Trip Report Cayman Brac Beach Resort December 28 2019- January 4 2020

[Joneill]

My thoughts mirror yours after spending a week there. Luckily there was another couple my age on the boat that I got along with and was able to hang out with that week. I'm sure the afternoons and evenings would not have been nearly as fun if that had not happened. It was definitely hard to beat the value. I would love to do Little Cayman, as the Bloody Bay marine park was some of the best diving and most vibrant reefs. Though the resort layout, including pool and hot tub was much better at Cayman Brac, especially if you had some non-divers.

We got lucky and were able to dive Lobster Pot, whose mooring was only ~1.5 months old. That was probably my favorite dive and so full of life.

I was there the first week of November and we were apparently one of the first groups to dive what they were going to call Lobster Pot. It was probably the best/healthiest site we dived on.

I also liked Crab Alley - had a few reef sharks show up as well as a hawksbill turtle and lots of lobster. The Tibbets wreck was a nice dive as well - especially the friendly Nassau Grouper that followed us like a puppy and seemed to like to be petted! Lighthouse Reef was also good with some nice swim throughs and pretty healthy corals. However, Eden Wall on the south side had large areas of bleached coral which was disheartening to see.

As you say, the resort was nice - the pool and bar area were great, food was good and the staff were all wonderful (resort and dive staff).

 

[Doctorfish]

When I was there last summer, I liked the resort, pool and food. The dive op was disorganized and did not communicate departure times and other instruction well. There were several significant delays in leaving the dock and/or we would get in at noon and be told the PM dive boat would depart at 1.10, so that lunch was rushed as well. Getting to the dock at 1.05, we then waited till 1.30 to board and leave. Not just once. The dive boat was packed. I also got the distinct impression we were being rushed, and taken to the closest spots, not the best spots. We dived a site around the point just off the airport runway, three times over a week. The reefs were healthy and the critters interesting, but I much prefer diving with Reef Divers on Little Cayman. They put a lot more effort into it. Sharon is a great manager and sets the bar high for the dive op which is reflected in the product they deliver.

 

[KathyV]

When I was there last summer, I liked the resort, pool and food. The dive op was disorganized and did not communicate departure times and other instruction well. There were several significant delays in leaving the dock and/or we would get in at noon and be told the PM dive boat would depart at 1.10, so that lunch was rushed as well. Getting to the dock at 1.05, we then waited till 1.30 to board and leave. Not just once. The dive boat was packed. I also got the distinct impression we were being rushed, and taken to the closest spots, not the best spots. We dived a site around the point just off the airport runway, three times over a week. The reefs were healthy and the critters interesting, but I much prefer diving with Reef Divers on Little Cayman. They put a lot more effort into it. Sharon is a great manager and sets the bar high for the dive op which is reflected in the product they deliver.

I am sorry to hear that. I haven't stayed at CBBR this year, but we didn't experience anything like that when we were there in the Fall of 2018. I wonder if they had some new staffing or management when you were there? Perhaps @Redfoot can update us as he was just there.

I have seen some packed RD dive boats but they were always a group trip that wanted to dive together.

 

[Redfoot]

From what I saw and experienced, they stagger the boats leaving in the morning (0800, 0815, 0830, 0845) to relieve congestion on the dock. Everyone left on time and then returned after their dives for lunch, I never saw anyone waiting around or rushing for food.

We did have different schedule on day we went to Little, and also the day we went out towards the bluff. We left earlier and got back a little later, but I never felt rushed, nor did we ever leave late.

I do believe there is new management (and new DM's) at Reef Divers, but I am not sure how long they have been there. You may have caught either the end of the last group or the very first few weeks with new management.

 

[Joneill]

When I was there last summer, I liked the resort, pool and food. The dive op was disorganized and did not communicate departure times and other instruction well. There were several significant delays in leaving the dock and/or we would get in at noon and be told the PM dive boat would depart at 1.10, so that lunch was rushed as well. Getting to the dock at 1.05, we then waited till 1.30 to board and leave. Not just once. The dive boat was packed. I also got the distinct impression we were being rushed, and taken to the closest spots, not the best spots. We dived a site around the point just off the airport runway, three times over a week. The reefs were healthy and the critters interesting, but I much prefer diving with Reef Divers on Little Cayman. They put a lot more effort into it. Sharon is a great manager and sets the bar high for the dive op which is reflected in the product they deliver.

I was there the 1st week of November and, honestly, saw no issues with the Dive OP - we were on Little Sister all week with CC, Sierrah and Ragnar. It never felt rushed, everything went smoothly and the crew was a blast! They were open to suggestions on sites and pretty much took us where we wanted to go - we did a repeat on the Tibbets as folks all voiced they wanted to go back. The only downside was that, unfortunately, we did not get over to Little Cayman as it was a bit too windy/rough to make the crossing.

