-hh
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I'm going to say "No...but",
The "No" is because you asked specifically for those that are doing 3 dives/day by using the PM diveboat. With this schedule, there's not really all that much downtime for island exploration after you return from the PM dive...its pretty much a shower, happy hour cocktail, dinner, maybe a movie or karaoki, then to bed, rinse & repeat the next day.
However, the "...but" is because I've been getting a rental car on each visit for 10+ years, and for what we're interested in, it comes in handy. Part of this is due to a difference in schedule: I'm taking it easy and not doing the afternoon dive (besides, my wife is a non-diver and expects me to spend some time with her). As such, we'll go out exploring, having meals out, doing grocery shopping, make social visits, shore snorkeling, tidepools, parrot reserve orchid trail, etc. It also used to be that one could get free tanks and go shore diving, but with Divi shutting down and Reef Divers charging for tanks, its not really an inexpensive option like it used to be.
FYI, a decent number of visitors will make arrangements for either a car or motor scooters for their last day on island ... something to do for that 24 SI before the flight home ... and do a one day whirlwind island tour. While this does help visitors start to explore the Brac, because you're trying to cram it all into a single day, you're unlikely to slow down and spend an hour with Tenson Scott and hear the story of the Dirty Joke Necklace, or some of the old, old, old history of the Brac...or even some of the more recent news.
For example, up until probably 1960, a common business enterprise was for Braccer men to sail a few hundred miles south to the "Serrenna" keys. They would harvest wild seabird eggs and take them to market in Jamacia, then sail back to Cayman with the cash and other purchased supplies, just to repeat the cycle through the nesting season.
On my most recent visit to Tenson at NIM Things, he pulled out some old photos. They had been taken on one such "egging" expedition from 1937. I didn't have my good camera with me, so here's my (poor resolution) copies:
Every white dot is a nesting bird:
Palatial living quarters:
Lighthouse, probably lit by kerosene:
I've not been able to find this "Serrenna Key" location on a map yet. I do know that there's a shallow bank 200 miles due south, which I believe is the likely location, and this may also be the same location as mentioned in a shipwreck survival story that's documented in the Hurricane of '32 book. I don't think its Swan Island (17.410556 N,83.921944 W), as I believe that that location is too far to the west (and too rocky), although I do know that historically, the Caymans have had family ties with both Honduras and Cuba. As such, its still on my "to be researched" historical mystery list, so any insight is appreciated.
In any event, if you do choose to get a car, there's a couple of companies (DDDD's, B&H, CB), and what they all have in common is that they're locally owned...the Avis and Hertz franchises went out of business long ago. We've been using DDDD's (Four D's) for years and their rate is just above $200/week, plus gas. Call ahead to 345.948.1599 and they'll meet you at the airport, which saves you the cost of hotel transfers.
-hh
