As a testament to the popularity of the Cayman Islands as a diving destination, over 30,000 visitors have taken advantage of the Kittiwake Marine Park to dive and snorkel the sunken ship that has become a great artificial reef. The park opened in January 2011, after much effort to prepare the Kittiwake for diving after its donation by the Maritime Administration of the United States (MARAD) to the Cayman government. The ship sits in about 65 feet of water and measures 251 feet in length, with the top about 15 feet below the surface.

Seeing a shipwreck is always a surreal experience, conjuring up images of the sailors who once stood on the decks or behind the wheel. These thoughts were quickly replaced the moment I spot a school of fish circling the mast. They and other sea life have eagerly taken up residence and offer a rebirth to a vessel that is no longer in service. For a good twenty minutes I had the rare opportunity to snorkel the entire site by myself, watching the divers from above. Other boats joined ours shortly after, so I took advantage of the other swimmers to add perspective to my shots. Yes, the water really is that crystal clear and gorgeous sapphire blue.

What a fun trip and a superb reincarnation for the Kittiwake!

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Took a visit to Stingray City as part of a boat tour. This is where you take a ten-minute boat ride and anchor at a sandbar. Then you get out and stand in the waist-deep water, offer up some squid, and wait for the hoard of stingrays to arrive. 

It started from when local fisherman would stop here to clean their daily catch, throwing their scraps overboard. The stingrays caught on pretty quickly, and now it's a big tourist attraction. Apparently stingrays aren't the only ones who have figured out the free lunch. We were told that just off the sandbar, a dozen yards out, helicopters flying overhead have snapped photos of circling sharks and hammerheads. I was hoping for a glimpse of a shark fin or two, but was thrilled with just the stingrays!

Mama and Baby Stingray
This little baby followed mom around to learn the ropes. The stingrays aren't shy, and would swim up and nudge you for treats -- a bit of raw squid, rubbing their smooth underbellies against your arms and legs. Their top side is rough like sandpaper and their tails are spiky.

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Tested out with my new Panasonic Lumix G fisheye lens for the first time. Let me tell you, I LOVE this lens. I paired it up with the Nauticam dome port for my OMD E-M5 underwater housing, Simple and easy to use.

I explored the shoreline again, hoping for a few good shots of the man-made reef that I wasn't quite able to capture using my normal lens. You can see the results in the pic here, where I was floating about a foot above the structure.

Playing with the over-under shot just a few feet off the shore. The waters are pristine!

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On my first trip to the Cayman Islands -- we ventured down the road to Rackam's  Pub around midday to snorkel the wreck of the Cali just off the shore there. The bartender at Rackam's was really friendly, and in exchange for a promise to have  lunch afterwards (which we were planning to do anyway), we were able to park our  considerable amount of gear and ourselves on their nice cushy lounge chairs.


From the pub's deck, we were able take their ladder down to our first dip in the 80 degree Cayman waters. I was comfortable in my long-sleeved 1.5mm wetsuit. My buddy only wore a 1.5mm short-sleeved top, and was chilly after about 45 minutes. The wreck was about a 75 yard swim off the shore and was sprawled out over a 200 foot area, much larger than expected. Very interesting to see and worth the trek I think. The weather was a bit cloudy after a heavy shower in the morning, so visibility was not as great as it could have been. We grabbed lunch after our short swim--food was nice. Will post some wreck pics once my camera housing has dried off.
 
On the way back to the hotel, we came across a bakery / grill called Captain's and they had the best ice cream! I happily devoured a mix of coconut (divine), bailey's and dolce de leche. My colleague had cookies and cream, which he raved about.