MV Captain Keith Tibbetts

This is the Caribbean's only readily divable Soviet warship: a Koni-class frigate built in 1984 at Nakhodka for the Cuban Navy, where she served simply as number 356. When post-Cold War Cuba could no longer afford her upkeep, the Cayman Islands government bought the frigate and scuttled her in September 1996 off the northwest shore of Cayman Brac — she is dived from Cayman Brac and on trips from neighboring Little Cayman — renaming her for Keith Tibbetts, a well-known Brac politician and businessman. She settled upright on sloping sand, but storms since, including Hurricane Ivan in 2004, have broken her amidships: the deeper bow section has twisted over to port while the stern, with its twin 76 mm gun turret still aimed down the sand, remains the photogenic, more intact half. Her gray steel now carries sponges and wire corals, and the contrast of Soviet gunnery against Cayman-clear water keeps her among the region's most distinctive artificial reefs.

How she sank: Deliberately scuttled as an artificial reef, 17 September 1996.

Condition: Broken in two and slowly collapsing; guns, radar mounts and much of the stern remain recognizable

Penetration: Limited. Some openings remain in the stern superstructure, but the hull is deteriorating and interior spaces are unstable — most guides keep tours outside. Entering any overhead environment requires specific training — a wreck certification at minimum, technical wreck training for full penetration.

Recommended certification: Advanced Open Water

Current: Mild · Visibility: 20–30 m

Marine life: Goliath-size groupers are absent here, but Nassau grouper, horse-eye jacks, glassy sweepers in the stern, garden eels on the slope and hawksbill turtles are regulars.

Hazards: Sharp, unstable plating around the break; depth increases quickly down the sand slope toward the bow

Cayman marine-park rules apply — nothing may be removed