ikelite DS 200 and the Sea and Sea YS 90 Auto. Talk about roughing it!

The Crew

The crew consisted of five people, which worked out to a 2-1 ratio of passengers to crew. This made it very simple for the crew to keep track of us and attend to any problems that might occur, whether it was photography equipment issues or buoyancy underwater. The crewmembers were Captain Eddie, photo tech – Shara, video tech – Nestor, and cooks – Shane and Candy. Each of them was very personal and interested in each of us. All of the food they served was excellent in its simplicity, with lots of BBQ, which is the way I like it after a long day of diving. Finally, they would always go out of their way to see that all of our needs were met. They were very knowledgeable about camera equipment and always willing to help us out in any way they possibly could. Thanks to the amazing eyes of Shara, Eddie, and Nestor, amazing macro subjects, such as sea horses, flatworms, scorpion fish, and nudibranchs were made visible.

The ship

The Utila Aggressor is a 3-decked boat. The first level (lower deck) contains the cabins and the engine room. The middle level is composed of the dive deck at the stern, which includes the camera table and air compressor. The galley and salon are located inside. The top level is where cookouts were held and where the HOT TUB was! That’s right, a hot tub on a live aboard. I never would have expected that!

Conditions

The water temperature was a constant 81 degrees F, which was very nice for summer diving. There was minimal surge, and the waves did not exceed two feet. Current was no problem either and barley noticeable.

The diving

Day 1
Dives 1 and 2: Old Bank
Now, this being Utila, I was expecting something a little better than what we started with, but this was just a checkout dive. Here, I took the time to break in my newly acquired super dome port from Seacam, using it with my 28-90 lens, even though my photo advisors said this lens would not work with this port. I saw that it did not focus quite as well with my flat port but still did an adequate job. After testing that port and focusing mainly on composition techniques, I switched to the flat port. This proved beneficial. On this dive, the sun was brighter, and it was easier to spot macro life where a nine-inch dome just doesn’t cut it. Macro life we spotted consisted mainly of arrow crabs and blennies.

Dives 3 and 4: Ragged Cay
These dives were on a much steeper and deeper wall. Here we found a lot more life, such as turtles, moray eels, lobsters, bandit shrimp, arrow crabs, and lots of angelfish, despite the impaired visibility. I think the most interesting thing on this dive was the fact that our turtle was in between my father and me. So, many of our photos contained not only the turtle but also us shooting the turtle as well.

Day 2
Dive 1: Old Bank
Now this was a magnificent wall dive with amazing visibility and life. When our crew said it would be good for wide angle, they couldn’t have been more right. With my 17-40 lens and superdome port, there was never a dull moment. I especially loved it when I shot from the inside of a cave with my father nearby the outside of the cave with a beautiful blue background. This made for an amazing moment indeed. The sun was the final factor in this dive, and never have I had it corporate better for me than on this dive. With blazing light, these wide-angle shots were poetry in motion.

Dives 2 and 3: The Pinnacle
This site was actually shaped like a histogram in photo shop – pretty ironic. This made for great diver shots with a wide angle, using the pinnacles as each diver would come across it, almost like climbing up a hill. The site was loaded with tons of macro life, including peppermint shrimp, cleaner shrimp, blennies, and a barracuda.

Day 3
Dive 1: Aquila Wreck
This site was down 110 feet on a huge wreck broken apart into three pieces. Despite the wreck structure, there was an abundance of sponges and algae, which made for great color. Along with that, a friendly green moray and tons of different species of grouper made for an interesting wreck dive.

Dive 2: Tauianas Wall
This wall was very interesting due to all of the different marine life. Throughout this reef were lots of bubble sponges and sponges of different colors of green, blue, and purple, which I had not encountered on this trip. Then to encounter lizardfish and a very photogenic turtle topped off anther good dive in Roatan in our journey through Honduras.

Dive 3: Half Moon Bay
This dive was a beautifully lit wall with gaps in between the coral structures. This made for a unique layout which I loved shooting. The different sponges were optimal subjects for the unique layout of the reef.

Day 4, Dive 1: Dolphins Cave
This dive was not as good for photos as previous dives, because it was a narrow cave with 10-12 divers entering at the same time a massive amount of backscatter was created. However, there were interesting amounts of sunlight shining through the rocks, creating great wide-angle shots, although only a few were decent enough to save.

Dive 2: Crawfish
Of all the sites, this seemed like the most basic one of the trip. It reminded me of good old Florida Keys diving. Still more life and more to see, of course, but the feeling was there. Notable subjects were Grey, French, and Queen Angels, and juvenile spotted drums.

Dive 3: Eels Garden
This dive was the most notable site of Roatan. Magnificent walls etched with canyons throughout the site made for great topography. Along with that there were great Caribbean anemones, Queen, Gray, and French angles, and a baby spotted moray. I would call that a great dive to top off the day.

Final day
Final dive: Ted’s Point
This was the last dive of the trip, and, as always, I love it when these final dives go off with a bang. Here, I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest. Right after I jumped in the water and right behind my father was a southern stingray. With no time to adjust settings, it was a good thing I have gotten good at predicting my settings in advance. After that, we came across two sea horses, both a male and female in red and black colors. When we came back to dive the site again, we actually witnessed the mating of the two seahorses. Talk about one for the record books and a great way to wrap up a trip!

Final thoughts

I enjoyed the diving in Utila. The boat crew was amazing, and the people I had the pleasure of living with for the week were very friendly. I invited the crew and divers on this excursion to come back and dive with me and CK Photo Tours again. It was indeed a pleasure meeting them all. As for the diving, it was some of the best of the Caribbean, with frequent turtle encounters, flat worms, and many species of shrimp and macro life. Huge wide angle opportunities and, of course, sea horse mating made this trip one to remember.