Of interest to people wanting to shore dive in Cayman Brac

[divezonescuba]

We just got off the phone with the Cayman Brac Beach Resort. They are now not renting out tanks for shore diving. We have been to Cayman Brac several times and had rented shore tanks from them in the past. We have also dove off of their boats. Apparently, not allowing the use of shore diving tanks is a new policy since covid.

That leaves only the Brac Scuba Shack for obtaining shore diving tanks. We have also used them in the past for both shore and boat diving. On some trips, we ended up using both CBBR and Brac Scuba Shack for shore diving tanks.

Our issue with this is that if the Brac Scuba Shack is the only source available for shore diving, if there are any issues such as a compressor going down, etc, it will not be possible to dive.

We were very excited to resume shore diving in Cayman Brac, it is now a risk that we do not know, if we want to take.

 

[theduckguru]

Do scuba tanks transmit Covid?

 

[drrich2]

A big question is 'why?' Such a policy entails refusing a desired service to paying (or potentially paying) customers, which suggests it's not arbitrary, but somebody put some thought into it and had a motivation.

Historically, getting to the core motivation behind some policy in Caymans scuba diving can be like pulling teeth.

 

[KathyV]

Maybe they are short on tanks right now and don't want to let a lot of them go off the property because they need to keep refilling and restocking them?

I don't know if this explains the sudden change in policy about renting tanks for shore diving by Reef Divers at the Cayman Brac Beach Resort, but I do know that the Brac Resort was very short on a lot of things for awhile because many of their staff and materials (including dive masters, boats, tanks, and other diving equipment) were transferred over to the new Reef Divers Resort in South Caicos during the pandemic - at the time when many Cayman hospitality industry properties were shut down or operating at minimal capacity due to the covid restrictions.

That was one of the reasons that the Brac resort was the last of the 3 Clearly Cayman properties to reopen after the travel restrictions were lifted, they just didn't have enough people or equipment to fully open the resort or the dive op.

Now that the Cobalt Coast property has been sold and will soon shut down (and they are trying to shift customers with reservations over to Brac) they might be scrambling to make sure they have adequate staffing and equipment.

I know that there are a lot of surprising shortages of materials all around the world right now, so maybe scuba tanks are hard to get? A building contractor was recently telling me about his woes in trying to get all the things he needs to finish a building project - so maybe dive equipment is also hard to get right now?

Or maybe they just don't want to buy a lot of new stuff right now because they will be shifting people and material from the Cobalt Coast resort over to Brac when CC closes down in November, so maybe this is just a temporary situation?

That is just a guess on my part, but I would try talking to someone at Clearly Cayman and asking for more information. Let them know that the lack of shore diving options may mean that you will not be making a reservation to visit that resort. They might give you a better explanation or tell you that it is just a short term issue.

 

[divezonescuba]

We spoke with Brac Scuba Shack. They have two compressors. So we are much relieved that in case they have a problem with one they should still be ok. I think that we are good to go.

Some back history. We used to stay in a multi unit villa. But decided that caused too many food problems for the group. So we were looking at staying at the CBBR. Their prices have risen dramatically and now don’t allow shore diving. So, we started looking for a third alternative.

We found out that the Alexander hotel is now open and has an optional meal plan. So we think we will do the Alexander and the Brac Scuba Shack.

 

[scubadada]

Maybe they are short on tanks right now and don't want to let a lot of them go off the property because they need to keep refilling and restocking them?...

Hi @KathyV

I appreciate your guess, and you may be right. However, how many divers could possibly be on the Brac, needing to obtain tanks from CBBR for shore diving? The 4 CBBR boats take a maximum of 80 divers

I believe Scuba Shack has 2 boats, taking 10 divers each. Scuba Shack is, and has been, supportive of shore diving. There is a section of their website discussing shore diving. From my visit in 2017, I learned they allow solo shore diving with solo certification and appropriate equipment.

Cayman Brac has some very good, if little known, shore diving. Shore diving on Cayman Brac? To shore dive on Brac, one needs a dive flag in addition to a tank. Unless you bring your own, that must be rented also. When I inquired, only a single tank could be taken at a time, requiring return for cylinder exchange.

I have emailed CBBR in an attempt to obtain additional information. Guests at CBBR can always use Scuba Shack to support shore diving. It is right down the road and one must rent a car to take advantage of shore diving.

 

[KathyV]

Hi @KathyV

I appreciate your guess, and you may be right. However, how many divers could possibly be on the Brac, needing to obtain tanks from CBBR for shore diving? The 4 CBBR boats take a maximum of 80 divers

I believe Scuba Shack has 2 boats, taking 10 divers each. Scuba Shack is, and has been, supportive of shore diving. There is a section of their website discussing shore diving. From my visit in 2017, I learned they allow solo shore diving with solo certification and appropriate equipment.