I will say (as someone else said earlier) that they did not seem that jazzed about doing night dives and we had to push it and did finally get 1 in on Thursday! Though, in fairness to them, conditions were likely a little sketchy to safely bring the boat back in the cut after night diving until later in the week.

 

[Doctorfish]

Maybe i just hit a bad week. Might try them again when I get a chance.

 

[KathyV]

... Another note of interest was that on Wednesday, a small cruise ship (mostly Europeans on a 21 day Caribbean route!) was docked off of Scotts Dock and some of the guests ended up at CBBR. The staff was not too happy, and there were some rumors going around that it got denied entry in Havana and had to reroute, with Grand Cayman being full it ended up on Brac. They were shuttling to people to shore in the dinghys, and the boat just kept doing circles,it never anchored...

I've been thinking about this and it occurs to me that it may have just been a fluke because it happened on the News Years Holiday, which is also a Holy Day in some Christian sects.

The few shops and restaurants on Brac were probably closed, so the CBBR was the only place open that could accommodate some unexpected visitors. It was nice of them to welcome the stranded cruisers for a day, but I hope that it doesn't become a regular event!

 

[Doctorfish]

According to today's Cayman Compass this was not a fluke and may become a more regular event. The minister of tourism was on hand as well as a band and multiple vendors.
There goes the neighborhood!!

 

[Doctorfish]

Cayman Brac seeing more cruise ships
By
Jewel Levy
-
January 9, 2020

Luxury cruise ship the Seabourn Sojourn called into Cayman Brac on New Year’s Day, bringing an influx of passengers to celebrate the holiday.

“Having another cruise line calling in on Cayman Brac means more business for the craft vendors and the island,” said Chevala Burke, Cayman Brac District Administration marketing and promotions manager.

Five to ten craft vendors were on site to welcome the 425 passengers. Visitors also toured popular tourist sites and were offered complimentary brochures.

For many passengers, their first stop was the Brac beach nearby.

Bob and Martha Kanyak, visiting from Stockton, California, said that before joining the ship they did their research about the port of call to find out about the environment.


“We found it had beaches and snorkelling and we are happy to be here. We like smaller islands with less crowds,” Martha Kanyak said.

A group of friends, Tessa, Natalia and Judy, originally from England but residents in Toronto, New York and Spain said they had been there for five minutes and it was gorgeous. “Our first impression is wonderful; we will just head to a beach and relax,” said Tessa.

Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell said government and the people of the Brac looked forward to providing Seabourn’s guests with an “unforgettable experience”.

“Having another cruise line calling on Cayman Brac will mean more business for the people,” he said.

Burke said several ships call at different times of the year to the Brac.

332

 

[KathyV]

Just returned yesterday from a great week of diving and sunshine at CBBR.

First, thanks to everyone else here for posting reviews, pictures and updates on their experiences, it helps tremendously!

I booked direct with Clearly Cayman when they ran a special back in July. Saturday to Saturday all inclusive, with 17 Nitrox boat dives, airport transfers and a nominal single supplement. Total cost was just over $2,000.

I flew Delta Detroit-Atlanta-Grand on Dec 28, with a 0545 am departure out of Detroit. (~$900 RT) ATL-GCM left around 1050, and we had to circle GCM 2 times before being cleared to land around 1300. GCM arrivals was empty, and I walked right up to a waiting customs officer. I did the bag shuffle and got checked in for Cayman Airways 1445 flight, and went through departure security, which had a line but it moved very quick. I was at my departure gate by 1400. Our flight from GCM to Brac was about 25 minutes late departing, due to the holiday influx of private jets landing. Once on Brac, check in was a breeze, I had my toes in the sand by around 1600.

There were 2 large dive groups onsite, and another 2-3 large families traveling together. The balance of guests were mostly couples and a few other single travelers like myself. Everyone was very kind and we all got to know each other quickly.

I dove on the Coral Sister with CC and Natalie, both of whom are relatively new to the operation. Both were friendly and knowledgeable. They were also adept with the lionfish spear!

I loved the ease of diving, and the size of groups. Our boat was only full the first few dives, and it never seemed crowded. I dove with a mix of buddies, depending on who was on the boat, and we always followed the guide, then finished our time limits under the boat looking for small critters.

Weather was absolutely perfect Sunday-Thursday, with sun, light clouds and a gentle 5-8 MPH breeze. Air temps hovered right around 83 F. and the water was always above 80 as well. Thursday, the winds picked up and we still had a great time, but the boat rides were bumpy and we had to choose sites accordingly.

Visibility was 80 to 100+ feet at every site.

