Little Cayman · Cayman Islands · Wall · Cave & cavern
Randy's Gazebo
A chimney from 24 m that exits onto the reef top at 9 m
Area photo: NOAA Photo Library · CC BY 2.0
A section of Bloody Bay Wall on Little Cayman's north side, dived for its chimney and archway as much as for the drop itself. The chimney runs between 24 m and 9 m, and the stretch of wall west of it carries the large barrel sponges the site is known for. Boats tie into a public mooring over the shallow ground inside the reef.
Where it is and how deep
19.6841° N, 80.0833° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The boat picks up a mooring over the shallow ground inside the reef, and the dive starts as a swim out across the flat to where that ground ends. The named feature is a chimney through the reef structure: its lower entrance sits at 24 m and it comes out on top at 9 m, so the deep part of the dive is done first and the chimney is the way back up.
West of the chimney the route runs along the wall at around 23 m, past the large barrel sponges the site is known for and through an archway that frames the open water behind it. A few caves and a smaller chimney sit along the same stretch. Turtles work the face and eagle rays pass off it, so it is worth looking out into the blue as well as at the wall.
The chimney puts you back on the reef top at 9 m with most of the tank still to spend, and the rest of the dive is shallow work over the coral heads inside the drop before the safety stop. With no bottom under the face, hold your level off the wall on the deep leg and turn the dive on gas rather than on distance.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
- Eagle rays
| 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
- The chimney is a short overhead section, open at both ends; silt and a queue of divers both argue for going through one at a time.
- The north coast is the exposed side of the island and is not divable year-round, so a dive booked here can be moved to the south side on the morning's weather.
Dive videos
2017 The Chimney - Randy's Gazebo - Little Cayman · Jim Ball on YouTube
Little Cayman Dive @ Randy's Gazebo · GlenElectronic on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is Randy's Gazebo?+
The chimney that gives the site its shape runs from an entrance at 24 m to an exit at 9 m, and the wall route west of it sits at around 23 m. That is an intermediate wall profile rather than a deep dive.
Do you need to be an advanced diver?+
Advanced Open Water suits it. The dive reaches 24 m, holds depth off a vertical face with no bottom beneath it and passes through a short chimney, so buoyancy and gas planning matter more here than any skill in current.
Sources
- Cayman Islands dive sites — Little Cayman — Dive The World
- Randy's Gazebo — divesite details — Scuba Diving Place
- Little Cayman dive site descriptions — Family Divers
- Marine Parks Brochure - Sister Islands — Cayman Islands Department of Environment
- Little Cayman — Wikipedia
In The Logbook
- Where to dive in DecemberTrip planning · 10 min read
More dive sites in Little Cayman
Wall
A lip at 5.5 m over a face that falls away effectively vertical
Wall
The wall's most vertical section, photographed piece by piece
Similar dives elsewhere
The Cathedral, a sunlit cavern swim-through at 12 m full of silversides
Sand chutes to the wall, plus a small wreck on the sand
A face that starts at 15 m and drops straight into the blue
A crevice cutting down the wall from 15 m to 30 m