Cali Ship Wreck

The Cali was a 244-foot, steel-hulled freighter, often described as a four-masted schooner, built in the early 1900s. Her final voyage in 1944 saw her loaded with an unusual cargo: thousands of bags of rice. Caught in a storm off Grand Cayman, the ship's engines failed, and she was driven aground just yards from the shore of George Town harbour. As seawater flooded the holds, the rice began to swell, its immense expansionary force helping to burst the ship's hull plates and seal her fate.

Deemed a hazard to navigation in the busy harbour, the wreck was later dynamited by the Army Corps of Engineers. This transformed the Cali from an intact ship into the scattered, sprawling debris field that divers explore today. The silver lining of this destruction is that it created a perfect, complex habitat for marine life.

Now resting in just 8-10 metres of water, the Cali is one of Grand Cayman's most popular and beloved shallow dives, easily accessible to divers and snorkelers of all levels. The site is a playground of twisted metal plates, massive ribs, and machinery, all heavily encrusted with coral. It is famous for its large resident population of silversides and the huge, curious tarpon that hunt them. Exploring the wreckage, swimming through clouds of shimmering fish, and coming face-to-face with a giant tarpon makes the Cali an unforgettable Caribbean dive.