reef

Log This Dive

Orange Canyon

Orange Canyon hits you immediately with that classic Cayman wall drama. It’s on the steepest part of the West Bay wall, and you just feel the drop into the deep as you descend. What we love here are the deep undercuts and the sheer scale of the elephant-ear sponges, so many of them a deep orange, that really define the place. Sunlight plays off the sheer rock faces, illuminating these incredible sponge formations and making the whole canyon glow. We’ve spent ages just drifting, watching hogfish hover in the blue and French grunts schooling tighter than usual within the shadows. Keep an eye out for the smaller stuff too, especially the darter gobies peeking out from the sand patches near the bottom. The mottled conger morays are usually tucked way back in the darker crevices. Our pick for this site is a morning dive, before the sun gets too high, when the light really shows off the sponges. It’s a site that suits anyone who appreciates a good wall dive, but especially those who like exploring the nooks and crannies for reef creatures.