Tortuga Club

This is a drift snorkeling site in 1-20 ft of water over a garden of soft corals, sponges and fans on sandy bottom. Squirrel fish, crabs lobsters and shrimp hide in holes and filefish, boxfish, puffers and other oddities are abundant. At the end of the drift is the Tortuga Club dock. Baitfish school under the dock as do larger reef fish. Barracudas lurk to take advantage of the plenty. One walks south off the resort beach property to just past the first house to the south. There is a small sandy break in the seaweed there. Enter at that point and swim out about only 25-50 yards. Drift north with the mild current up to or just past the Tortuga Club dock. Do not venture out over the wall or too far north because there is a swift current there that'll take you to Cuba (I'm told). Small flounder and rays hide in the sand off the south side of the dock and the sandy bottom to the north blossoms with anemones at night. After midnight, large tarpon circle closely around the dock occasionally making lightning-swift feeding raids on the fish that congregate under the lights there. These tarpon can be mesmerized and with a flashlight beam for very close inspection. Eels come out to forage in the grassy areas at night. Be careful... several scorpion fish bask under the dock on a regular basis. East End: Tortuga Club There is one highway that loops along the shore on the east end of Grand Cayman. Just south of the extreme northeastern tip of the island is a large pink condo/resort development called the Tortuga Club. One can simply park in the parking lot and walk around the resort buildings to the beach. This is primarily a snorkel site. The dive shop on the premesis offers boat dives and will not rent tanks for shore dives.