Little Cayman · Cayman Islands · Wall
Bloody Bay Wall
A lip at 5.5 m over a face that falls away effectively vertical
Area photo: NOAA Photo Library · CC BY 2.0
The wall that gives Little Cayman its reputation, on the north side of the island just west of its midpoint and inside a Marine Reserve. Sections of the face are so sheer as to be effectively vertical, a rarity, and a carefully planned profile reaches past 30 m and still returns a long dive. Green turtles, southern and eagle rays and grey Caribbean reef sharks are part of the reef life here.
Where it is and how deep
19.6857° N, 80.0770° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Boats pick up one of the public moorings over the shallow ground inside the reef and the dive opens as a swim out across that flat to the point where it stops. At its shallowest the drop-off begins at 5.5 m, so on this stretch the edge sits close to the surface and you turn along it rather than descending to go looking for it.
Along the face the profile is the point. Sections here are so sheer as to be effectively vertical, a rarity, and there is nothing beneath you to arrest a slow sink. Divers who plan carefully take a maximum of a little over 30 m and still record exceptionally long dive times, which works because the shallow lip lets the back half of the dive run above the drop rather than on the face.
The life splits by depth. Green turtles, southern rays and eagle rays cross the face and the water off it, and grey Caribbean reef sharks are noticeable on dives along this coast. Back over the shallows on the way to the safety stop the coral holds the small stuff: sailfin blennies, arrow crabs and octopus.
Background
Bloody Bay is consistently ranked as one of the world's top dive sites, and many dive operations claim the late Philippe Cousteau called its wall one of the three best dives in the world, although that story may be fanciful. The wall's documentation is better attested: in 1999 the Bloody Bay Wall Mural Project, a crew of photographers directed by Jim Hellemn, shot the face piece by piece and compiled the frames into a single highly detailed image, which National Geographic reproduced in 2001.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
- Eagle rays
- Stingrays
- Reef sharks
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime |
Season follows Little Cayman: Calmest conditions and best visibility run December through April; September–October bring the greatest hurricane risk.
Know before you go
- Local depth claims of 910 m or 1,500 m are exaggerated: the charted 1,000 m contour lies about 4 km offshore of Bloody Bay. The face still runs past recreational limits, so set a depth alarm.
- This is the exposed side of the island. The north-side sites are not accessible year-round because of weather, and a dive booked here can be moved to the south side.
Dive videos
Exploring Bloody Bay Wall · Jason Hutty on YouTube
Little Cayman Bloody Bay Wall Dives - May 2023 · Jean-Philippe Cottin on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is Bloody Bay Wall?+
At its shallowest point the drop-off begins at 5.5 m and the face below it falls past recreational limits. A carefully planned dive takes a maximum of a little over 30 m, and because the lip is shallow you can still run a long dive on a single tank.
What will I see on Bloody Bay Wall?+
Green turtles, southern rays, eagle rays and grey Caribbean reef sharks along the face and the water off it. Over the shallows on the way back, the coral holds sailfin blennies, arrow crabs and octopus.
Sources
- Little Cayman — Wikipedia
- Scuba diving in the Cayman Islands — Wikipedia
- Little Cayman — Visit Cayman Islands
- Marine Parks Brochure - Sister Islands — Cayman Islands Department of Environment
- Bus Stop — divesite details — Scuba Diving Place
- Little Cayman north coast — OpenStreetMap
In The Logbook
- Where to dive in DecemberTrip planning · 10 min read
- The best wall dives in the worldWalls & drop-offs · 11 min read
- How much weight do you need to dive?Gear & kit · 8 min read
- Why is the sea blue? Water filters out redOcean science · 7 min read
More dive sites in Little Cayman
Wall
The wall's most vertical section, photographed piece by piece
Wall
A chimney from 24 m that exits onto the reef top at 9 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Nineteenth-century anchors lie along a wall that drops past 975 m
Eagle rays off a sponge-hung wall on Turneffe's east coast
Twin pinnacles beside a coral-carpeted slope off French Cay
Garden eels on the sand at 15 m, coral arches at 30 m