A last look into the heart of the wreck. It shows a lot of dangly bits, which is why I never did a wreck penetration on this site, even when you could. It has always been too sketchy in my opinion. Then down the starboard side of the wreck towards the stern. On our way, we are met by a school of Yellow Tails! A nice large patch of Garden Eels on the way as well. Then crossing over to port before reaching the stern. A large Yellow Tail with a REMORA tagging along!
This ship was given to Cuba from Russia after being built in 1984. Cuba ended up having no use for it and sold it to the Cayman government whose sole purpose was sinking it as a dive destination. Jean-Michel Cousteau was there for the cleaning and sinking and went down with the wreck in 1996. It is approximately 330 feet in length. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan pretty much tore the ship in half. The bow now rests on its port side. The mid section is wide open showing a huge turbine engine. The aft part of the ship is mostly upright with a bit of a tilt to port. The two gun turrets are still intact, one fore and one aft. The top of the super structure now lies in the sand on the port side as well. It has weathered many storms, but is still a great dive!
#caymanbrac #scuba #reefdivers