A 3-Tank Safari

Our favorite dive operation, Ocean Frontiers in Grand Cayman, features several very creative dive experiences. One of them is called a 3-tank safari. It is basically a whole day's adventure and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

The adventure began just before 9AM. The idea for this expedition was to go further than the usual dive sites on a normal dive morning or afternoon. We headed to the north end. A little over an hour later we tied up to a mooring buoy and got ready to jump in.

There was not the usual map drawing to show the dive site. The dive masters don't dive these sites very often so we were more or less all exploring it together for the first time. The direction for the reef wall was pointed out and the shallows area pointed out. It forced us to really look at the differences in the color of the water to see where the reef and the sandy areas were.

Our dive plan for the three of us was to jump in and head for the wall and then turn and come back. Straight lines are not always straight when you get below water but we managed to make it to the wall and back to the boat enjoying the scenery and the marine life along the way.

The second morning dive was in a shallower area (40-60 feet deep) and was nearer the area where Sting Ray City is. We were eager to see if we would run into any rays in the sandy areas.

Sure enough we saw a large sting ray as well as several other critters of interest including one I don't remember seeing before--a sand diver. It looked a little like a scorpion fish but was long and thin instead of looking like a rock.

We tied up at a marina and took off the empty tanks. Someone from the dive shop had brought fresh tanks for the third dive and while we ate lunch the staff changed out the tanks and set our gear up again. Lunch was sandwiches, sodas, fruit, chips and watermelon. We had purchased ours through the dive shop because it was our last day and I didn't want to have to buy food we might not use up.

Because our dives had been so excellent before lunch we opted to stay up north for the third dive rather than motor halfway home. It would mean a long ride home but it was truly worth it. We managed to see three spotted eagle rays--one pair and then a single. They look like they are flying through the water like giant birds. Then there was a large crab, a big hermit crab in an old conch shell, a lobster and lots of little cleaner shrimp along with some large lionfish.

We made it back to the dive shop in the late afternoon. It had been a great day, sadly our last for this year but what a way to end our dive trip.