Cayman Brac trip report - November 2016
- Thread starter bethr524
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• Accommodations: The accommodations were newly renovated during the last year and lacking for nothing. The rooms were all clean with a fridge, coffee station, nice shower (two heads), deck, cable tv, and working AC. There is a very large pool, Jacuzzi, outside bar, beach with cabanas, all well maintained. There is free Wi-Fi access throughout the resort.
• Food: The food was plentiful, varied, and well cooked. There were many choices at all meals, and if it still did not meet your needs the kitchen staff was happy to provide alternatives. Breakfast was a choice of fresh fruit, banana bread, hot and cold cereals, juice, eggs, bacon, potatoes, omelets, waffles, and more. Lunch offerings included a smorgasbord of sandwich fixings and at least three choices of hot items ranging from shrimp to chicken to beef, with salads on the side. During both lunch and dinner there was a dessert table with three choices that included delicious items such as pie, black forest cake, flan, cookies, and more. At dinner there was always hot bread and soup, many salad concoctions, a cheese plate, and again three hot entrees that always included a carving station, as well as not overcooked veggies. A wide assortment of tea and juices were always available.
• Staff: Can't say enough good things about the staff throughout the resort. They aim to please and were tireless in doing so. If any issues arose, they quickly addressed them with a smile. From the front desk to the cleaning staff to the restaurant workers to the grounds keepers, they all work hard and put the customer first.
• Diving: Unfortunately during the week we were there (11/17-11/24) there were almost near constant high winds (20-25 mph). This had a negative effect on the diving both in terms of which sites we could visit (due to the rough boat rides - 10-ft swells) and the visibility, which ranged from ~40-70 feet depending on the surge and currents. We were not able to dive some of the notably best sites around the island. Getting back into the boat at the end of dives was often challenging due to the rough seas. The sea life was disappointing in terms of variety and quantity. We did manage to see our share of turtles, rays, and copious lobsters (36 on one site alone). Compared to our springtime visit to Bonaire, Cayman Brac diving was strikingly lacking.
• Dive masters: They ranged from terrific to pretty bad. Most were cheerful and tried to make the best of the lousy dive conditions. But in terms of actually guiding the dives, there was little or none to be had. One dive master in particular seemed solely focused on hunting lion fish, to the exclusion of providing any service to the divers in the water with him. On the positive side, Cayman Brac Beach Resort advertises and delivers on their "valet service" in terms of setting up gear if you want them to and bringing your setup to you at the back of the boat, as well as removing it upon returning to the boat.
• Weather: The temperature ranged from ~82F during the day to ~78F at night. But the constant high winds made it feel cooler throughout the week. The morning skies often looked ominous but tended to clear during the day.
• Costs: All told the costs were reasonable considering that we paid one lump sum of ~$1725pp US for 17 boat dives, 7 nights’ accommodations, 3 full meals/day, 3 drinks per person/day, transfers to/from the nearby airport, taxes and service fees. We only had to dip into our pockets to replace some gear and to tip.
• Accommodations: The accommodations were newly renovated during the last year and lacking for nothing. The rooms were all clean with a fridge, coffee station, nice shower (two heads), deck, cable tv, and working AC. There is a very large pool, Jacuzzi, outside bar, beach with cabanas, all well maintained. There is free Wi-Fi access throughout the resort.
• Food: The food was plentiful, varied, and well cooked. There were many choices at all meals, and if it still did not meet your needs the kitchen staff was happy to provide alternatives. Breakfast was a choice of fresh fruit, banana bread, hot and cold cereals, juice, eggs, bacon, potatoes, omelets, waffles, and more. Lunch offerings included a smorgasbord of sandwich fixings and at least three choices of hot items ranging from shrimp to chicken to beef, with salads on the side. During both lunch and dinner there was a dessert table with three choices that included delicious items such as pie, black forest cake, flan, cookies, and more. At dinner there was always hot bread and soup, many salad concoctions, a cheese plate, and again three hot entrees that always included a carving station, as well as not overcooked veggies. A wide assortment of tea and juices were always available.
• Staff: Can't say enough good things about the staff throughout the resort. They aim to please and were tireless in doing so. If any issues arose, they quickly addressed them with a smile. From the front desk to the cleaning staff to the restaurant workers to the grounds keepers, they all work hard and put the customer first.
• Diving: Unfortunately during the week we were there (11/17-11/24) there were almost near constant high winds (20-25 mph). This had a negative effect on the diving both in terms of which sites we could visit (due to the rough boat rides - 10-ft swells) and the visibility, which ranged from ~40-70 feet depending on the surge and currents. We were not able to dive some of the notably best sites around the island. Getting back into the boat at the end of dives was often challenging due to the rough seas. The sea life was disappointing in terms of variety and quantity. We did manage to see our share of turtles, rays, and copious lobsters (36 on one site alone). Compared to our springtime visit to Bonaire, Cayman Brac diving was strikingly lacking.
• Dive masters: They ranged from terrific to pretty bad. Most were cheerful and tried to make the best of the lousy dive conditions. But in terms of actually guiding the dives, there was little or none to be had. One dive master in particular seemed solely focused on hunting lion fish, to the exclusion of providing any service to the divers in the water with him. On the positive side, Cayman Brac Beach Resort advertises and delivers on their "valet service" in terms of setting up gear if you want them to and bringing your setup to you at the back of the boat, as well as removing it upon returning to the boat.
• Weather: The temperature ranged from ~82F during the day to ~78F at night. But the constant high winds made it feel cooler throughout the week. The morning skies often looked ominous but tended to clear during the day.
