jhelmuth
Contributor
FYI Cayman Brac adventurers...
Trip Date: May 1st-8th 2004
Resort: Brac Reef Beach Resort
Dive Op: Reef Divers
Summary
As dive vacations go, this one will be long remembered!
We booked this trip through our local dive shop and we had a group of 30 divers there. Beautiful dive sites, excellent food, comfortable accommodations. Brac Reef Beach Resort (BRBR) is located on the South-East side (corner really), which is quite convenient to the airport (more later). Reef Divers is located on-site and gets a 5 star rating (from me). If you are looking for a great value and spectacular scenery - this should be just the ticket for you. There was really nothing to not recommend this trip, unless you seek a lot of tourist-type shopping. In the words of Louis Armstrong... "and I say to myself, what a wonderful world."
The Diving
We purchased the 2-tank morning dives with our package. Nitrox is avail. for either a flat $100 (unlimited tanks), or @ $6 ea. Our group split up onto 2 boats (Little Sister and Twin Sister). The boats are big Newtons, and are the best in my opinion for big groups. Reef Divers owns 3 Newtons, so they can accommodate many divers and manage to get to the sites safely. The dive operators really pamper you on the Brac. All you have to do is sit on the platform, they bring your gear to you - you just jump in the water and dive. Initially this seemed silly to me (after all, I can manage my gear just fine), but I really appreciated it the most at the end of the trip. I realized that I had zero impact to my back area since I didn't have to deal with repeated struggles wrestling with the gear and then waiting in line in full gear on a rocking boat. Dive operators should look at this method seriously. It not only made for effortless diving, but it was fast, efficient, and we tipped more generously from all the pampering :07: . Craig and Vicki (Little), and Robert and Mick (Twin) were the DM's and Captains for our week. They were fun, enthusiastic, energetic, knowledgeable, and most importantly - safe. The profiles recommended were reasonable, and they constantly reminded us to be safe and not put ourselves into deco, etc. Even so, a 2nd stage was hung off the side @ 15 fsw and a chain-line to be available just in case. Vicki even once setup my camera for me - which has never happened before as DMs obviously don't want to have any liability (she did give me the ole "hey --- if it leaks, it's not my fault"). The diving includes wrecks, walls, shallow and deeper reefs - and the viz was fantastic (typical for the Caribbean dives I've done). Water temps were consistently 82 degrees and are reported to vary from the upper 70's to mid to upper 80's year round :mostlysun:
Shore diving is no additional charge - unlimited tanks for shore dives are provided. Be sure to rent a car or have some method to get to the sites as they are probably too far to walk or ride the bicycles (bicycles are provided at the resort to allow you to bike around the island). Many of the dive sites are easily accessible from the beaches and other entries and are easily identified by the many mooring balls at the surface. Of all the shore dives, I'd recommend Radar reef as a good starting point, followed by Buccaneer, and then it's up to you to see how many you want. I'd also recommend that you try Radar as a nite dive. Its easy to navigate and an easy entry. Just be sure to avoid the sea-wasps :11: !
Above the Water
The hotel rooms are spacious, clean and while not fancy, they are comfortable. The amenities are quite good. Heated spa, swimming pool, ping-pong, darts, a great outdoor bar, plenty of hammocks to rest in the palm tree shade, a double-decker deck that juts out into the protected reef which gives you some great snorkeling (this would be a terrific feature for a family where the kids want to see the sea-life, but can't go on SCUBA). Karaoke on Weds. nite :dazzler1: . Books galore for the quite reader who wants to relax in a hammock in the cool breezes in the shade of the palms. Island tours are also avail. and can take you on cave tours (can be done by yourself as well - watch the bats!).
The food and dining room are first-class. Served buffet style, the dishes were both delicious and generous. BRBR has their own pastry chef - and my waist-line did suffer a bit from the tasty treats they served up. Friday nite they threw us a Surf-n-Turf BBQ (Steak and Lobster) with the usual yummy side dishes and deserts. Kudos to Dennis - he seems to over-see the dinning room and took wonderful care of us. The wine list is so-so, and this is an area that could use some improvement. But I suspect that very few vacationers have made the most of it as I did not see anyone else other than our table making any wine orders (additional cost), and with so much good food to eat it's a shame to not have a nice vintage to make the meal just perfect.
Another not-to-miss-out-on activity is the numerous hand painted markers which tell of the many visitors the resort has seen - don't leave without creating you own personal monument of your trip as a message to all that you've been there before!
The Other Stuff
Car rental is almost essential if you plan to do some shore diving. Sharing a car is even better (economy-wise). Gas is not cheap (~ $3 US / imperial gallon) - but at least the island is small (I used a total of $18 CI worth of fuel the whole week). They drive on the left and most vehicles are right-hand drive (I was always turning the wipers and wiping the turn signal). Keep in mind that everything is on island time there - there is no rush, and you should pack-in any expectations of promptness (hey, it's a vacation - relax!). I never found it to be a problem in any way, but I have noticed that some people are vastly impatient with Islanders in general when it comes to service. This does not reflect on BRBR itself, but you'll probably find service less prompt off the resort.
Hope you enjoyed this. If you have any questions, please PM me and I'll try to get back to you ASAP.
