Cayman Brac

[Kay]

When are you going to Caribe Sands? That is where I'm staying at the end of February/beginning of March. If you go before then, please give me a full report. If I go before you, I will be happy to do the same. Only 6.5 weeks left before I arrive. I am SO excited!

 

[boulderjohn]

My friend who is travelling with me is not a diver, so I'll be needing a buddy as well. I assume that there will probably be people who are buddyless on the dives? How does this work?

Kay, I have been buddyless on by far most of my dives, because my wife cannot dive. When I stayed a Cayman Brac, we were fortunate enough to find a couple who were the mirror image of us, so I got a diving buddy and my wife got a snorkel buddy. We met a couple of other people and made some arrangements along those lines, too.

On a number of dives there and in many, many other places I have dived, though, I have walked onto the boat buddyless. The DM's generally find out who is in that situation pretty, and you can usually get paired up quickly. In some cases, you may end up with a threesome.

The one thing I would caution you on is trying to make sure you are with people at about your skill level. Mostly this means having about the same air consumption rate. Buddies are generally polite about it, but they really don't like to come up with half the air still in their tank because their new buddy was gulping it down.

Try, too, to match diving styles. Although I do not take a lot of pictures myself, I love to buddy with photographers, because it usually means a really slow dive that will enable me to examine the sights with care rather than sprint past everything of interest.

 

[-hh]

Kay, I have been buddyless on by far most of my dives, because my wife cannot dive.

I'm substantially similar.

On a number of dives there and in many, many other places I have dived, though, I have walked onto the boat buddyless. The DM's generally find out who is in that situation pretty, and you can usually get paired up quickly. In some cases, you may end up with a threesome.

Agreed...plus the trade-offs that John goes into.

My read is that since Kay is an admitted Novice diver, I think that RD is going to be okay for her, in no small part because they are more aggressive in requiring that everyone be buddied up, and she needs that at this stage.

Maybe in 5 or 10 years, she can find me down the road at the island's other operator, where IMO, there's a bit more individual dive freedom...you can actually come back from a dive there with 400psi and not get chewed out by the DM.


-hh

 

[Dupe]

Kay, I have been buddyless on by far most of my dives, because my wife cannot dive. When I stayed a Cayman Brac, we were fortunate enough to find a couple who were the mirror image of us, so I got a diving buddy and my wife got a snorkel buddy. We met a couple of other people and made some arrangements along those lines, too.

On a number of dives there and in many, many other places I have dived, though, I have walked onto the boat buddyless. The DM's generally find out who is in that situation pretty, and you can usually get paired up quickly. In some cases, you may end up with a threesome.

The one thing I would caution you on is trying to make sure you are with people at about your skill level. Mostly this means having about the same air consumption rate. Buddies are generally polite about it, but they really don't like to come up with half the air still in their tank because their new buddy was gulping it down.

Try, too, to match diving styles. Although I do not take a lot of pictures myself, I love to buddy with photographers, because it usually means a really slow dive that will enable me to examine the sights with care rather than sprint past everything of interest.

In about a week I’ll be Brac bound and buddyless! Alas my poor buddy can’t get away. GREAT points by boulderjohn. I plan to be politely discriminating when buddieing up or just go solo perhaps with an eye on where the group is. I don’t know, I feel compelled to share...

On our last dive trip we met “Clipboard man”. He had all the equipment and then some, distress balloons, clip boards, whistles, spare air, lights, knives, wrist computer, point and shoot camera you name it. Boy he yapped the whole way out of all his diving exploits. Man he never stopped fiddling and it didn’t stop when he got in the water. This guy spent the whole dive half way down but signaled that he was okay and never was in any trouble. My buddy (wife) and I couldn’t keep from belly laughing and joking about this guy (away from the boat) when we surfaced. You see these “christmas trees” often on dive trips though.

I also became a photographer. Photographers become very discriminating and it takes time setting up most shots. My wife really enjoyed these dives and the comfortably slow pace. A photographer, (one who has a Nikonus V + strobe or something similar) would make a great buddy.

Yep, air consumption is a big factor to. When I was getting certified, my wife was paired with a random buddy. As it turned out this pretty normal and confidant boatmate, showed his true color 60ft down as an overweight smoker who sucked almost all his air in no time, couldn’t understand basic hand signals and zoomed up to the surface after freaking out. The last time I dove, I buddied up with a nice guy we met. He was a smoker to. I was reading 1500psi, he was reading 500 and then suddenly signaling out of air. This fellow stayed calm though and he came up on my octopus without a problem. This shows you have to be careful about the accuracy of rented equipment to.

So anyway, I hope you all have a blast on your upcoming dives! Hey I’m looking forward to some nature hiking and maybe climbing on Brac to. I refuse to be disappointed that I’m not headed to LC. It’ll just leave another great trip to plan. Thanks for letting me talk about diving as its 8 degrees (F) here.

 

[Kay]

You guys make me laugh. I am sure I will have some good stories...I am a magnet
for the people who make the good ones. I appreciate all of the advice. I hope that I won't disappoint my buddy by sucking down all my air in 5 minutes. I did fine up here in NH/MAINE even though the water temperature was an abomination. I hope there is just one kind and patient buddy who wants to look around and not swim like Mark Spitz. I want to take some time to see things. Maybe I will search for a photographer, as you recommend.

One more time: Reef Divers or Divi?? Any updates?? I have the choice.

How startling are the food prices?

 

[boulderjohn]

One more time: Reef Divers or Divi?? Any updates?? I have the choice.

How startling are the food prices?

I did Divi and I had no complaints. The food was included in the package price, so there were absolutely no surprises.

Now, Grand Cayman food prices will knock you for a lop.

 

[-hh]

{EDIT ... here's Divi's prices from their website}


Breakfast plan- $14 per day adult/$10 per day child

Breakfast & dinner- $46 per day adult/$27 per day child ---> "MAP"

Breakfast, lunch, & dinner- $59 per day adult/$35 per day child ---> "FAP"

All meal plans are in US Dollars. Taxes of 15% are not included. Child prices above apply to children 12 and under.


--> The FAP + 15% taxes would thus be $67.85/day, per person. Times six days for a typical one week visit (*NOT* 7, unless you had fabulous flights and can recoupe more than just one meal), times two people, would be just over $800.

Also, be aware that you may also see an "All Inclusive" Plan that is FAP with a booze allowance. Generally speaking, the Devil is in the Details of how medeocre of a value this is ... usually, its not a good value: one typical package has been an extra $25/day, but the fine print says that your bar tab is limited to $25/day (and doesn't include Top Shelf, etc), which means that you can only lose money on such a prepaid package versus pay-as-you go. Since you can charge your drinks to your room, you don't have to carry a wallet anyway, so IMO, its better to "pay as you go", especially if you're being a moderate drinker so as to avoid unnecessary DCS risks from a hangover or even getting dehydrated (since alcohol is a diuretic...this is the real reason why we only RENT beer .


-hh

 

[Kay]

We are staying at Caribe Sands. Anyone had food there?

 

[scubajoe]

Food at Caribe Sands? No food there other then the box of groceries for the build you own breakfasts. Milk, bread, cereal, jelly, english muffins etc. But they are nice condos with a big kitchen.

Joe

 

[caymaniac]

We are staying at Caribe Sands. Anyone had food there?

Are you possibly thinking that they have a restaurant there? There is one close by, the "Captains Table" or you can take a vehicle to a number of places...maybe walk to the Divi. If you plan on getting groceries, you'll need a car.

Dive Safe,
Caymaniac