• Costs: All told the costs were reasonable considering that we paid one lump sum of ~$1725pp US for 17 boat dives, 7 nights’ accommodations, 3 full meals/day, 3 drinks per person/day, transfers to/from the nearby airport, taxes and service fees. We only had to dip into our pockets to replace some gear and to tip.
snowdog61
Contributor
Headed there in 2 weeks - hopefully the conditions will have improved by then. Very thorough report - thanks
I was diving that week, windy and rough. I guess I was lucky and saw some sharks near public beach and the North wall east of Scott's had a huge Loggerhead staying around, and a gaggle of eagle rays. Also,the Helmet and Queen Conchs were gathering in the sand flats, which in itself is spectacular. I noticed the Reef Diver boats hit the west end only, a couple times getting to the Chutes. Come down in February for the Grouper congregations and try shore diving. You'll see a lot more. The shore diving is pretty easy, even when it looks rough. The water gets deep pretty quick and you are out of the surge zone. Just watch currents and know where the exit points are. The dive masters aren't guides. Take your buddies and find the stuff yourself, more fun that way. Cheers
Thanks for your info! We're taking our first trip to Brac in February. We primarily shore dive Grand Cayman and your post piqued my interest. We're staying in the Stake Bay area. What can we expect for shore diving? Thanks Again! Rick
drrich2
Contributor
Glad you had a good time; you noted weather wasn't cooperative and conditions were subpar. Since you mentioned a comparison with Bonaire, I thought it'd be worth drawing that out a bit for others who may consider the Caymans. My Caymans experience was mainly aboard the Cayman Aggressor IV live-aboard; my 2 Brac dives were on the Keith Tibbits wreck, but I'm under the impression the diving there is similar to Little Cayman?
Been to Bonaire 8 times. If you restrict Bonaire descriptions to west coast diving (where the overwhelming majority takes place), I'd compare this way:
1.) Caymans offer some fairly sheer, vertical walls. Not so Bonaire, where it's sloping wall (yes, Cliff and Small Wall have vertical wall, but not to great depth). Caymans had more variety, although again, the east coast of Bonaire is very different from the west.
2.) I saw some sharks in the Caymans (reef & nurse); never saw a shark in Bonaire, although some people have.
3.) Saw a number of big Nassau grouper in the Caymans; don't recall that in Bonaire. Saw tiger grouper in both. Overall, the Caymans had more large grouper and of more diverse species.
4.) Saw considerably more rays in the Caymans (even if we omit Stingray City on Grand Cayman), although I've seen some in Bonaire. On the other hand, didn't see tarpon except at Grand Cayman, whereas at Bonaire on night dives a personal tarpon escort is very common.
5.) Bonaire rocks for shore diving. In all the Caribbean, the only credible challenger I've seen described is Curacao.
Which is 'better' depends in large measure on what you're looking for. The greater likelihood of seeing sharks alone would send some to one island or the other.
Has anyone's Cayman Brac experience differed from my more general Caymans comparison?
Richard.
Stake Bay is awesome. I love Lynn's Reef and Greenhouse just west of Radar and Atlantis, or Sylvia's, Nina's Miniwall in NE bay. All fun dives. When it calm's down, the dive at King's Point Condo(southside) and Public Beach are always epic. Always have success finding Reef Sharks there. Easy ladder access at King's and a shower at PB..
Frankly, all dives are easy in and out. The little miniwalls are about 100 yards out and the swim across the sand flats to the wall is always entertaining. North wall has a nice slope, south wall more dramatic. February is full of grouper, awesome.
The boat dives are morning and one afternoon. Dive the shores at night, evening and early am and you might find Brac actually has quite a bit of life. Nothing wrong with the boats, but I seem to see more stuff on my own. Excluding a few extreme West end dives, all boat dives are accesable from shore. Just find a calm area, hoist the dive flag and jump in.
Cheers
We were on Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac in late Oct/early Nov and we had windy weather too so we didn't dive as much as we wished, but I think your comparison to Bonaire is accurate. The walls of Little Cayman's Bloody Bay and Jackson's Bight are spectacular, but the ocean life is very similar between the LC and CB islands. The two islands are only 5 miles apart.
We saw lots and lots of friendly groupers, eels, rays, turtles, lobsters, crabs, parrot fish, barracudas, triggers, angels, butterflies, porcupine, and all the typical Caribbean reef fish. Not as many sharks as we are used to seeing in the Caymans. I have never thought of Cayman as an especially "sharky destination" but you can usually see some nurse sharks and reef sharks and occasionally others. I have seen quite a few tarpon around Grand Cayman but not as many in the sister islands. I was happy to say that we didn't see many lionfish this trip. They have the best yellow-headed jawfish in the Caymans - just my opinion!
I saw my very first viper morays on Brac this year, two of them! That may not be a big deal to some folks but they were a surprise to me. Didn't see any goliath groupers this trip but we saw several of the midnight blue parrot fish around GC. I often saw those in Bonaire.
I also saw my second ever Mantis Shrimp in Brac, the only other one I've seen was in Bonaire.
Expect nothing and you won't be disappointed. If you enjoyed Bonaire best stick with what worked.
I have been to both and hard to compare the two. They each offer their own/different types of reef environment . My dive buddy doesn't even dive Caribbean anymore, he goes to the SE Asia. He likes to see a lot of stuff.
My observation of divers over the past 40 years of diving is their great expectation of what lies beneath and the resultant letdown when reality hits. Take what nature gives you and be thankful you are there and not here in Michigan in the frozen cold. Cheers
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