My favorite excursions are ones that get me in the water - and especially when I can snorkel. I love looking at the coral formations and all the gorgeous fish. But when I heard about this snorkel trip where I'd get to see the USS Kittiwake - it just sounded too cool to pass up.
The USS Kittiwake was a US submarine rescue vehicle that was in commission from 1946 - 1994. In 2008 it was sold to the Cayman Islands. The government of the Caymans wanted to use it to start an artificial reef near 7 Mile Beach. It was sunk there in January of 2011 and rests in about 60 feet of water - resting on the sandy bottom.
Our excursion begins with boarding a catamaran right from 7 Mile Beach (in front of the governor's house). We had a short ride to our snorkel spot. We could even see our ship!
The day was cloudy and had rained earlier so the water was really choppy. We had a couple of novice snorkelers onboard who were not able to handle the water. One thing I do want to point out though is how easy it is to get on and off of a catamaran. Being a larger person, a straight up and down ladder is really difficult for me to use - but the ladder on a catamaran makes it really easy to get in and out of the water if you have size or mobility issues.
Again, with the water so choppy, the visibility wasn't perfect - but I still got some wonderful shots of the USS Kittiwake.
We spent about 20 minutes here before we all got back on board and we moved a few hundred feet over to a coral reef. The reef here was really cool in that it had rows of coral next to a sandy patch followed by another row of coral - probably about 20 rows in all. Made for some fantastic scenery!
Our excursion begins with boarding a catamaran right from 7 Mile Beach (in front of the governor's house). We had a short ride to our snorkel spot. We could even see our ship!
The day was cloudy and had rained earlier so the water was really choppy. We had a couple of novice snorkelers onboard who were not able to handle the water. One thing I do want to point out though is how easy it is to get on and off of a catamaran. Being a larger person, a straight up and down ladder is really difficult for me to use - but the ladder on a catamaran makes it really easy to get in and out of the water if you have size or mobility issues.
Again, with the water so choppy, the visibility wasn't perfect - but I still got some wonderful shots of the USS Kittiwake.
We spent about 20 minutes here before we all got back on board and we moved a few hundred feet over to a coral reef. The reef here was really cool in that it had rows of coral next to a sandy patch followed by another row of coral - probably about 20 rows in all. Made for some fantastic scenery!
So - how about you? Are you a snorkeler? Is this an excursion that you would try?
