Our Boat

Summer time is an incredible time for Cayman Diving. The water is an a delightful 87F, in fact yesterday at the end of my dive, my computer showed 88 degrees!!! We have been able to dive the very best of Grand Cayman Diving, with regular trips to the North Wall and some awesome round the island trips.

Our slip in the Yacht Club gives us perfect access to Cayman’s North Wall Diving, this is considered by most to be the Best Cayman Diving and we take advantage of this every opportunity we get. This summer season has seen some of the best Cayman Diving with awesome creature sightings. Having dived the waters around the Cayman Islands for 13 years this year, I have to say I have never seen as many Eagle Rays as this summer season of Cayman Diving. These beautiful, majestic creatures are a huge favorite of Cayman Divers. As our company logo it has a special place in our hearts and makes every Cayman Diving experience special. The North Wall is known for regular Eagle Ray sightings and the summer months usually are the best time. They fly off the wall gliding past delighted divers. This year during our Cayman Diving trips we have seen large groups of Eagle Rays swimming in formation. Whether it is your first Cayman Diving experience or you have dived all over the world, this sight brings a “WOW” factor to every log book. During one dive alone this week I saw 12 Eagle Rays swimming together which was the most I have ever seen!

As well as Eagle Rays we have had some amazing Cayman Diving encounters with Green Turtles, Eels and some rare Shark sightings. Carl had an awesome Cayman Dive when he was leading his divers over the wall at Castle Drop Off and a large Hammer Head shark swam past. After 14 months of being on the island, Scotty finally saw 2 big sharks on one Cayman dive- a hammerhead and a reef shark. Last Monday, Liz was hovering off the edge of Black-forest Wall and a reef shark swam past her and the group as well! There are a small number of Hammer Head sharks that live around the island. Their diet of injured fish and Stingrays are easy to find in our waters but low numbers are caused by over fishing and slow breading cycles. In July and early August it is the the mating season for Reef Sharks. This amazing animal is rare and breeds on a two year cycle. The North Wall makes for a perfect mating area and the shallow mangroves are ideal to give birth. The shallow water and plant cover give the baby sharks the protection and food they need before they head out to the big blue!!!

We love what we do and delight in sharing our passion for Cayman Diving. We are looking forward to the next few weeks of awesome Cayman Diving. To plan a trip it is easy; just e-mail Liz! dive@ltddivers.com anytime and she will help plan the Best Cayman Diving vacation.

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There is good news on the horizon for the USS Kittiwake sinking project.  Since the postponement of this amazing event in July the Kittiwake sinking committee have been working tirelessly to move forward with this much need and exciting artificial reef project.  This week we had a meeting with the Water sports Association of Cayman and they have tentatively announced the sinking to be in early December.  As we have learnt when you are attempting an event of this magnitude it is hard to predict and plan for a date until nearer the time.  Living The Dream Divers will be part of this event in every way we can and as a sponsor of the project we will have some excellent diving and snorkeling opportunities.  The ship is currently in Virgina, USA and is having her final inspection at the end of October.  Once complete she will be ready to be towed by tug boat on her final voyage.

When she arrives in Grand Cayman there will be the chance to walk on board and have a tour of the ship before she sinks.  Members of the crew will be the guests of the island and have the chance to watch the sinking. There will also be parties and charity auctions as part of the sinking celebrations.  On the day of sinking we will be watching every step on board ‘Our Boat’ with the BBQ lit and a front row seat.
We will of course let you know as soon as we have more definite details.

Ex-USS Kittiwake ASR 13 – Chanticleer Class Submarine Rescue Ship ASR

Built by: Savannah Machinery and Foundary Co of Savannah, Georgia, USA

Keel Laid: 5th January 1945

Launched: 10th July 1945

Commissioned: 16th July 1945

Decommissioned: 30th September 1994

Displacement: 2290 TONS

Dimensions: 251 Ft Length – 42 Ft Beam – 15 Ft Draft

Machinery: Diesel Electric Propulsion – 1 Shaft – 3000 BHP for 15 Kts

Complement: 85 Officers and Sailors

As you know, we were looking forward to the sinking of the USS Kittiwake.  This decommissioned naval vessel was due to be sunk on the west side of the island in July 2010.  The exact reason is not yet known but the sinking has been postponed. We are hoping to get an update soon from the Cayman Islands Tourism Association and look forward the new sinking date and upcoming events.

To get the latest news and find out how you can be part of this exciting project, you can check the official website www.kittiwakecayman.com or follow our blog.  We will also be posting regular updates on Facebook too!

Thanks to our friends at Signs of Paradise ‘our Boat’ is now looking very cool with new signs.  The weather today was perfect and the north wall of Grand Cayman lived up to its reputation.  We swam with eagle rays, turtles and on the second dive a baby Reef shark swam with us!  Living the Dream baby.