I've been back for a week from Cayman Brac so I thought I would post a quick trip report. Travel there was a long day on Saturday, Baltimore to Tampa on Southwest was OK, But just after we boarded the Cayman Air 737 at Tampa, we all had to get off again. Seems when they were moving the jet way away from the plane they hit the left side cockpit window and cracked it. There was no replacement window available at the Tampa airfield and they had to fly in another Cayman Air jet from Grand Cayman for us. We didn't leave Tampa until after 8PM. At least they skipped stopping in Grand Cayman first since our group (56 PEOPLE) were the majority of the plane. We arrived after 10:30 on Cayman Brac. Some of our baggage didn't arrive until Tuesday.
We stayed at the Cayman Brac Beach Resort. The rooms were very good for the Caribbean, with tile floors, 2 double beds or a king, clean and recently re-painted. The resort has a kidney shaped pool at about 90 degrees from the sun, lots of hammocks among the trees, a hot tub, on-premise restaurant, and Reef Divers on site. Our group had the majority of the resort, but there were a few other guests. The dining area has both inside air-conditioned seating along with outdoor screen enclosed seating if you want. Air temp was consistently in the 80-90 range during the day and 75-80 in the evening. The resort sits on the windward side of the island, and with the steady 15knot wind means no bugs or no-see-ums. I quit using bug repellant the second day and never did get bit while on the resort.
Reef Divers is the on-site dive operator. They provided a variety of different dive sites each day and were open to requests. Our group was booked to do 17 dives over the week with 1 night dive included. We went over to Little Cayman for 2 dives one morning on Bloody Bay Wall. The water was warm 84 to 87 degrees, and clear with vis averaging 50-80 feet usually with some sites being 100+. We dove just before/during/after the single thunderstorm one day, and the surge took the visibility down to 20-30 feet. We were shallow and the surge got to 5 feet each way on that particular dive. We never encountered current on any of the dives except for the second night dive some of us did. Even that was easy to swim into. The fish life was good, not as plentiful as I've seen in Bonaire or the Bahamas, but the reefs were in better shape with less alge. Our group only saw 1 shark the entire week, but we saw hawksbill turtles almost every dive. No large sightings of marine mammals or pelagic's either.
Reef Divers does what they call "Valet diving". You set your tank up once and they take care of switching it between dives, carrying it from your rack to the back of the boat and back. While this is OK, I found them to be inconsistent in setting my BCD in the same position on the tank each time and twice they put my regulator on upside down causing strange hose routings. On at least 3 ocassions on my boat alone they failed to make the switch to a full tank between dives, leaving the gear set up on the near empty tank from the previous dive. Twice the divers caught this before going into the water. The third time the diver was using a hoseless computer/integrated air computer and didn't notice it until he was 30 feet down when the near empty tank became a completely empty tank. He did an alternate air source ascent with his buddy and returned to the boat for a switch. No excuse for the diver not checking his own air, but it was too easy to "let the boat crew handle it" and relax between dives. After the first day I took to pulling my tank out of the rack each time, setting my BCD to where I like it, lining up the reg with the BCD and verifying my own tank pressure. I've found that I just don't like other people handling my (life-support) gear. Other than that, Reef Divers has 3 Newton 46 foot dive boots in good repair. We never had a boat problem all week. Their on-site dive shop is weel stocked and for those people whose gear came on a later flight, they provided rental gear at no charge. They have a drying room and outside drying rack to hang you stuff overnight or after dives. Your BCD/regulator along with fins and anything you leave in their supplied mesh bag stays on the boat overnight, which is anchored in a protected area just up the beach from the resort. They will rinse it with a hose every evening.
Reef Divers lets you plan your own profile and you don't have to follow the dive master they put in the water every dive. They do insist no dives below 110 feet on computers and 100 on tables. Nitrox 32 is available and I dove it all week. They have a analysis station at the dive shop, where you analyze your tank, label it and then they haul it to the boat for you. Boats pick you up at their newly rebuilt dock area which also has a nice 2-story pavilion with swings and hammocks if you want to take a nap out over the water.
As far as other attractions on the island, their are none beyond some light hiking, and exploring some small caves. There is no shopping, no town, no bars. The entire island only has a population of 1500 and most work for one of the three resorts on the island. The Restaurant at the Brac Reef Resort is the best on the island as many locals come for Sunday Lunch and dinner. The food is good and plentiful, served buffet style, with a choice of several meats, salads, side dishes and 2-3 desserts. Since our package was all inclusive all meals were included. If your paying though, check the prices as the menu I saw seemed kind of expensive. The outdoor bar is right outside the restaurant, beer is $4 each and mixed drinks $8 each. Since I don't drink, no problem, but a can of Soda is $1.25.
The resort has wooden walkways between all the buildings, dock, dive shop, restaurant and pool, so you don't even have to get your feet sandy if you don't want. The entire area is fine beach sand otherwise with plenty of palm trees and other trees for shade.
Was it worth going to?, Yes, the quality of the resort was very good for the Carribean, 4 stars for the accommodations, food and overall experience. Reef Divers crews work hard and with the exceptions noted above rate 4 stars. As for the diving, It was nice and very easy boat diving. We dove walls, the Russian Frigate 356, fringe reefs, pinacles, reef crowns and flat reef areas. The fish were plentiful, turtles easy to find, and the water warm. I believe the diving in Bonaire was better and for large animals sharks and variety of turtles, the Bahamas beat them out. Would I go back, yeah in 5 or 6 years after I do some other places. I do wish I could move the resort to the next place I'm going as I was quite satisfied with it.
