Grenada’s Underwater Art: Dive with Submerged Statues

Grenada scuba diving is one of the top things to do in Grenada. This little island offers a variety of marine life to see year-round – and can almost guarantee great weather year-round. Make a dive trip to Grenada part of your top dive destinations in the Caribbean.

Grenada is known as the “Spice Isle” due to a large number of nutmeg plantations. Grenada is actually comprised of one large island and several small surrounding islands. One of those islands, Carriacou, is a popular dive spot due to the large marine life that navigates by. The main island of Grenada offers a large underwater diversity as well, to include deep wrecks or a statue park to explore.

Quick Trip Overview

• Location: Grenada
• Closest Airport:Maurice Bishop International Airport
• Time of Year of Trip: Year Round

Dive Information

• Wet Suit: 3mm / Shortie
• Water Temperature: Average 30 surface, 28 bottom
• Current: Calm
• Average Depths: 15m

Dive Season in Grenada

You will find that Grenada is great year-round which makes it one of the best dive locations in the Caribbean. Typically staying between the temperatures of 26 Celsius to 30 Celsius, but given that it is an island there is a typically nice coastal breeze to make the high temperatures not apparent.

The rainy season is from June to December, expect higher winds during this period as it is also hurricane season. If traveling at this time, expect the potential for rough waters if going diving.

The opposite part of the year, January to May, is considered the dry season for Grenada. This is the best time to plan a dive trip to Grenada.

Despite the change in season, the water temperature stays a steady 28 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees Celsius.

Recommendations for diving in Grenada

The water temperatures in Grenada stay at a fairly warm temperature ranging typically between 26 Celsius during the winter or rainy season, and upwards of 28 during the summer and dry season. Given the warm water temperatures, you can comfortably wear a shortie 3mm suit while diving in Grenada. However, if you are expecting to dive frequently, or to deeper temperatures, you may want to do a full dive suit or add a hoodie.

To be best prepared for a dive trip to Grenada it is best to arrive with some of these speciality courses:

• Advance Open Water
• Wreck Diver

The advanced open water will cover some of the best dive’s depths in the area – which can go beyond the 23m or 75ft depths. Additionally, the most popular dive location at the Island, which will be discussed further in-depth in a bit, is a wreck dive.

Ultimately, you can swim around the outside of a wreck without having further wreck qualifications. However, if you are interested in swimming in a wreck – if allowed – then the wreck diver qualification is typically required due to the fact wrecks are considered enclosed spaces.

If you are interested in more wreck dives then check out a dive trip to Barbados.

What to see at Grenada

There is a wealth of marine life in Grenada. Which makes diving one of the best things to do in Grenada, and contributes to the fact that Grenada is some of the best diving in the Caribbean.

For larger ocean life that you will see at Grenada be prepared for: humpback whales, sperm whales and pilot whales during certain seasons.

If you are more interested in sharks, there is a large variety that can be found at Grenada to include: blue shark, hammerhead shark, blacktip shark, reef shark and whitetip shark. Grenada is one of the locations in the world where you can spot a hammerhead shark year-round.

If you enjoy rays, there is a possibility of seeing an eagle ray during parts of the year.

Finally, year-round there is also the chance of spotting the common dolphin while diving at Grenada.

Other than the larger marine life, you will spot a variety of tropical fish while diving at Grenada.

Check below for a timeline of the above-mentioned animals. The periods highlighted for each is the time period when you are most likely to encounter marine life while on a dive trip in Grenada. However, as always, remembered that wildlife is wild – there is no guarantee that you will see any of the below critters while diving.

Dive Spots at Grenada

Here are some of the best-recommended dive locations in Grenada, and some spots where you may be able to spot some of the above-mentioned marine life.

• Bianca C – The most famous dive in Grenada. This cruise liner is known as the “Titanic of the Caribbean” and has been labelled as one of the top ten wreck dives in the world. The cruise liner caught fire in 1961 and subsequently sank. Fortunately, the wreck took place in relatively shallow waters, making it one of the easily accessible wrecks in the world. The wreck most shallow part is at 23m; however, the main hull is upwards of 28-38m. This means this dive requires an advance certification due to the depths of the dive. Since the sinking of this cruise liner, the wreck has slowly begun to fall apart and deteriorate. However, there is still a lot of sponge and coral to see. Additionally, this is a great location to see reef shark and barracuda as you swim along the length of the boat. For this dive, you will typically start in the deep end of the wreck and work your way shallow.
  • Be cautioned though, there can be a very strong current at this wreck. Due to this, some dive shops recommend doing a negative entry. What this means is that you enter the water with your BCD deflated, and automatically start sinking. This is typically due to currents being stronger at the surface and trying to get below this current before being pushed away from either your group or the location you are trying to dive at.
  • If you are not comfortable with depths, or the potential of doing a negative entry, then do not conduct this dive.
• Grenada’s Underwater Sculpture Park/Moliniere Underwater Sculpture Park – More than likely you will be taken to this park by a dive company. This is a popular dive location and snorkelling location. These sculptures by British sculptor Jason de Caires Taylor, show the history and culture of Grenada. Created as an artificial reef, this stature park is comprised of over 50 different statues. Due to the shallow depths, this is a great dive for beginners or for those looking to dive with snorkelers. There is another sculpture park in Cancun – and this sculpture park in Grenada is recommended over the one in Cancun.
• Carriacou – If you are looking for a chance to spot a hammerhead then this little Island that is owned by Grenada is your best bet. Hammerheads are known to have been spotted here year-round.
• Valley of the Whales – A reef dive that earned its name after a humpback whale was spotted there. Ultimately, however, there is no guaranteed or top location to spot a whale during a dive trip. The chance of running into one on the local shallow dives is slim – if you are interested in seeing whales the best option will probably be by whale watching boat which typically has more option of searching the ocean for the large marine life and radioing other boats.
• Where to dive with Dolphins in Grenada – similar to the whales, there is no dive spot that can promise a dolphin encounter. There are just reports from divers that were out and encountered some while at one of the various dive locations around Grenada. You will just have to keep your fingers crossed!

