Shipwrecks Of Grand Cayman - Oro Verde

By Author: Sean Hamed
Total Articles: 3
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The Oro Verde shipwreck located in Grand Cayman continues to be a favorite site for scuba divers since she was reefed on May 31, 1980 by the Cayman government. The ship a rests in about 50 feet of water a short distance off Seven Mile Beach. This wreck has deteriorated a great deal from the time of her sinking, chiefly due to several hurricanes which hit the Cayman's within the previous 30 years. The debris field these days is distributed across a extensive vicinity with only the bow section still intact.Read more on the history about the ship and circumstances of the Oro Verde ...
... on Steven Smeltzer's blog and check out the entire underwater picture gallery on Smeltzer's web site.Details of the diveThis shipwreck and surrounding coral reefs house a array of sea creatures including, fishes, Sea Turtles, crustaceans and corals, creating among the most popular shallow dives in Grand Cayman, often visitied following a deeper wall dive and quite often as a night dive. While it was in pristine shape when it was reefed along with lying on her starboard side in the sand next to a piece of reef, the wreck's details and shape have since given way to the passing of time; passing hurricanes have broken scattered the ship over a wide area nearer to the coral reef. In spite of everything, theOro Verderemains a great example of a thriving artificial reef. A buoy is attached to the bow portion of the ship which is the only remaining intact part of the shipwreck. Although you can no longer make a way into the wreck but you can look into the bow section through a couple of port holes.. The debris field runs from the bow to the north along several coral fingers. The diver can prefer to spend all or part of the dive exploring the shipwreck and part of the dive on the reef. At this dive site there is a wide variety of reef fish such as Parrotfish, Sergeant Majors, Angelfish, Silversides (seasonally), Schoolmasters, groupers, eels and crustaceans.. This can be a very worthwhile dive and it can be particularly good as a night dive due to the variety of marine species which happen to be on the site. The Oro Verde is located approximately 100 yards off shore so advanced scuba divers in great physical shape can get to it via a shore dive however with the long swim and requisite dive flags and floats due to offshore boat traffic, it does not make a lot of sense? All of the Grand Cayman dive operators will be happy to take you to the Oro Verde as your second half of a two tank west side boat dive, an afternoon dive or on a night dive. It is definitely recommended to dive this shipwreck whether it is the first time or if you have dove on the wreck in the past. The dive site is continuously shifting and the marine species at the site constantly make for an excellent dive. Check out photos of other wrecks in The Cayman's such as the Doc Poulson and the USS Kittiwake.See Smeltzer's website or blog for additional underwater photos and information. The pool is open...