For some Pictures from the diving go here Cayman Brac Pictures
We stayed at the Cayman Brac Beach Resort. The rooms were very good for the Caribbean, with tile floors, 2 double beds or a king, clean and recently re-painted. The resort has a kidney shaped pool at about 90 degrees from the sun, lots of hammocks among the trees, a hot tub, on-premise restaurant, and Reef Divers on site. Our group had the majority of the resort, but there were a few other guests. The dining area has both inside air-conditioned seating along with outdoor screen enclosed seating if you want. Air temp was consistently in the 80-90 range during the day and 75-80 in the evening. The resort sits on the windward side of the island, and with the steady 15knot wind means no bugs or no-see-ums. I quit using bug repellant the second day and never did get bit while on the resort.
Reef Divers is the on-site dive operator. They provided a variety of different dive sites each day and were open to requests. Our group was booked to do 17 dives over the week with 1 night dive included. We went over to Little Cayman for 2 dives one morning on Bloody Bay Wall. The water was warm 84 to 87 degrees, and clear with vis averaging 50-80 feet usually with some sites being 100+. We dove just before/during/after the single thunderstorm one day, and the surge took the visibility down to 20-30 feet. We were shallow and the surge got to 5 feet each way on that particular dive. We never encountered current on any of the dives except for the second night dive some of us did. Even that was easy to swim into. The fish life was good, not as plentiful as I've seen in Bonaire or the Bahamas, but the reefs were in better shape with less alge. Our group only saw 1 shark the entire week, but we saw hawksbill turtles almost every dive. No large sightings of marine mammals or pelagic's either.
Reef Divers does what they call "Valet diving". You set your tank up once and they take care of switching it between dives, carrying it from your rack to the back of the boat and back. While this is OK, I found them to be inconsistent in setting my BCD in the same position on the tank each time and twice they put my regulator on upside down causing strange hose routings. On at least 3 ocassions on my boat alone they failed to make the switch to a full tank between dives, leaving the gear set up on the near empty tank from the previous dive. Twice the divers caught this before going into the water. The third time the diver was using a hoseless computer/integrated air computer and didn't notice it until he was 30 feet down when the near empty tank became a completely empty tank. He did an alternate air source ascent with his buddy and returned to the boat for a switch. No excuse for the diver not checking his own air, but it was too easy to "let the boat crew handle it" and relax between dives. After the first day I took to pulling my tank out of the rack each time, setting my BCD to where I like it, lining up the reg with the BCD and verifying my own tank pressure. I've found that I just don't like other people handling my (life-support) gear. Other than that, Reef Divers has 3 Newton 46 foot dive boots in good repair. We never had a boat problem all week. Their on-site dive shop is weel stocked and for those people whose gear came on a later flight, they provided rental gear at no charge. They have a drying room and outside drying rack to hang you stuff overnight or after dives. Your BCD/regulator along with fins and anything you leave in their supplied mesh bag stays on the boat overnight, which is anchored in a protected area just up the beach from the resort. They will rinse it with a hose every evening.
Reef Divers lets you plan your own profile and you don't have to follow the dive master they put in the water every dive. They do insist no dives below 110 feet on computers and 100 on tables. Nitrox 32 is available and I dove it all week. They have a analysis station at the dive shop, where you analyze your tank, label it and then they haul it to the boat for you. Boats pick you up at their newly rebuilt dock area which also has a nice 2-story pavilion with swings and hammocks if you want to take a nap out over the water.
As far as other attractions on the island, their are none beyond some light hiking, and exploring some small caves. There is no shopping, no town, no bars. The entire island only has a population of 1500 and most work for one of the three resorts on the island. The Restaurant at the Brac Reef Resort is the best on the island as many locals come for Sunday Lunch and dinner. The food is good and plentiful, served buffet style, with a choice of several meats, salads, side dishes and 2-3 desserts. Since our package was all inclusive all meals were included. If your paying though, check the prices as the menu I saw seemed kind of expensive. The outdoor bar is right outside the restaurant, beer is $4 each and mixed drinks $8 each. Since I don't drink, no problem, but a can of Soda is $1.25.
The resort has wooden walkways between all the buildings, dock, dive shop, restaurant and pool, so you don't even have to get your feet sandy if you don't want. The entire area is fine beach sand otherwise with plenty of palm trees and other trees for shade.
Was it worth going to?, Yes, the quality of the resort was very good for the Carribean, 4 stars for the accommodations, food and overall experience. Reef Divers crews work hard and with the exceptions noted above rate 4 stars. As for the diving, It was nice and very easy boat diving. We dove walls, the Russian Frigate 356, fringe reefs, pinacles, reef crowns and flat reef areas. The fish were plentiful, turtles easy to find, and the water warm. I believe the diving in Bonaire was better and for large animals sharks and variety of turtles, the Bahamas beat them out. Would I go back, yeah in 5 or 6 years after I do some other places. I do wish I could move the resort to the next place I'm going as I was quite satisfied with it.
For some Pictures from the diving go here Cayman Brac Pictures
