Lemon reef

Lemon Reef is a companion site to Lemon Drop Off — a shallow reef formation adjacent to the wall edge that provides the rich coral and fish life of the inner reef section before the terrain drops toward the wall. Where Lemon Drop Off is about the transition to vertical terrain, Lemon Reef celebrates the horizontal reef flat that precedes that transition — the shallow, sunlit garden of coral and fish that gives Grand Cayman divers a full reef experience as an appetiser before or alternative to the wall dive. The reef is in the excellent condition characteristic of Grand Cayman's western shore, with coral coverage that reflects the decades of protection and the long tradition of no-take diving tourism that the island has developed. Massive coral heads of brain and star coral reach impressive sizes — the slow growth rate of these species means that formations of this size represent centuries of accumulated calcium carbonate, and encountering them provides a visceral sense of geological time that fast-growing branching corals cannot provide. Fish diversity on Lemon Reef encompasses the full range of Caribbean reef species in the generous densities that Cayman protection produces. Large parrotfish — some of them exceptional in size — feed across the coral surface with the constant crunching that marks this species as the primary biological force in reef erosion and sand production. Queen triggerfish defend their territories with the theatrical posturing that makes them one of the most behaviourally entertaining species on the reef. The cleaners — neon gobies and cleaner shrimp — service their client fish at stations that operate throughout the daylight hours. For beginner divers on Grand Cayman, Lemon Reef provides the shallow reef diving experience that the name suggests — warm, sunlit, abundant — and complements the wall experience of the adjacent drop-off site in the way that a full understanding of Cayman's reef system requires. The two sites together provide a complete picture of what Grand Cayman's western underwater landscape contains, from the shallowest coral gardens to the edge of the most famous reef wall in the Caribbean.