What to do in Grenada

The variety of land and water activities makes Grenada one of the best dive locations in the Caribbean. The land life is just as interesting as the underwater life, so here are some attractions in Grenada:

• Grand Anse Beach – if you are looking to just continue the tropical holiday then check out Grand Anse Beach. This beach is famous for a romantic location. If you are a couple on a romantic dive vacation then check out this beach.
• The Carenage – a great colorful harbor and fishing location. Check this out for some photo opportunities.
• River Antoine Estate Rum Distillery – if you are interested in drinking the evening away then partake in some of the famous Caribbean rum at the River Antoine Estate Rum Distillery. There is an option of tours or just go for drinking.
• Annandale Falls, Seven Sisters Falls, Concord Falls, Royal Mount Carmel Falls – want to go chasing waterfalls? There are four different waterfalls that are popular destinations. Check out any of the mentioned ones to get a waterfall fix during your stay at Grenada.

Where to stay in Grenada

If you are looking at going to Grenada for a dive holiday, then I suggest staying at a dive inclusive resort to make sure you can accomplish the top things to do in Grenada. These are nice because of ease of planning – you book the hotel, and the hotel typically works with or has a dive shop on property. Here are some of the dive inclusive resorts in Grenada:

• True Blue Bay – This company actually organizes with one of the most recommended dive shops: Aquanauts. Making it easy to book reservations and your diving at a one-stop shop.
• Coyaba Beach Resort – this one has its own on-site dive shop: Eco Dive & Trek. This resort is located on the popular Anse beach!

Dive Shops in Grenada

According to scuba divers here is a list of recommended dive shops in Grenada:

• Dive Grenada – located at the popular beach Grand Anse – this dive shop gets raving reviews from visitors.
• Aquanauts – this is the dive company I used during my trip to Grenada. The added bonus for this company is the fact that there is free nitrox available. I had a great experience diving with them and they are very accommodating – they dropped me off over by where I had to depart from instead of back at the shop which enabled me to do another dive with them.

How to Get to Grenada

There are two primary ways of getting to Grenada:

• Fly into the international airport for Grenada which is: Maurice Bishop International Airport. This is the main way to stay at Grenada for an extended period of time. There are direct flights from these major North American cities: Toronto, Atlanta, Miami, New York. Additionally, there are flights available from some of the neighbouring islands in the Caribbean.
• Another popular method of reaching Grenada is by cruise boat. Most likely this will be a port of call on a Southern Caribbean itinerary. The downside of the cruise boat entrance is the time limitation – cruise boats typically remain at port for eight hours.

Diving from a Cruise Ship

• Check the times – check your cruise itinerary and know the times that the boat will be arriving at the port and will be departing from port. This will give you the window to dive. More than likely you will only be on the island for 8 hours so you will not have too much time to dive – most companies will only take you on two dives due to these time restraints and their afternoon dives starting around 1400 which is going to be close to the boarding time back at the boat.
• Find a dive company – Since Grenada is a growing cruise port destination a majority of the dive shops have grown accustomed to catering to cruise ship passenger. Such as Roger’s Scuba Shack. The dive shop will pick you up from the cruise terminal, take you out to the dive center, and then return you to the port all well within the time allotted for the cruise boat.
• Book with the cruise boat – There is a chance that you can book a dive through the cruise boat. Some boats have a dive master on board or have arranged with a dive shop at the destination. This will give you priority departure from the boat, and will also protect you if for some reason the dive company runs late. However typically with tours organized through the boat, you can expect to pay more money $140 for two tank dive whereas you will be able to book a two tank dive for $100 to $120 independently. If you rather keep a peace of mind though then this is a great option to partake in. Just make sure you book far in advance as there are typically very few spots for dive tours on the cruise ships.

I have in the past booked dives through the cruise boat and have since learned about booking my own dive trips. A bonus of booking independently is that you typically get more dives in than booking through the boat, and you will save money. However, you are taking a gamble that if something goes wrong with the tour that you will be on your own.

Check Out These Other Caribbean Dive Posts

• Dive Trip to Sint Maarten
• Dive Trip to Barbados
• Dive Trip to Martinique
• A Guide to a Dive Trip in the Caribbean