Kittiwake Dive Recommendations

[KathyV]

Just came back from Grand Cayman this past Sunday, thoroughly enjoyed the trip. I can DEFINITELY recommend Indigo Divers, we used them for all our boat dives, including the Kittiwake and a dive trip to Stingray City. Fantastic service.

For the Kittiwake itself though... personally I didn't enjoy it. Seeing the ship itself, looming in the water, was spooky and exploring it inside wasn't particularly pleasant either. Granted it was my first ever wreck dive, but I only really felt comfortable out in the open water. Looking back and putting the fear I felt behind me though, from an objective standpoint I actually think it was quite boring - it's only just started to get marine life colonising it (some blennies, tiny amounts of coral) so in essence we were touring a large number of empty rooms, looking in the shadows for interesting things... and finding nothing.

For those who enjoy the thrill of exploring absolutely empty, picked clean wrecks it's probably ace. But when compared to the epic wall and reef dives, I'd easily prefer to do another one of those and it's put me off wrecks for life I think.

That's good to know, we will give it some thought before spending the extra money on the Kittiwake dive; although it might be fun to be a witness to changes in the wreck over the years! We are not big wreck divers, but if there is a famous wreck near a spot we are visiting, we usually try to visit it. The best wreck I ever dived was the Thistlegorm in the Red Sea. It was a British supply ship that was sunk by a German air attack in World War II. Of course you cannot remove any artifacts, but there are still trucks and motorcycles on board and when you run your fingers through the sand you will come up with a handful of big bullets! Men died on the Thistlegorm and I have no desire to dive on a gravesite, but the British Navy removed the remains of their dead comrades long ago and British military ships still lower their flags to half mast when they pass near the site. The cargo included a load of military boots and it is really poignant to see the remants of these boots in the sand around the wreck. It makes you remember the sacrifices of the men that fought there.

If you ever go to the Red Sea I suggest a livaboard, we got to the site very early in the morning and had it to ourselves. Later in the day the land-based dive boats were thick on the site and I was glad that I wasnn't diving!

 

[skankpile]

It may be a drive from your location, but I'd personally go with Divetech as Nancy Easterbrook (owner) was one of the responsible people who got the Kittiwake sunk there in the first place. If you get there early you can easly dive in the morning, or after off their pier where you can swim out to a beautiful wall, or they can buss you over to Lighthouse point that has a great wall and miniwall as well.

The wall is near the Kittiwake and its easy to do a wall and then swim up and over to the kittiwake depending on your level. Don't let anybody scare you off the kittiwake as its an easy wreck with almost no snags, has huge openings, and its is lit very well in the shallows.

 

[indigo_dc]

Just to stress, I'm not trying to scare anyone off - I found it a little uncomfortable given my experience levels and on a more detached level thought parts of the empty wreck were a little boring to be totally honest.

I'm sure if you like wrecks it's a good one, but I found the walls and reefs available elsewhere FAR surpassed the Kittiwake. I've ticked it off my list, and probably as a result wouldn't bother with wrecks again due to personal preference.