Oro Verde - Green Gold - Grand Cayman Shipwrecks

By Author: Jonathon Stover
Total Articles: 1
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The Oro Verde shipwreck in Grand Cayman has been a much loved site for divers since she was sunk on May 31, 1980 by the Cayman's government. The ship a lies in roughly 50 feet of water just off Grand Cayman's famous Seven Mile Beach. The wreck has deteriorated significantly from the time of her reefing, principally on account of a number of hurricanes that have hit the Cayman islands during the last 30 years. The wreckage at present is strewn across a wide vicinity with only the bow section remains in one piece.Read more about the history and background of the Oro Verde ...
... on Steven Smeltzer's blog and explore the entire underwater photo gallery on Smeltzer's web site.Overview of the diveThis wreck and adjoining coral reefs house a array of sea creatures including, fishes, Sea Turtles, corals and crustaceans, creating among the most popular "second site" dives in Grand Cayman, often frequented subsequent to a deep wall dive or on a night dive. Although the ship was in pristine shape when it was reefed and lying on her starboard side in the sand next to a piece of coral reef, the wreck's finer details have since succumbed with the force of time; hurricanes have busted, rolled and scattered the vessel across a large area nearer to the reef. Nevertheless, theOro Verderemains a great example of a thriving artificial coral reef. A marker is attached to the bow portion of the ship which remains the only intact part of the shipwreck. Although you can no longer penetrate the wreck but you may look through a couple of port holes into the bow section. The debris field runs from the bow to the north along the coral reef. The diver can choose to use all or part of the dive on the shipwreck and a portion of the dive on the reef. There is a wide range of reef marine life including Silversides (seasonally), Sergeant Majors, Angelfish, Schoolmasters, Parrotfish, large groupers and moray eels as well as crustaceans such as the arrow crab and rough file clams. This is a very worthwhile dive site and it can be particularly worthwhile as a night dive site due to the range of fish and other marine animals that happen to be on the site. The Oro Verde lies about 100 yards off shore so advanced scuba divers in great physical shape can get to it as a shore dive however with the extended swim and required dive flags and floats due to offshore boat traffic, why bother? All of the Grand Cayman scuba diving operators are going to be happy 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 wreck previously. The dive site is regularly changing and the marine species at the dive site constantly make for an excellent dive. Review images of additional wrecks in Grand Cayman such as the Doc Poulson and the USS Kittiwake.Visit Smeltzer's website or blog for additional underwater photos and other information. The pool is open...