I recently went for a dive to see a new neat underwater attraction … no, not the Kittiwake again!
I went with two of my regular dive buddies who had also not been to see this new thing. The new “thing” is the Guardian of the Reef ; a statue which is in about 60ft of water a few hundred feet from shore in West Bay. This new statue is not unlike the mermaid at Sunset House in George Town that I discussed a few years ago.
Here is the plaque at the base of the statue which provides some details.
Ok, so here we are! I love this picture. I’m on the right. The water color is great and it gives you an idea how big this fellow is. He is 13ft tall (17ft with the base) be exact and is made of bronze.
A cool black & white shot! My friend has one of those “GoPro” cameras and it seems to do a great job.
Along the dive we saw this large lobster. FYI, taking lobster while diving is illegal. Hence, those of this species that live in >25ft of water are likely to live a long time and get very large. Also note that contrary to lobster seen in stores in North America (which usually comes from Atlantic Canada or the Maine in the USA), these guys do not have the dangerous claws.
Finally, a green sea turtle stayed with us for a few minutes.
This was definitely a lovely dive! Since it was a “shore dive” (aka no boat needed) where you normally only do one dive, it is not very time consuming and for someone who owns his own gear, the cost is quite low : +-8-10$ to rent the tank for air and that is it.
Here is an article in the local paper about this new diving attraction
http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2014/03/26/Dive-operator-prepares-to-sink-reef-statue/