The Gamma, a steel freight ship, met her demise on the outer reefs
of Grand Cayman during a raging storm (a Norwester as they are called here) in
1980. She ran aground on the reef
between George Town and Seven Mile Beach and, for whatever reason, was left
there by her owners without any efforts for recovery. At a later date, a second storm picked up the
ship and swept her into shallow waters within a stone’s throw of shore. Though some of the ship was salvaged when she
reached the shore—especially anything made of brass—the remains of the Gamma
still lie partially exposed at shore.
The Gamma shipwreck is today a favored spot for snorkeling. A number of fish tend to school around the
wreckage and the shallows are an easy swim.
We managed to locate the Gamma yesterday. To reach the Gamma, we found a rare parking
spot off busy West Bay Road and then crossed through a condo complex to access
the public beach.
Crossing the street can be an adventure of its own. By adventure I mean: RUN FORREST, RUN! The six of us crossed through flowing
arteries of automobiles as a cluster of crazed herd animals.
Snorkeling at the Gamma turned out to be pretty good. We found quite a few colorful fish surrounding
the shipwreck. And swimming around and
through the remnants of the ship was, for lack of an adequate term, an otherworldly
experience for me—the stuff of great BBC documentaries.
I have posted a couple photographs I captured from the Gamma as well
as a short YouTube video if found.
The Gamma
Another local
resident
—Mitchell Hegman
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVPOOf6W9cQ
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