Grand Cayman · Cayman Islands · Cave & cavern · Wall
Big Tunnels
Two long tunnels that empty out onto the open blue
Area photo: c&rdunn · CC BY-SA 2.0
Big Tunnels is a wall dive where two long tunnels cut deep into the vertical face, forming narrow passageways among a series of large swim-throughs and caverns. The passages exit onto open blue water at 34 m (110 ft), so it is a deep, overhead dive for experienced divers.
Also known as Big Tunnel.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Grand Cayman and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
The swim-throughs and caverns begin at 18 m, where friendly French and gray angelfish usually greet arriving divers. Glassfish sweepers fill the caverns and nurse sharks rest inside them.
Two long tunnels cut deeply into the face of the vertical wall, forming long, narrow passageways. Followed down, they empty out at 34 m (110 ft) into a blue void where pelagics sometimes pass.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime |
Season follows Grand Cayman: December to April is drier and calm enough for the exposed south side; August to October is hurricane season, and the rain peaks in October.
Know before you go
- The tunnels are long, narrow overhead passages that exit at 34 m (110 ft), deeper than the start of the dive.
Dive videos
Big Tunnels Grand Cayman · Ambassador Divers on YouTube
Sources
- Best of the West (Wall that is...) — Scuba Diving
- Diving sites Cayman Islands — Dive The World
- Liveaboard Diving in Big Tunnels — LiveAboard.com
More dive sites in Grand Cayman
Reef
Massive sponges on the drop at 21 m (70 ft)
Wall
A pinnacle rising off the North Wall into the Cayman Trench
Wall
A coral arch on the wall, named for a Cayman photographer
Ladder off the dock, then a long critter hunt to a coral-topped mini wall
Cave & cavern
Coral chimneys that fill with silversides in high summer
Sponge-crusted cable winches on a ship named for the island's chamber doctor
Wall
An elephant sculpture on a ledge at 26 m (85 ft)
Cave & cavern
Long tunnels full of tarpon, straight off the shore
Similar dives elsewhere
Exit a sand-chute tunnel through an opening in the vertical wall face
A vertical tunnel from 12 m into a crevice at nearly 30 m
Cave & cavern
Frenchman Hole
Negril & Bloody Bay · Jamaica
A shore-entry cavern in a ledged, sloping wall
The Cathedral cave sits in the same block of reef as the throat