The ocean depths aren’t necessarily the preserve of fish and scuba divers – it turns out anyone, of any physical ability or age, can hang out at 100 feet or more with the creatures of the deep. You just need a submarine to do so.
But that’s not such a tall order: Submarine voyages are available right in George Town – day and night.
For non-divers, it’s a unique opportunity to observe the life that goes on below the ocean’s surface firsthand – no training is required and you can do it fully clothed. And if you go at night, you get to see a whole different version of life on the reef, when the nocturnal creatures come out to play.
Even scuba divers who dive at night get a whole new perspective from the comfort of a submarine. Unlike the very focused beam of a diver’s flashlight, the 20 1000-watt lights illuminate whole swathes of reef, giving underwater adventurers a unique view. The powerful lights also serve to attract predators who are better able to see their prey and you may find yourself accompanied by several silver tarpon throughout the dive.
If you are not 100 per cent comfortable with the thought of descending below the surface in a sealed steel capsule, the hissing and clanging that accompanies you once you begin your descent could be quite alarming. The crew, however, are quick to reassure passengers, explaining the fail safe design of the sub, which ensures that in the event of a malfunction it would rise to the surface, and how the noises one hears are the vertical thrusters that are keeping it down below the surface.
As the pilot skilfully manoeuvres the sub along the Cayman Wall, another crew member keeps an eagle eye out for marine life, pointing out all manner of corals as well as identifying the lobsters, crabs and eels that come out at night.
By day there is a great deal more life to be seen on the reef, the crew explain, as schools of grazing fish feed and their predators pursue them. The flip side, however, is that by day, at depths of 100 feet or more, the water has absorbed much of the true colour of the reef, with reds, then oranges then yellows being lost as one goes progressively deeper, so that everything appears to be different shades of blue. At night however, the use of artificial lights restores the true colour and one can see red and orange sponges, purple and yellow sea fans, green moray eels and more.
After peeping over the edge of the drop off, where the Cayman Wall drops vertically down from 100 to 6,000 feet, the submarine is angled toward the surface and for a final thrill, the lights are turned off as one whizzes back toward the surface, with tiny flecks of bioluminesence all around twinkling like stars.
Related Videos
