Grand Cayman

[SDguy]

Some pics from my trip to Grand Cayman. The large garden of acropora was probably the most surprising thing I saw...

The cruise liner:

Sunrise:

Purple seafan:

Yellow seafan:

Unknown BRIGHT blue/purple things.... corals? Sponges? Looked like stylophora to me, but I have no clue if that lives there...

TINY baby blue tang:

Boxfish:

 

[SDguy]

Huge brain coral:

Banded butterflies:

Spotfin butterflies:

Foureye butteflies:

 

[SDguy]

This crab was as big as my fist!

Bluehead wrasse:

Adult blue tang:

FAT adult blue tang:

Tangs at the cleaning station (note small yellow wrasses)

 

[SDguy]

Neat little damsel:

Really cool gorgonian:

Pretty tang:

Triggers:

Parrotfish:

Unknown brilliant orange wrasse:

 

[SDguy]

 

[SDguy]

Beautiful healthy elkhorn coral!

Staghorn garden!

 

[Ben Wilson]

Great pics. The wife and I went to Grand Cayman in May, beautiful diving. I don't remember seeing any staghorn. Do you remember what dive site that was at? Who did you end up diving with?

 

[jd474]

Awesome, those cervicornis stands are getting really rare, unfortunately.

 

[Turbovr3six]

Looks like a great time! I'm jealous! :lol:

Pretty tang:

Did you see many of that species, or only the one?

 

[poolkeeper1]

Very nice thanks for sharing your dive, It is reassuring to see healthy reefs in the world.
Funny it looks like it could use the GFO changed in some shots, Which is not a good sign if it smothers everything else out. But mother nature will prevail IMO
Bill

 

[SDguy]

Great pics. The wife and I went to Grand Cayman in May, beautiful diving. I don't remember seeing any staghorn. Do you remember what dive site that was at? Who did you end up diving with?

This was all just snorkeling, not diving. Everyone just kept referring to it as the "Barrier Reef". I believe the cruise ship was anchored off the "North Side". Maybe it was the Coral Gardens?

Awesome, those cervicornis stands are getting really rare, unfortunately.

Yeah, I saw a few smashed, half dead ones off the Keys when I went there a few years ago. These were nice, whole, intact and alive colonies. But only a couple of them

Looks like a great time! I'm jealous! :lol:
Did you see many of that species, or only the one?

That was the only one of that tang that I saw. Even the blue tangs were not as numurous as I as expecting.

Very nice thanks for sharing your dive, It is reassuring to see healthy reefs in the world.
Funny it looks like it could use the GFO changed in some shots, Which is not a good sign if it smothers everything else out. But mother nature will prevail IMO
Bill

Yeah, like I said, fewer tangs in general than I would have expected. Unfortunately when I tried to go over to the edge of the reef where it meets the ocean, hoping and expecting to see some more fish, the tour guide grounded me :lol:

 

[Ben Wilson]

I think that the one in the bottom pic is a Bristletooth Tomini Tang possibly. Very pretty, there were a few of those as well as a lot of blue tangs and french angels but most were below 50'. We even got a pic of two angels playing with a turtle.

 

[SDguy]

Yeah, since my mother isn't into swimming AT ALL :lol: she took a submarine and probably saw more fish than I did.

That is not a tomini. Ctenochaetus species tangs don't live in the Atlantic. Here's my tomini

 

[mkbtank]

Great shots. Thansk for posting. Brings back memories. I dove there several times and also missed that Garden. That last shot of your tang is great, the ham lol

 

[SDguy]

:lol: I call him a ham because of that pic too!

 

[chrisqueenz]

Awesome pics! I have been on that cruise and knocking myself over the head now for not looking into the snorkling excursions!:hammer:

Was that an excursion offered by the ship?

 

[SDguy]

Awesome pics! I have been on that cruise and knocking myself over the head now for not looking into the snorkling excursions!:hammer:

Was that an excursion offered by the ship?

You know, I'm not sure. We hit Jamaica and Grand Cayman, and I recall one excursion was through the ship, and the other was not. I just don't recall which was which. Frankly, we chose it because it was I think the only one that didn't go to the stingrays.

 

[CJO]

Nice pictures. When did you go? We went the week of Christmas with MSC and hit all the same ports as the Carnival (Ft. Lauderdale -> Key West -> Jamaica -> Grand Caymans -> Cozumel -> Ft. Lauderdale). Unfortunately we didn't get much chance to snorkel even though we brought masks and snorkels, though I did get to go off the beach in Cozumel.

CJ

 

[doca]

very nice pics!!!

thie purple brigth thing that you think its a Stylo, actually its a Porites furcata or divaricata....really nice specimen!!!

cool snorkeling, and very lucky for that acro garden, saddly its very uncommun at these days in the caribean....

 

[SDguy]

Nice pictures. When did you go? We went the week of Christmas with MSC and hit all the same ports as the Carnival (Ft. Lauderdale -> Key West -> Jamaica -> Grand Caymans -> Cozumel -> Ft. Lauderdale). Unfortunately we didn't get much chance to snorkel even though we brought masks and snorkels, though I did get to go off the beach in Cozumel.

CJ

I went just before Christmas. But it was shorter, just 5 days, Jamaica and Grand Cayman,

very nice pics!!!

thie purple brigth thing that you think its a Stylo, actually its a Porites furcata or divaricata....really nice specimen!!!

cool snorkeling, and very lucky for that acro garden, saddly its very uncommun at these days in the caribean....

Thanks! Interesting... I wanted to touch them to see if they were hard or soft, be restrained myself The picture really doesn't capture how brilliant the purple color was!

Yeah, I was really happily surprised to see such nice acros.