Trip Date: May 1st-8th 2004
Resort: Brac Reef Beach Resort
Dive Op: Reef Divers
Summary
As dive vacations go, this one will be long remembered!
We booked this trip through our local dive shop and we had a group of 30 divers there. Beautiful dive sites, excellent food, comfortable accommodations. Brac Reef Beach Resort (BRBR) is located on the South-East side (corner really), which is quite convenient to the airport (more later). Reef Divers is located on-site and gets a 5 star rating (from me). If you are looking for a great value and spectacular scenery - this should be just the ticket for you. There was really nothing to not recommend this trip, unless you seek a lot of tourist-type shopping. In the words of Louis Armstrong... "and I say to myself, what a wonderful world."
The Diving
We purchased the 2-tank morning dives with our package. Nitrox is avail. for either a flat $100 (unlimited tanks), or @ $6 ea. Our group split up onto 2 boats (Little Sister and Twin Sister). The boats are big Newtons, and are the best in my opinion for big groups. Reef Divers owns 3 Newtons, so they can accommodate many divers and manage to get to the sites safely. The dive operators really pamper you on the Brac. All you have to do is sit on the platform, they bring your gear to you - you just jump in the water and dive. Initially this seemed silly to me (after all, I can manage my gear just fine), but I really appreciated it the most at the end of the trip. I realized that I had zero impact to my back area since I didn't have to deal with repeated struggles wrestling with the gear and then waiting in line in full gear on a rocking boat. Dive operators should look at this method seriously. It not only made for effortless diving, but it was fast, efficient, and we tipped more generously from all the pampering :07: . Craig and Vicki (Little), and Robert and Mick (Twin) were the DM's and Captains for our week. They were fun, enthusiastic, energetic, knowledgeable, and most importantly - safe. The profiles recommended were reasonable, and they constantly reminded us to be safe and not put ourselves into deco, etc. Even so, a 2nd stage was hung off the side @ 15 fsw and a chain-line to be available just in case. Vicki even once setup my camera for me - which has never happened before as DMs obviously don't want to have any liability (she did give me the ole "hey --- if it leaks, it's not my fault"). The diving includes wrecks, walls, shallow and deeper reefs - and the viz was fantastic (typical for the Caribbean dives I've done). Water temps were consistently 82 degrees and are reported to vary from the upper 70's to mid to upper 80's year round :mostlysun:
Shore diving is no additional charge - unlimited tanks for shore dives are provided. Be sure to rent a car or have some method to get to the sites as they are probably too far to walk or ride the bicycles (bicycles are provided at the resort to allow you to bike around the island). Many of the dive sites are easily accessible from the beaches and other entries and are easily identified by the many mooring balls at the surface. Of all the shore dives, I'd recommend Radar reef as a good starting point, followed by Buccaneer, and then it's up to you to see how many you want. I'd also recommend that you try Radar as a nite dive. Its easy to navigate and an easy entry. Just be sure to avoid the sea-wasps :11: !
Above the Water
The hotel rooms are spacious, clean and while not fancy, they are comfortable. The amenities are quite good. Heated spa, swimming pool, ping-pong, darts, a great outdoor bar, plenty of hammocks to rest in the palm tree shade, a double-decker deck that juts out into the protected reef which gives you some great snorkeling (this would be a terrific feature for a family where the kids want to see the sea-life, but can't go on SCUBA). Karaoke on Weds. nite :dazzler1: . Books galore for the quite reader who wants to relax in a hammock in the cool breezes in the shade of the palms. Island tours are also avail. and can take you on cave tours (can be done by yourself as well - watch the bats!).
The food and dining room are first-class. Served buffet style, the dishes were both delicious and generous. BRBR has their own pastry chef - and my waist-line did suffer a bit from the tasty treats they served up. Friday nite they threw us a Surf-n-Turf BBQ (Steak and Lobster) with the usual yummy side dishes and deserts. Kudos to Dennis - he seems to over-see the dinning room and took wonderful care of us. The wine list is so-so, and this is an area that could use some improvement. But I suspect that very few vacationers have made the most of it as I did not see anyone else other than our table making any wine orders (additional cost), and with so much good food to eat it's a shame to not have a nice vintage to make the meal just perfect.
Another not-to-miss-out-on activity is the numerous hand painted markers which tell of the many visitors the resort has seen - don't leave without creating you own personal monument of your trip as a message to all that you've been there before!
The Other Stuff
Car rental is almost essential if you plan to do some shore diving. Sharing a car is even better (economy-wise). Gas is not cheap (~ $3 US / imperial gallon) - but at least the island is small (I used a total of $18 CI worth of fuel the whole week). They drive on the left and most vehicles are right-hand drive (I was always turning the wipers and wiping the turn signal). Keep in mind that everything is on island time there - there is no rush, and you should pack-in any expectations of promptness (hey, it's a vacation - relax!). I never found it to be a problem in any way, but I have noticed that some people are vastly impatient with Islanders in general when it comes to service. This does not reflect on BRBR itself, but you'll probably find service less prompt off the resort.
Hope you enjoyed this. If you have any questions, please PM me and I'll try to get back to you ASAP.
