Pat's Wall

Pat's Wall is an advanced dive site on Grand Cayman's eastern reef system — a section of the island's wall that sees significantly less diving traffic than the famous western shore while offering wall diving quality that matches and in some ways exceeds the more celebrated western sites. Named for a person in the Cayman diving community who was associated with the site's discovery or development, Pat's Wall is one of the east coast gems that reward divers who venture away from the heavily trafficked western sites to explore what the whole of Grand Cayman's underwater perimeter contains. The eastern wall system is geologically distinct from the western wall — the different exposure and oceanographic conditions on the windward side of the island have created a wall community with a different character. The increased exposure to Atlantic-influenced water masses brings cooler, more nutrient-rich water to the east wall, and this nutritional advantage is reflected in the biological richness of the wall communities. Sea fans on the east wall are particularly well-developed, and the deep sponge communities on the lower wall sections are among the most diverse on the island. The advanced rating reflects both the depth of the wall's most productive sections and the current conditions that the east coast exposure creates. The east wall sees more substantial current than the sheltered western shore, and managing position on the wall face in flowing water requires the buoyancy skills and current awareness that intermediate to advanced diving develops. On the right tidal timing, the current actually enhances the dive significantly — bringing nutrients that make the filter feeders bloom and driving the schooling fish activity that makes the wall edge so dynamic. Fish life at Pat's Wall is characteristic of the east coast experience — less habituated than the west side fish populations, with more natural wariness and correspondingly more authentic behaviour. The reef sharks that patrol this section of the wall are present in good numbers and provide the kind of unhurried encounters with these animals in their natural state that the more heavily visited west side sites are gradually moving away from as fish populations adjust to daily diver presence.