Snorkeling Eden Rock and Turtle Farm on Grand Cayman

Big Tarpon over rocks with small silversides fish school behind Grand Cayman
Silversides and Tarpon – Devil’s Grotto – Eden Rock

By Cary Bennett – (Roswell, GA)
We snorkeled two spots on Grand Cayman, Eden Rock and Turtle Farm, also known as Conch Point.

We decided to start out snorkeling at Eden Rock. It is one of the spots that everyone talks about as a “must do”. We felt like it was a good place to start out and get our “snorkeling equilibrium” back after months out of the water.

There is a really great dive shop (Eden Rock Dive Shop) right there where we found the owner and staff to be extremely friendly and helpful. There was an easy entry and exit via a ladder into the water right off their dock. It is a very protected area that is actually right by the port. There were no currents to speak of and it was a nice way to get an initial feel for what to expect on Grand Cayman.

The fish at Eden Rock are pretty tame and unafraid, which is not surprising, given the volume of human interaction there. The coral formations are very interesting, especially if you are a diver. There are lots of swim-throughs and small tunnels to explore. The highlight of this snorkel were huge Tarpon and the clouds of Silversides around the Devil’s Grotto and in the water where you enter and exit the water. The coral is in surprisingly good shape for the amount of human traffic. This was an enjoyable and very easy first snorkel on the island, but, we were soon bored, to be honest.

Peacock Flounder over rock and small corals Grand Cayman
Peacock Flounder near Turtle Farm

After Eden Rock, we drove farther north up the coast and spotted a dive shop located just past and across the street from the Turtle Farm. It is called “Sundivers” and is located at a restaurant called “The Cracked Conch”.

Once again, this was an easy entry and exit from the water via a ladder. This area is where the outflow from the tanks at the Turtle Farm are located, and really is not much to snorkel. The highlight of this short snorkel excursion was a particularly beautiful Peacock Flounder as well as a Yellow Ray that we spotted. We spent maybe 30 minutes in the water here. We kept swimming along, thinking that certainly there was going to be something to see in the way of corals and fish, but, that was not the case.

Read more about snorkeling Eden Rock and Conch Point (Cracked Conch Restaurant) on Tom’s posts:
2010 Trip Report
2011 Trip Report
2014 Trip Report

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