East End, Cayman Brac, Ilhas Cayman

East Chute

East Chute is a Cayman Brac dive on the island's east-end wall, named for a deep coral-walled chute that descends from the reef plateau through the shelf and exits onto the main wall face. The dive begins on the reef top at roughly 12 metres and divers descend through the chute walls coated in giant orange elephant-ear sponges, barrel sponges, deepwater sea fans, black coral bushes, sheet corals and rope sponges, exiting onto the wall around 24 metres. The wall continues vertically beyond 1,800 metres into the deep Caribbean. The east-end exposure delivers consistent pelagic action: Caribbean reef sharks patrolling the deep blue, eagle rays gliding the wall edge, hawksbill turtles, schools of horse-eye jacks, Bermuda chub, Creole wrasse, queen and French angelfish, midnight parrotfish, Nassau grouper holding station in the cuts, and the occasional spotted eagle ray. Visibility along Cayman Brac's east-end walls commonly exceeds 30 metres in the dry season from December to May. Currents along the east end can run moderate, so the site is rated intermediate.