East End, Grand Cayman, Ilhas Cayman

High Rock Drop-Off

High Rock Drop-Off is one of the South-East Wall dives on Grand Cayman, located off the East End coast where the reef shelf gives way to a vertical wall plunging into the deep Caribbean. The site is named for the dramatic cathedral-like buttresses of coral that thrust outward from the wall, separated by deep narrow canyons and sand chutes. Divers descend through the canyons from the reef top around 12 metres, exit the buttresses around 24 metres and continue along the wall face decorated with giant barrel sponges, orange elephant-ear sponges, deepwater sea fans, black coral bushes and rope sponges. The deep blue regularly hosts Caribbean reef sharks, eagle rays, hawksbill turtles, large midnight parrotfish, queen and French angelfish, schools of horse-eye jacks and Bermuda chub. Visibility on the South-East Wall commonly exceeds 30 metres during the dry season from December to May. Currents are generally moderate but can pick up unpredictably along the wall, so the dive is rated advanced.