We made the crossing to Little Cayman on Tuesday 12/31, and did two morning dives before heading back to Brac for lunch. The Cayman Aggressor was on Little, which was the first time in almost 2 months it has made the crossing over from Grand according to one of the Reef Divers staff. The diving on Little was incredible, I got a nice turtle encounter and really enjoyed Bloody Bay Wall. Kevin, who runs the RD shop on Brac, brought his rebreather over on our boat and he dove both sites using that, which was very cool to see.

The shop decided not to do a night dive on New Years Eve, as they thought there may be an increase in drunken boaters, and the staff deserved the night off. Some folks did rent tanks from Reef Divers and did a shore dive at midnight off of Scotts Dock, but I was asleep by 2000 haha

NYE was a lot of fun, the food was very good and the atmosphere was great. Many locals and resident travelers cam to the resort for the evening. They had fireworks at midnight, but I could barely keep my eyes open!

We did a night dive on Tarpon Reef Wednesday night, it was a lot of fun. It seems that they only really want to do about 1 night dive a week and schedule it accordingly.

Here are the sites we visited over the week:

Tibbets Wreck

Fishery

Pillars

Atlantis

Plymouth Rock

Snapper Point

(Little Cayman)

Marilyns Cut

Sarah’s Set

Seargeant Major

Bert Brothers Boulders

Preachers Barge

Tarpon Reef

(Night Dive)

Tarpon Reef

Tombstone

West Chute

End of the Island

Cemetery

Grunt Valley

My favorite site was Tarpon Reef, we did it back to back on Wednesday for the afternoon/night dive and it had the most abundance of critters. We saw a school of tarpon, grouper, barracuda, a turtle, octopus, stingray, squid, eel, lobster and crab, as well as the usual array of fish!

My least favorite was Atlantis.

One of the divemasters mentioned that they think turtles are being poached, as there has been a significant decline in sightings, and they turtles seem much more skittish/afraid of humans. Not sure how true this is, but we only saw 2 turtles on Brac and one on Little.

No sharks or eagle rays, but I felt that we saw a lot of other animals that made up for it.

I think this a perfect trip/destination for relaxed, easy diving with no current, great visibility, wonderful resort, good food and relaxation in between.

Another note of interest was that on Wednesday, a small cruise ship (mostly Europeans on a 21 day Caribbean route!) was docked off of Scotts Dock and some of the guests ended up at CBBR. The staff was not too happy, and there were some rumors going around that it got denied entry in Havana and had to reroute, with Grand Cayman being full it ended up on Brac. They were shuttling to people to shore in the dinghys, and the boat just kept doing circles,it never anchored.

I did not do any of the rock climbing or island tours, but did take several long bike rides and enjoyed the island.

I lucked out coming home with a direct flight from GCM to Detroit, the GCM airport was CRAZY, but it seems the updates are serving them well. I did speak to a few people who had GCM as a stop on their itineraries from other Caribbean destinations, which I thought was interesting?
San Juan, PR and Montego, JA. Has the GCM airport always served as a "hub"?
I had a quick sandwich from the local food stand, and bought some gifts at Duty Free. We departed on time and arrived to Detroit almost 30 mins early!

Thanks!

I've been thinking about this and it occurs to me that it may have just been a fluke because it happened on the News Years Holiday, which is also a Holy Day in some Christian sects.

The few shops and restaurants on Brac were probably closed, so the CBBR was the only place open that could accommodate some unexpected visitors. It was nice of them to welcome the stranded cruisers for a day, but I hope that it doesn't become a regular event!

According to today's Cayman Compass this was not a fluke and may become a more regular event. The minister of tourism was on hand as well as a band and multiple vendors.
There goes the neighborhood!!

Darn it! I was afraid of that!

I understand that they need to boost the economy on Brac because the island is struggling and people need jobs - and tourism is a viable option for such a beautiful place. Fishing is one of the major occupations for Brac residents but the government is trying to reduce stresses on the native fish populations. So how will people be able to make a living?

The Divi Brac Beach Resort property is gorgeous and has a beautiful beach. The Divi corp still owns it but they have long abandoned it and left it up to the Cayman government to pay for the demolition and clean-up, ignoring repeated requests from the government.

I think that the Cayman government should "seize the property" or "make them an offer they can't refuse" and invest in turning it into a beach club for day visitors - or maybe convince Divi to turn it into a beach club. There are some beach clubs on Grand Cayman that make a lot of revenue from cruise ship visitors, like the Royal Palms and Rum Point.

People could swim, eat, drink, enjoy the beach or choose to go out and enjoy snorkeling or boat/shore diving, kayaking, hiking, caving, rock climbing, biking, etc. - and experience the natural beauties of the Brac and spend money.

Cayman Brac seeing more cruise ships | Cayman Compass