I feel lucky - I've just won a trip to CBRR!

[KathyV]

My husband and I have enjoyed attending Chicago's annual Our World Underwater dive show for many years. We went to the show again last month and had a great time.

I entered a few of the contests being offered by exhibit vendors and I've just received confirmation that I've won a free trip to the Cayman Brac Reef Resort! My prize is for 1 person and includes accomodations for 7 nights, breakfast and dinner daily, 6 days of 2 tank dives with Reef Divers, taxes, services, and airport ground transportation! (Subject to availabilty, no holidays - so I should probably book it fairly soon.) We usually take a dive trip in late October or early November.

We have never stayed on Cayman Brac. We've been to the Caymans 3 times, two of the trips were land-based from Grand Cayman and the most recent trip (3 years ago) was on the Cayman Aggressor. We had a wonderful time. The boat and crew were fantastic and we had perfect weather. It was some of the best diving we've ever enjoyed. We spent most of the week diving off LC on Bloody Bay Wall but we did spend some time off of Brac including dives on the Tibbetts.

I have been reading the Scuba Board posts/reports about Brac and CBRR and I am pleased to see that most of the opinions are positive. I am writing to ask any divers that are familar with the island, the diving, travel, and the resort to offer suggestions to help us plan a terrific trip!

Should we try and upgrade the package and the accomodations? I imagine we will get a basic room with our free vacation, should we try for one of the suites? Any advice about specific rooms or suites?

The free trip includes 2 boat dives per day, should we upgrade to 3? Would it be cheaper to upgrade now or better to wait until we are down there to judge the weather and diving conditions. Is there any/much shore diving on Brac? Would it be better to opt for a mix of shore and boat dives? Any special dive sites that we should request?

The free trip includes breakfast and lunch daily, should we upgrade to the full meal plan including 3 meals per day and 3 drinks per night? If we decided to get lunch at other restaurants, are we likely to run into conflicts with the afternoon dive boat schedule? Are there any good lunch options near the resort or will we need a car? We would probably want to rent a car for a day or two to see the island.

I see that AA now flies directly to Brac from Miami, any suggestions for the best days/flights? If we want to add a few days at the end of the week (fly to GC and then fly back to Miami?) Is that likely to cause problems or significantly increase the expense?

Any advice for things/experiences on Cayman Brac that we should not miss (or things we should avoid!?)

I really appreciate your feedback, thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[-hh]

My husband and I have enjoyed attending Chicago's annual Our World Underwater dive show for many years. We went to the show again last month and had a great time.

I entered a few of the contests being offered by exhibit vendors and I've just received confirmation that I've won a free trip to the Cayman Brac Reef Resort! My prize is for 1 person and includes accomodations for 7 nights, breakfast and dinner daily, 6 days of 2 tank dives with Reef Divers, taxes, services, and airport ground transportation! (Subject to availabilty, no holidays - so I should probably book it fairly soon.) We usually take a dive trip in late October or early November.

Congratulations. FYI, its name is "BRBR" for Brac Reef Beach Resort.

We have never stayed on Cayman Brac. We've been to the Caymans 3 times, two of the trips were land-based from Grand Cayman and the most recent trip (3 years ago) was on the Cayman Aggressor. We had a wonderful time. The boat and crew were fantastic and we had perfect weather. It was some of the best diving we've ever enjoyed. We spent most of the week diving off LC on Bloody Bay Wall but we did spend some time off of Brac including dives on the Tibbetts.

Well, you're already familiar with the airport on Grand Cayman. You'll have to get onboard a Cayman Airways flight for the GCM-CYB leg; be aware of the luggage restrictions if your flight details are not on one of the 737 flights.

I have been reading the Scuba Board posts/reports about Brac and CBRR and I am pleased to see that most of the opinions are positive. I am writing to ask any divers that are familar with the island, the diving, travel, and the resort to offer suggestions to help us plan a terrific trip!

Take Wurther's Originals (hard candies) for the dive staff.

Should we try and upgrade the package and the accomodations? I imagine we will get a basic room with our free vacation, should we try for one of the suites? Any advice about specific rooms or suites?

I haven't yet seen the suites yet, but I expect that Linton Tibbets gave G.M. Trudy good resources to make them nice. Probably comes down to a question for you for how much extra interior room you're interested in paying for.

The free trip includes 2 boat dives per day, should we upgrade to 3? Would it be cheaper to upgrade now or better to wait until we are down there to judge the weather and diving conditions. Is there any/much shore diving on Brac? Would it be better to opt for a mix of shore and boat dives? Any special dive sites that we should request?

The free trip includes breakfast and lunch daily, should we upgrade to the full meal plan including 3 meals per day and 3 drinks per night?

Notice how I've grouped these questions together. BRBR's current packages have basically a $325ish upsell for the basic vs expanded and IMO, if you're interested in the afternoon dives, I think it is a very good value.

For shore diving, you'll need wheels. Divemaster BJ Walton can often be hired to be a guide (more so if business is slow), also it also isn't hard to do-it-yourself. Expect shore dives to be reefs, not walls...walls are simply too far of a swim to be practical. They'll also generally be on the island's North side, which you'll have to consider when it comes to which side is to leeward/windward during your week.

For 'recommended' dive sites, this can be a bit of a challenge, since it can depend upon individual preferences & comfort levels. My broad recommendation would be to be to make sure to try a Southside wall dive (weather dependent) if you're not uncomfortable with a ~100fsw profile, as the Brac's southside is a distinctly different formation than you've seen on Little Cayman. Similarly, if the weather's flat enough for them to offer a "Bluff Run", pay the extra to go do this...and also take along your land camera.