Cayman Brac has some very good, if little known, shore diving. Shore diving on Cayman Brac? To shore dive on Brac, one needs a dive flag in addition to a tank. Unless you bring your own, that must be rented also. When I inquired, only a single tank could be taken at a time, requiring return for cylinder exchange.

I have emailed CBBR in an attempt to obtain additional information. Guests at CBBR can always use Scuba Shack to support shore diving. It is right down the road and one must rent a car to take advantage of shore diving.

You may be right but I'm wondering if they actually have 4 Reef Divers boats right now at the Brac resort and it occurs to me that they might even be renting tanks from Brac Scuba Shack or someone else at this time.

Last year I spoke with a Brac dive employee who told me that they had stripped the Brac dive op of boats and supplies to open the South Caicos resort. I'm guessing that they don't want to buy a lot of new materials or hire a bunch of staff right now because they will cease operations at Cobalt Coast on Nov 19. Right now they are probably scrambling - but again, that's just a guess on my part.

Here's a Cayman Compass article from July 2021 about Reef Divers transferring 4 boats, 8 dive staff, and a lot of materials to the South Caicos resort:

Cayman dive business shifting to Turks and Caicos

Next month the bulk of the remaining staff and crew of Cayman’s Reef Divers will load up four boats and make the 520 nautical mile, 34-hour ocean crossing to set up shop in Turks and Caicos.

www.caymancompass.com

 

[drrich2]

We found out that the Alexander hotel is now open and has an optional meal plan. So we think we will do the Alexander and the Brac Scuba Shack.

Please post a trip report with photos, particularly of the Alexander interior, and let us know what you think of the food, if you go. CBBR seems by far the best known and 1st thought of option for Cayman Brac dive trips. It's good to know the options and how they differ. Different folks, different strokes.

 

[KathyV]

You know, I was just thinking about this sudden change of policy at the Cayman Brac Beach Resort regarding shore diving and it strikes me as more and more odd.

As far as I know Reef Divers have never been resistant to shore diving. In fact, they installed some nice, new shore diving amenities at the Cobalt Coast Resort, including a tank station and rinse tanks available near the shore dive entry/exit point - and they've always promoted the availability of shore diving as one of the big benefits of staying at Cobalt Coast. I can't say that they ever promoted shore diving on Brac because most people were there for the boat diving; but they never seemed "anti-shore diving" either when someone wanted to rent tanks and a car and try shore diving Brac.

Now that they are closing Cobalt Coast and trying to shift more business over to their Brac resort, I can't understand why they would suddenly reverse their position regarding shore diving. I hope that it is just a temporary situation while they are getting the Brac resort and dive center back up to their full capacity.

I guess we will just have to wait and see! @divezonescuba please try to find out more information about what's going on while you are staying on Brac. And I agree with @drrich2 that I'd love to hear about your experiences if you decide to stay at the Alexandria and dive with Brac Scuba Shack.

Cayman Brac is a lovely spot but it has always been in the shadow of the major tourist attractions of Grand Cayman and of the beautiful diving on the Bloody Bay Wall off Little Cayman, so it would be great if it could become a bit more recognized as a great place to visit and dive! We've had some great times on Cayman Brac!

@divezonescuba, I don't know if you've ever seen the movie "Cayman Went" but it's available at the link below. It's a sweet, corny little film and not a cinematic masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination! But it was filmed on Brac (and filmed underwater on Brac's reefs) and I always enjoy watching it before taking a trip to Cayman Brac. Note: it was filmed when the Tibbetts wreck was still intact before it was ripped apart by a hurricane, so some things have definitely changed over time!

Have fun on your trip!

 

[divezonescuba]

We have cayman went on dvd. I enjoy watching it just before we go to cayman Brac each trip. Sometimes we show it during our pretrip briefing.

Prior to Covid I did ask CBBR about their non-boat diving rates for shore diving only and they were not competitive. I believe that they only gave a couple of hundred dollars off of the weekly boat diving rate. So it was not really worth staying there unless you wanted to go out on the boat every day. There have been a number of threads already about the restrictions on their boat dive operations.

I prefer a more Bonaire type of arrangement of shore diving when you want and boat diving when you want, where you want, and how long you want. I think cayman Brac offers the best shore diving in the Western Hemisphere and the underwater topography is simply stunning.

From my most recent onversation with CBBR, i could be mistaken, but it sounded Ike they really wanted us to stay at their resort versus staying elsewhere. I don’t know if they would be more shore diving friendly if we were doing that. They went so far as to suggest we stay there in the future. If they wanted to do that, I think they should be more shore diving friendly.

We hope that the Alexander works out and we know that the Brac Shack works regardless of what CBBR does.