ReefSeason BETAPrologue
Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus)
A dive briefing · Cayman Brac & Little Cayman, Cayman Islands

Great Wall East (Bloody Bay Wall)

Dive site at a Cayman Islands Department of Environment public mooring. Here's what has been recorded at this site month by month, how the region’s reefs have weathered ocean heat, and how to prepare.

Cayman Brac & Little Caymanwall
Near this sitegeotagged about 2.9 km from the site coordinates Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus) · desertnaturalist · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist
Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus)
Chapter I · Arrival

Great Wall East (Bloody Bay Wall): dive site at a Cayman Islands Department of Environment public mooring.

19.6830° N80.0841° W · Cayman Islands DoE public mooring “Great Wall East”
524open records · GBIF
80species recorded
Near this sitegeotagged about 2.9 km from the site coordinates Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus) · desertnaturalist · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist
II

Entry

Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus)

Shore and boat entries vary by site. We list only rules we can cite from official sources; entry points, depths and currents will be added once we can verify them.

Mooring position (cited)Coordinates are the published position of the named mooring: Cayman Islands DoE public mooring “Great Wall East” (Little Cayman, January 2023).
To verifyDepth range, entry points and current notes. We publish them only with a citation.
Local rules (cited)
  • The DoE has installed public moorings to protect reefs from anchor damage. Use a mooring instead of anchoring whenever possible; it is an offence to damage coral anywhere in Cayman waters. Cayman Islands DoE · Public Moorings
  • The maximum stay on a public mooring is 3 hours. Do not use moorings in winds of 25 knots or more. Cayman Islands DoE · Public Moorings
  • Marine Park zones carry their own rules (for example, no taking of marine life in Marine Reserve zones and no SCUBA diving in No Diving zones without permission). Check the zone with the DoE app or brochures. Cayman Islands DoE · Marine Parks
  • Wildlife Interaction Zones are the only places in the Cayman Islands where you may legally feed or interact with marine life. Cayman Islands DoE · Marine Manners

Near this sitegeotagged about 2.9 km from the site coordinates Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus) · desertnaturalist · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus)
Open media · Near this sitegeotagged about 2.9 km from the site coordinates Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus) · desertnaturalist · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

The surface noise falls away.

Reds go first. The world turns blue-green.

Then Great Wall East (Bloody Bay Wall) rises to meet you.

Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus)
IV

What lives here, by month

Pick a month. These are the species most often recorded within about a kilometre in that month, from open survey records.

Oct
October · 2 qualifying records
Life calendar · records per month for this site's most-recorded species (blank means not in that month's top list)
SpeciesJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Boulder star coral
Boulder star coral
Bumpy star coral
Massive Starlet Coral
Great Star Coral
Mustard Hill Coral
Finger Coral
Symmetrical brain coral
Grooved brain coral
Bluehead Wrasse
Blue Tang
Black triggerfish

Most-recorded species, all months

  1. Boulder star coral (64)
  2. Boulder star coral (36)
  3. Bumpy star coral (30)
  4. Massive Starlet Coral (28)
  5. Great Star Coral (26)
  6. Mustard Hill Coral (21)
  7. Finger Coral (19)
  8. Symmetrical brain coral (14)
  9. Grooved brain coral (9)
  10. Bluehead Wrasse (6)
  11. Blue Tang (6)
  12. Black triggerfish (5)
  13. Brown Chromis (5)
  14. Royal Gramma (4)
  15. Yellowtail Snapper (4)
  16. Stoplight Parrotfish (4)
  17. Blue Chromis (4)
  18. Boulder brain coral (3)
  19. Rough cactus coral (3)
  20. Blackbar Soldierfish (3)

GBIF.org (2026-10-15), occurrence records within ~1 km, licensed CC0 or CC BY 4.0 only. Birds and land animals are excluded. Counts reflect survey effort, not abundance. 524 qualifying records. See them on GBIF. Common names: Wikidata (CC0) / GBIF. Species photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited with each species.

V

Forty-one summers of heat

Each stripe is one year since 1985, colored by its peak heat stress across NOAA's “Cayman Islands” region. These are NOAA Coral Reef Watch satellite figures for the whole region, not for this one site.

19852026
Reef health report · Cayman Islands

Heat stress, measured from orbit.

Degree Heating Weeks · 2026-10-1311.9°C-weeks · NOAA status: Bleaching Watch

NOAA CRW virtual station “Cayman Islands”. NOAA's alert thresholds are 4 °C-weeks (Alert Level 1) and 8 °C-weeks (Alert Level 2). Station page · Method. Credit: NOAA Coral Reef Watch.

Peak per year · dashed lines at 4, 8 and 16 °C-weeks
The past twelve months
VI

Conditions

Average sea temperature through the year. Check the live readings before you go.

Average sea surface temperature by month: NOAA CRW “Cayman Islands” station climatology (monthly means).

Cayman Islands National Weather Service · forecast →NDBC 42057 · Western Caribbean (~343 km, open ocean) →

Buoy readings are measurements; forecasts are models. Use them for planning only, and assess conditions on site. Depth and visibility data aren't listed until we can cite a source.

VII

Plan & prepare

  1. Read the official marine forecast the night before.Offshore, wind and sea state decide the day.
  2. Check the cited local rules above and pay any park fee before you dive.[Placeholder: verified operator list to come]
  3. Study this month's species above.You'll recognise more when you know the names.
  4. Hands off, fins up, buoyancy dialled. Log what you see.Your sightings can become tomorrow's open data.

Credits

Coordinates
Cayman Islands DoE public mooring “Great Wall East” (Little Cayman, January 2023) · source · Cayman Islands Government, public data. Cayman Islands Department of Environment, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac public moorings (GPX, January 2023). Each site uses its named mooring; the Bloody Bay Wall sites are moorings along that wall.
Species records
GBIF.org, CC0 & CC BY 4.0 records. By license: CC_BY_4_0: 524
Dataset
Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment - Benthic · doi:10.15468/vmcydh (351 records) · GBIF
Dataset
iNaturalist Research-grade Observations · doi:10.15468/ab3s5x (139 records) · GBIF
Dataset
EOD – eBird Observation Dataset · doi:10.15468/aomfnb (34 records) · GBIF
Query
https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/search?decimalLatitude=19.672983,19.692983&decimalLongitude=-80.09415,-80.07414999999999&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&taxonKey=44&taxonKey=206&taxonKey=229&taxonKey=136&taxonKey=225&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&limit=0
Heat stress & SST
NOAA Coral Reef Watch, 5 km Regional Virtual Station “Cayman Islands”
Hero photo
Near this sitegeotagged about 2.9 km from the site coordinates Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus) · desertnaturalist · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist
Species photos
Wikimedia Commons, credited with each species. Full list: Data & sources