Grand Cayman · Cayman Islands · Cave & cavern · Reef
Devil's Grotto
Coral chimneys that fill with silversides in high summer
Area photo: c&rdunn · CC BY-SA 2.0
A maze of massive coral heads off George Town, riddled with open chimneys and swim-throughs that run from the bottom at 15 m up to a few feet below the surface. It is a shore dive with an entry beside the Eden Rock Diving Center, shallow enough to suit divers of any level, and in high summer it fills with silversides.
Also known as Devil's Cave.
Where it is and how deep
19.2913° N, 81.3883° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The site is built out of massive coral heads hollowed into an interlocking set of open chimneys, caverns and swim-throughs. They run from the sand and coral bottom at about 15 m up to within a few feet of the surface, and the shallowest sections are only 4 m down, so a single dive covers the whole vertical range without much effort.
The chimneys are what people come for. Light filters down through the crevices and openings, and the chimneys are open at the top rather than closed overhead. Parrotfish, tarpon and barracuda are regular residents, and the tarpon in particular use the low light of the passages the way they do next door at Eden Rock.
From June through early August the silversides arrive and the character of the dive changes completely: schools of them fill the grotto, and swimming a chimney means pushing through a moving curtain of fish. They are still there through August and September. Outside those months the site is the coral architecture and the residents, which is reason enough to dive it.
Marine life and season
- Barracuda
- Reef fish swarms
| 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.
Dive videos
Diving Devil's Grotto and Eden Rock in the Cayman Islands · Dive SAGA - Scuba diving on YouTube
DIVING CAYMAN ISLANDS - Devil's Grotto, best shore dive of the Caribbean? · UNDERWATER EXPLORATIONS on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is Devil's Grotto?+
From 4 m at the shallowest to a maximum of about 15 m, which is why it suits novices and experienced divers alike. The coral formations run through that whole range, from the bottom up to a few feet below the surface.
When can you see the silversides at Devil's Grotto?+
In summer. The best window is June through early August, and the schools are still in the grotto through August and September, when the swim-throughs fill with them. Outside those months the site is dived for its coral chimneys and its resident tarpon, parrotfish and barracuda.
Sources
- Dive Site Review: Devil's Grotto, Grand Cayman — Inside Scuba
- Diving in Devils Grotto Cayman Islands — Divebooker
- Devil's Grotto in Cayman Islands, Caribbean — Zentacle
In The Logbook
- Cavern and cenote diving without cave trainingCaves & caverns · 8 min read
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