Cayman Brac in the winter; risk of choppy seas and cancelled dives?

[Doctorfish]

Most of the responders have an opinion based on a few trips at most. Trace Malinowski lived there and worked in the dive industry. I'd go with his comments.

 

[AggieDiver]

Most of the responders have an opinion based on a few trips at most. Trace Malinowski lived there and worked in the dive industry. I'd go with his comments.

Fair enough, but just be clear about what he is saying though. What he specifically said was:

Blow-outs are no more or less common than in Cozumel or other places in the Caribbean in the winter months and during hurricane season.

Based on his online resume, it looks like he spent less than a year on Brac in 1999, so I don't know that his experience there is as extensive as you are implying. No doubt he has a ton more experience than most of us in general Caribbean diving, but I don't think his response really answers the OP's question about whether weather in a specific month (December) is more likely to shut down diving on Brac than Coz. While the likelihood of cold fronts or hurricanes causing high winds and seas may be just as common as anywhere else in December, the question of whether those high winds and seas completely shut down diving is a different story, and really depends on what time of year you are talking about and where you are asking about.

The most likely type of storm to shut down diving on Brac entirely is a storm south of GC sending large swells and southerly winds directly into the channel. The diving on the west side of Cozumel is largely protected from those kinds of swells unless the storm actually hits close to the island. Those kinds of storms in December are pretty rare. So while over the course of the year, you may lose about the same number of diving days to hurricanes as Coz loses to Nortes, they are not as likely to happen in December, which is what the OP was asking about. In Coz, when the wind blows heavy from the north in winter, it opposes the current direction, which makes for very rough seas and they close the port to small craft. Which means no diving, unless you want to take the ferry across in rough seas and drum up a cenote dive on short notice. When the wind blows heavy out of the north on Brac from the same "Norte" that is shutting down Coz, the boats can still go out, but they just dive the south side of the island.

 

[Doctorfish]

Apologies, for some reason I thought he had been there more recently and longer stay.

 

[divezonescuba]

I have been to Cayman Brac in the winter. During this period, the normal wind shifts more from the north. When that happens you cannot shore dive the north side which is what we like to do. Boat diving the south side may be possible when the wind is not blowing too hard. Since then we have never gone back in the winter.