Dive The Oro Verde

By Author: Charles Hall
Total Articles: 5
Comment this article

The Oro Verde shipwreck located in Grand Cayman continues to be a preferred location for scuba divers since she was sunk on May 31, 1980 by the Cayman's government. The ship a lies in roughly 50 feet of water a short distance off Grand Cayman's famous Seven Mile Beach. This shipwreck has deteriorated a lot since her reefing, largely due to several hurricanes that hit the island during the previous 30 years. The wreckage at present is distributed over a extensive vicinity with only the bow section still intact.You can read about the history about the ship and background of the Oro Verde ...
... on Steven Smeltzer's blog and view the complete underwater picture gallery on Smeltzer's web site.Details of the diveThis shipwreck and adjoining reefs are home to a variety of sea creatures including, fishes, Sea Turtles, crustaceans and corals, making this one of the most popular shallow dives in Grand Cayman, often frequented subsequent to a deeper wall dive and quite often as a night dive. While the ship was in perfect condition at what time it was sunk along with lying on her starboard side in the sand near to a patch of reef, the wreck's finer details have since succumbed with the passage of time; hurricanes have busted, rolled and scattered the vessel across a large debris field closer to the reef. Nevertheless, 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 may no longer enter the wreck but you can look by means of a couple of port holes into the bow section. The debris field runs from the bow section to the north along several coral fingers. Diver's can prefer to use all or part of the dive on the shipwreck and a portion of the dive exploring the reef. At this dive site there is a wide range of reef marine life including Silversides (seasonally), Sergeant Majors, Angelfish, Schoolmasters, Parrotfish, groupers, eels and crustaceans.. This can be a very good dive site and it is particularly good as a night dive site due to the diversity of marine species that are on the site. The Oro Verde rests about 100 yards off shore therefore advanced scuba divers in good physical condition could reach it via a shore dive however with the long swim and requisite dive flags and floats due to offshore boat traffic, it doesn't make a lot of sense? Every one of the Grand Cayman dive operators are going to be glad 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 certainly suggested to dive the wreck whether or not it is the first time or if you have dove on the shipwreck previously. The site is constantly changing and the fish and other marine animals on the site always make for an excellent dive. Review images of other shipwrecks in The Cayman's such as the Doc Poulson and the USS Kittiwake.See Smeltzer's website or blog for more underwater photos and other information. The pool is open...