FWIW, I also enjoy 'Lighthouse' reef ... not too many places I've seen in which one will find a spur-&-groove formation with 20-30ft of vertical swim-thru relief.

If we decided to get lunch at other restaurants, are we likely to run into conflicts with the afternoon dive boat schedule? Are there any good lunch options near the resort or will we need a car? We would probably want to rent a car for a day or two to see the island.

If you're planning on doing 3 dives/day, it basically means that you should stick to the hotel's lunch options, since many of the food choices are slow and/or a fairly long drive. For going out for a meal, Aunt Sha's is my #1 recommendation.

I see that AA now flies directly to Brac from Miami, any suggestions for the best days/flights? If we want to add a few days at the end of the week (fly to GC and then fly back to Miami?) Is that likely to cause problems or significantly increase the expense?

#1 rule is ... don't forget to book a flight to connect over to the Brac. I've seen people in Grand Cayman's airport ask a taxicab

You can add some days in Grand if you want - given the Brac's ~6am jet service, it is probably better to put onto the end of your trip. Of course, Grand won't be cheap.

Any advice for things/experiences on Cayman Brac that we should not miss (or things we should avoid!?)

I really appreciate your feedback, thanks in advance for your advice!

Generally, the Brac is a low-key place where you tend to make your own (quiet) entertainment...walks out to Long Beach, First Cay, Parrot Reserve, many caves, etc. They have a small museum in Stake Bay that you'll either find to be hokey...or fascinating. In the Museum, buy a copy of the "Hurricane of '32" book. Read it, and THEN go visit Rebecca's cave.

For the most part, we take the afternoons off and go explore. A rental car should be around $225/week. We drive around, stop wherever, meet people. For an example of the latter, find the "NIM Things" gift shop in Spot Bay and go in and let Tenson Scott (Caymanite Jeweler) talk your ear off for an hour. For two hours, ask him how to catch a Wahoo without a hook.

Something else that you can also try to get somewhat of a feel is to buy the DVD "Cayman Went", which was filmed on the Brac. It is somewhat of a romanticized view, but we enjoyed it just for the backgrounds...


-hh

 

[-hh]

Been meaning to upload this for awhile...here's a quick photo montage video from Cayman Brac from our trip last Spring. Enjoy!


-hh

 

[BDSC]

Congrats on winning the trip! You'll have a great time at the Brac Reef Beach Resort. I have been and have a group going back the first week of May. There are a few things I can tell you about.

As far as the suites go, they are the very same size as the regular rooms. The difference is they have a mini-fridge, a dvd player, and a leather recliner from what I can tell and from I've been told. It's not much more to "upgrade" to one but unless one of the items I have listed is really important to you, I don't know it would be worth it.

The food. Well I have been to many places in the Caribbean and without a doubt, the food at the BRBR is the very best I have had. It is gourmet food served on a buffet. Now I don't know that breakfast and lunch can really be gourmet but the dinners certainly are. Don't get me wrong, the breakfast and lunch buffet are excellent, but the dinner buffet is in my opinion, incredible. If you do upgrade and do the afternoon dives, I would eat at the resort for lunch. Just much easier that way and you won't find a better lunch anyway. At one time to add on the lunch buffet was $114 per person for the week. They do have a bar menu you can also order from and it's good as well and you may come out a bit cheaper but you just get several selections if you do the buffet. I might add they have added an "upscale" dining facility there as well so that might be an option one night if you want a change.

You just have to decide for yourself if adding the dives in the afternoon is worth it. I always do because I'm there to dive! I don't know that there is all that much to sight-see on the island and I can sight-see anywhere. I can't dive anywhere. So we always do the afternoon dives. To me it's worth it.

As far as shore diving goes, we just never did it because after doing three dives a day we didn't feel the need for more but you could rent a vehicle and do it. It's just not practical to do it from the actual resort.

Drinks? The three drinks can either be sodas or alcoholic. If it's alcohol and you have a beer during lunch, then it is my understanding your diving is done for the day. I'm not really sure how or if that's enforced but that's the written policy as I understand it. I'm not much of a drinker but the package we are on will include the three drinks. A lot of times at the end of the afternoon dive I'll take some of my drink credits and "buy" a beer for my dive crew. They really seem to appreciate it.

We are flying direct from Miami to Cayman Brac. You can do that on a large jet and avoid the puddle jumpers. It just seems easier to do it that way. I think the main flight leaves Miami about lunch time.

If I were you, I'd spend the extra to upgrade to all meals, the afternoon dives, and the drinks as well. Not sure the "suite" is worth the extra but again it's not that much to do that. I just like the total package when I go to a place like that!

 

[KathyV]

Thanks for all the great information, I am getting excited about this trip!

 

[KathyV]

Congratulations. FYI, its name is "BRBR" for Brac Reef Beach Resort. -hh

Thanks again, and I will be sure to get the name right!

 

[KathyV]

Been meaning to upload this for awhile...here's a quick photo montage video from Cayman Brac from our trip last Spring. Enjoy!


-hh

Great pics, thanks for sharing! Now I can't wait to go there!

 

[lynn614]

Kathy;
I went to the Beneath the Sea show in New Jersey last month and just got the same prize in the mail. At first I thought there at to be some type of catch to it, but I can't seem to find one?

Just seems weird that they would mail the certificate considering the value of the prize without calling and telling us we won?????

Anyone else out there get one of these prizes after attending one of the dive shows? Or are Kathy and I just the luck winners from the Chicago and New Jersey Dive shows??????