Info about Feb. trip to Cayman Brac or suggestions elsewhere REALLY appreciated...

[Rait]

I'm currently booking myself a 50th birthday dive trip for this February (5-13) and was seriously considering Brac Reef Beach Resort.


There will be 6 divers of various levels going for 7 or 8 days. Then there will be non-divers/family joining us for 4 or 5. I'm not concerned about the diving or dive op at all. But I am worried about the non-divers. The only comments I can find about swimming/snorkeling at BRBR seem to be negative. I know there is ironcore to walk over but is there any good snorkeling in this area?? (I thought I read something about eagle rays). And can you swim or is it too shallow to even cool off??


They all know there isn't much to do on the island. And realistically, with travel, they are only there for 3 or 4 days, but I feel like they should at least have decent snorkeling or swimming... I know the beach is nice but will they be totally bored during the morning/afternoon if they don't like to read a lot??


A few other questions:


Are the bikes in decent shape?? And kayaks??


Can you walk up and down the beach pretty far in either direction? Is it nice? or just seaweed and litter beaches??


If you think BRBR is a bad idea, got any better ones?? I think any of the nicer places on Grand Cayman would be too expensive. BRBR is a pretty good deal ($1500 for 7 day/12 dive, breakfast & dinner, primo dive op, great reviews).


But was also thinking maybe Curacao (low airfare, great diving??, things to do). Or Belize (but then a longer flight and another trip out to an atoll). Been to Coz many times, Roatan, Fiji, Tahiti (ahhhhhhh). But this one has to be close so others can join.


I just need great diving, hanging out at the bar or on the beach at night and making new friends & dive buddies. I like a beautiful beach/view and to feel like it's somewhat remote and very friendly. A few holes in the wall for local food or very casual restaurants nearby can be a plus (no big hotels or nightlife needed) . No cattle boats. All inclusive is a good idea for a group this size... great dive op is good idea for varying level of divers....


Thanks in advance for thoughts & suggestions!

 

[tkaelin]

Never been to CB so can't help but what you described my me think of Little Cayman. Check out Southern Cross or LCBC. There is a nice beach at both and an very nice beach at the Point of Sands with views over to CB that you can bike or scooter to. Diving is amazing. Take a look. TK

 

[-hh]

My wife is a non-diver and has spent several weeks on the BRBR "beach" ... sitting in the shade, reading (she's not much of a swimmer). Since I go out diving, I've never splashed around in the shallows there, but from what I recall, it is not what most people would consider to be a swimming beach: call it more of a "beachcomber's" beach to walk along, maybe wade some. There is enough water to lay down to cool off, though. Here's a photo from the web that illustrates.

The beach is a great view, but up close, you'll find that the littoral edge isn't just sand but there's rocks mixed in, so while I'd not call it ironshore, it also isn't the "nothing but sand" that most people think of for swimming...a good number of sea urchins in this area, so do watch your step and wear surf shoes. IIRC, it doesn't get particularly deep all the way out to the fringing reef - - you'll never see their 40ft diveboats in here, but sometimes a 10 foot skiff (plus the BRBR's kayaks, of course, which have always looked to be in good shape ... ditto their bikes): it is a dead end, so there's not much reason for boat traffic. I have seen some people occasionally snorkel in here, but there's better snorkeling elsewhere IMO.

My recommendation would be for your nondivers to initially just chill on the BRBR beach & explore that area (Westerly ponds; the beach on the west side of Divi) while you're out diving in the morning, then all of you can go explore elsewhere on the island with a rental car (figure $200/week for a small sedan that seats four). Here's my map on Google of different places of interest on the Brac; as you can see, the BRBR is way down at the western end, which means that without a car, your island exploration options are quite limited.

FYI, in the February timeframe, I'd suspect that your prevailing weather very well may be winds from the North, which means that the BRBR on the South Side is in the lee ... this means that the diving will be right out front on the Southside walls & reefs. But what this also may mean is that some of the northside shore diving & snorkeling spots that I have listed on my map would be to windward and probably a bit rough. If you do hit these sorts of conditions, I'd ask in the diveshop if your non-divers could hook up with Divemaster BJ to go someplace calm (I'm assuming along the southside); Mick will want you to pay for BJ, but the rates are quite reasonable. I know that BJ has done a shore dive out of the boat ramp at Goathead Bay, as he's the source of the comment on my map of "...too many" scorpionfish in the shallows," (BJ dives barefoot in warmwater fins which don't use booties) and that site is still on my personal 'To Do' list to see one of these years, weather permitting. Snorkelers can also go out on the diveboats too; modest charge and I'd recommend the PM 1-tank reef boat, since the Brac's wall dive sites can be pretty deep to the top, particularly on the southside, which is beyond the freediving depth reach of casual snorkelers, whereas all of the reef dives are generally in an area that's 50ft max, but with the reef tops in the 15ft range.

Hope this helps,


-hh

 

[MAGELLAN]

We went to BRBR a few years ago and had a great trip. My only complaint was one of the dive masters insisted on timing our dives, other than that it was great, and I would go back if I knew she wasn't there. We really liked the island because it was so far off the tourist radar. The beach is great, I think non-divers would like it, and there's plenty of beach to explore, but no real reef to snorkel, as I recall (plenty of things to see though, if you slow down and poke through the sand). The food was OK (all-inclusive, what do you expect?), and we had a nice outside movie on Friday, I think. Otherwise, there isn't any nightlife as far as we could tell. There was a really nice gazebo? over the water when we were there, but I beileve it's been blow away since then. We also did several shore dives, the best of which we did over and over. That shore dive had a nice entry at a long since destroyed resort, and we could find the russian shipwreck from shore - the first time was a real suprise!

The bikes were'nt that great, but with a car rental we went to the "Brac" and explored some caves along the way. I believe there is also a bird sanctuary? but we didn't make that.