Good News/Bad News

[BrackaFish]

A few thoughts after doing some shore diving in the Brac this week. Caveats, This were shallow, 70 feet and less and north shore only dives. The coral bleaching is recovering slowly. At a rough guess, places where the coral was 70-80% white in the summer are now maybe 40-50%. Lower temperatures are helping. Where I was seeing 87-88 degrees in the summer, I am now seeing 84. The bad news is algae growth has exploded, 1-2 inches over most of the Reef. I guess the place needs a plague of sea urchins and whatever else eat algae. It is also lobster season, so between legal and poaching, the lobsters are pretty much wiped out. I did see one little guy in the boat basin hiding in the wall at Handcuff Reef as I was coming back in yesterday. Am not sure, but I thought he was muttering, “Where is where is Everyone, just where the F is Everyone.” Be Safe

 

[PatW]

I was there this summer. Water temps were 88 degrees and sometimes 90 degrees. Even the fire coral was bleaching. I am glad to hear that there has been some recovery.

 

[drrich2]

A few thoughts after doing some shore diving in the Brac this week. Caveats, This were shallow, 70 feet and less and north shore only dives.

Glad to see a post on Cayman Brac shore diving. They are sporadic! Got a few follow up questions:

1.) Did you rent your tanks from Brac Scuba Shack? IIRC, in the past that's the only shore diving tank supplier I've read of there. If so, did you do boat dives with them? I'm curious about Cayman Brac Beach Resort's position on providing rental tanks for shore diving these days.

2.) Brac isn't big; how did you get around? Rent a car? How expensive?

3.) You did the entries and exits compare to, oh, say, Bonaire? Ease of navigation?

4.) Could you rent more than one tank for shore diving at a time?

 

[BrackaFish]

Glad to see a post on Cayman Brac shore diving. They are sporadic! Got a few follow up questions:

1.) Did you rent your tanks from Brac Scuba Shack? IIRC, in the past that's the only shore diving tank supplier I've read of there. If so, did you do boat dives with them? I'm curious about Cayman Brac Beach Resort's position on providing rental tanks for shore diving these days.

2.) Brac isn't big; how did you get around? Rent a car? How expensive?

3.) You did the entries and exits compare to, oh, say, Bonaire? Ease of navigation?

4.) Could you rent more than one tank for shore diving at a time?

1. Yes I get fills at Brac Scuba Shack as I have been turned down at Reef Divers preCovid so I don’t go there anymore. As I solo dive with my own equipment, Brac Scuba Shack caters to this quirk of mine. I have done boat dives with them in the past and enjoyed it.
2. Have my own vehicle. Rental from 4Ds located near to Brac Scuba Shack is about $180 a week.
3. Navigation is pretty easy. You either dive north shore or south shore and then head east or west along either the miniwall or mainwall if you head deeper. From the shore you will pass over limestone hardpan which then turns into coral fingers or a miniwall depending on which site you are at. Then you have about 200-300 ft of open sand flats until you hit the mainwall. There are about a half dozen super easy entry sites with ladders or boat basin cutouts. The rest are ironshore similar to the H Hooker site in Bonaire. I wear heavy 4th Element booties.

 

[BrackaFish]

4. I have only been able to rent one tank at a time. When I asked why, I was told that this prevents non certified people from diving. As a result, when I built my garage it’s a small storage area, I shipped a few AL 80s.

 

[drrich2]

From the shore you will pass over limestone hardpan which then turns into coral fingers or a miniwall depending on which site you are at. Then you have about 200-300 ft of open sand flats until you hit the mainwall.

Sounds like pretty long walk/swim-out trips to/from the main wall.

Next question, using Bonaire's west coast for a reference. A number of Bonaire's southern sites have wide accessible areas for entry/exit. A given point or two, perhaps marked with rocks or piles of rocks, may be better for getting in and out, but if need be, it's not big deal if one surfaces a couple hundred feet from the intended exit.

But up north, with places like Karpata, Oil Slick Leap, etc..., there's a narrower exit-worthy stretch. This is mainly a concern at dive's end, when you're looking for where to get out.

How did you find Brac shore diving in terms of ease of finding your exit path? Some of us aren't good navigators.

 

[BrackaFish]

Sounds like pretty long walk/swim-out trips to/from the main wall.

Next question, using Bonaire's west coast for a reference. A number of Bonaire's southern sites have wide accessible areas for entry/exit. A given point or two, perhaps marked with rocks or piles of rocks, may be better for getting in and out, but if need be, it's not big deal if one surfaces a couple hundred feet from the intended exit.

But up north, with places like Karpata, Oil Slick Leap, etc..., there's a narrower exit-worthy stretch. This is mainly a concern at dive's end, when you're looking for where to get out.

How did you find Brac shore diving in terms of ease of finding your exit path? Some of us aren't good navigators.

Mainwall distances vary slightly, but are generally about a 20 minute kick out on the surface. Sand flats that you pass over are about 50-60 depth with the mainwall rising up to 30-40 feet before the drop off into the abyss. DOE does a really good job of marking the dive sites with buoys as you are strongly encouraged to tie up your boat and not use your anchor on the reefs. Therefore easy to shoot a compass bearing. In addition, several sites have underwater markers. North shore is definitely easier due to better weather usually, but Shore shore is pretty IMHO, but much more weather dependent. Now having said that it is still possible to screw up. I was leading a night dive this past summer at Radar Reef, a really easy dive. However on the surface we were dealing with some issues and I had my back to the shore. There was a current that is unusual and not paying attention, I missed the drop in point. Bottom line, totally missed the area and had a long swim back parallel to the shore. I felt like an idiot and it was a great reminder not to be complacent
Lastly a lot of dive sites are marked roadside with signs or small red painted rocks ala Bonaire style. There are a couple of books with descriptions of the sites and I think they are still available.

 

[Damselfish]

A few thoughts after doing some shore diving in the Brac this week. Caveats, This were shallow, 70 feet and less and north shore only dives. The coral bleaching is recovering slowly. At a rough guess, places where the coral was 70-80% white in the summer are now maybe 40-50%. Lower temperatures are helping. Where I was seeing 87-88 degrees in the summer, I am now seeing 84. The bad news is algae growth has exploded, 1-2 inches over most of the Reef. I guess the place needs a plague of sea urchins and whatever else eat algae. It is also lobster season, so between legal and poaching, the lobsters are pretty much wiped out. I did see one little guy in the boat basin hiding in the wall at Handcuff Reef as I was coming back in yesterday. Am not sure, but I thought he was muttering, “Where is where is Everyone, just where the F is Everyone.” Be Safe

We were on Little a few weeks ago. Temps running 84-86. Some bleaching but a DM there said he thought it was recovering - though he wasn't sure if that was true or he was just trying to convince himself.
Sometimes a lot of algae like that appears on Little, and I'm told it tends to disappear just as abruptly. Was nothing yet.

 

[BrackaFish]

We were on Little a few weeks ago. Temps running 84-86. Some bleaching but a DM there said he thought it was recovering - though he wasn't sure if that was true or he was just trying to convince himself.
Sometimes a lot of algae like that appears on Little, and I'm told it tends to disappear just as abruptly. Was nothing yet.

That is good to hear. Thanks

 

[BrackaFish]

Back in the Brac for a few weeks and it appears that the coral is doing a good job of recovering from the bleaching of the summer. Still not 100%, more like 70%. Photo by T. Manos