Shore diving on Cayman Brac?

[scubadada]

Hi @mbs

CBBR is located on the South coast, very near to the West end. Of the 26 shore diving sites listed in the guide, 20 of them are off the North coast and only 6 off the South coast. There are no sites near CBBR (or Scuba Shack), the closest is a fair ways East at Public Beach. Here is a larger version of the shore diving map that may be easier to see, despite the less than perfect focus.

 

[drrich2]

One reason some like shore diving is to save money. If the Brac dive scene is one where many divers only need to rent a car if they shore dive, sounds like a different dynamic than Bonaire, where renting usually happens either way.

That still leaves ‘dive freedom,’ though having to take a dive flag would detract from the experience for me. Detract doesn’t mean ruin, but it’s a bit off putting.

I’m glad to see Cayman Brac shaping up as another Caribbean region shore diving option, just wondering how strong it’s appeal will be?

Richard.

 

[AggieDiver]

If some of the locals are smart, they will setup packages like they do on Bonaire that include a rental truck, a preferred pricing for tank fills with one of the dive outfits, and housing at a condo or rental home. There is not really any reason it can't be as good or better than Bonaire, especially since you could likely leave anything you want in a rental vehicle on Brac and not expect to have it stolen while diving.

Regarding shore diving from the resorts, the main problems with diving the south side of both Brac and Little from inside the lagoon is that a large percentage of the water coming into the lagoon over the top of the fringing reef in the form of waves ends up flowing back out through the channel cut in the form of a very strong current. So if you get into the current along the channel, you are very likely to end up on the outside of the reef with no way back in except to crawl over a jagged reef with waves breaking onto it. There is not much to see on the inside of the reef that couldn't be seen by snorkeling, so generally they discourage folks from trying to dive the lagoon.

 

[scubadada]

If some of the locals are smart, they will setup packages like they do on Bonaire that include a rental truck, a preferred pricing for tank fills with one of the dive outfits, and housing at a condo or rental home. There is not really any reason it can't be as good or better than Bonaire, especially since you could likely leave anything you want in a rental vehicle on Brac and not expect to have it stolen while diving.

Regarding shore diving from the resorts, the main problems with diving the south side of both Brac and Little from inside the lagoon is that a large percentage of the water coming into the lagoon over the top of the fringing reef in the form of waves ends up flowing back out through the channel cut in the form of a very strong current. So if you get into the current along the channel, you are very likely to end up on the outside of the reef with no way back in except to crawl over a jagged reef with waves breaking onto it. There is not much to see on the inside of the reef that couldn't be seen by snorkeling, so generally they discourage folks from trying to dive the lagoon.

There are only 2 operators on Cayman Brac, Reef Divers at CBBR and Brac Scuba Shack. There are many places to stay on Cayman Brac, several listed on the Scuba Shack website Cayman Brac Scuba Diving | Brac Scuba Shack Both operators rent tanks for shore diving. It is not difficult to rent a car, see post #7 regarding 2 agencies very near to CBBR and Scuba Shack. Overall, I'm not sure Cayman Brac is having a booming scuba business. If shore diving increases, perhaps someone will offer a package like you suggest. I think most divers will continue to do some boat diving in order to access the very nice deep wall sites, generally not easily accessible from shore. Scuba Shack is certainly more supportive of shore diving and offers guided dives in addition to information and support for shore diving.

 

[Sue/Dave]

Thanks for the info, making our first boat diving trip to Brac next month. Recently started hearing about the shore diving so will be checking it out and accomodations on northwest side for a future trip. Shore Diving Guide to Cayman Brac at Scuba Shack, will get it.
Would you use the bikes again or rent a vehicle just for sightseeing?

We'll be there first week of December...if you are also there then and interested in shore diving, let me know. Either way, have a great time on the Brac. It's "back to the Brac" for the 4th time for us!

 

[AggieDiver]

There are only 2 operators on Cayman Brac, Reef Divers at CBBR and Brac Scuba Shack. There are many places to stay on Cayman Brac, several listed on the Scuba Shack website Cayman Brac Scuba Diving | Brac Scuba Shack Both operators rent tanks for shore diving. It is not difficult to rent a car, see post #7 regarding 2 agencies very near to CBBR and Scuba Shack. Overall, I'm not sure Cayman Brac is having a booming scuba business. If shore diving increases, perhaps someone will offer a package like you suggest. I think most divers will continue to do some boat diving in order to access the very nice deep wall sites, generally not easily accessible from shore. Scuba Shack is certainly more supportive of shore diving and offers guided dives in addition to information and support for shore diving.

Yeah, I know it isn't difficult to piecemeal together a trip to do both boat and shore dives, but alot of folks would prefer to do it as a "one stop shop" deal. I was thinking more along the lines of the packages Buddy Dive does or at least used to do in Bonaire, where they offer a few days of boat diving, and then set you up with a truck and unlimited tank fills for a single price. If somebody on Brac were smart, they would get together with Scuba Shack, a car rental agency, and somebody like the Carib Sands or a few of the local VRBO homeowners to offer a single price package for lodging, 3 days of boat diving, and 3 days of unlimited shore diving.

 

[divezonescuba]

There needs to be a third option for diving in CB. One along the lines that AggieDiver mentions. Reef Divers does not offer a package unless you stay with them and the Brac Shack is too small to give out more than one tank at a time when they are open. Neither model would survive in a more competitive location like Bonaire.

Furthermore, CB would be a great location for technical diving, yet there is none.

 

[scubadada]

There needs to be a third option for diving in CB. One along the lines that AggieDiver mentions. Reef Divers does not offer a package unless you stay with them and the Brac Shack is too small to give out more than one tank at a time when they are open. Neither model would survive in a more competitive location like Bonaire.

Furthermore, CB would be a great location for technical diving, yet there is none.

It would be particularly easy for CBBR/Reef Divers to do this. You are already at CBBR, they have packages with just the 2 AM boat dives, all they would have to do is add on the car and the unlimited tanks for shore diving. I suggested this when I filled out my post stay survey.

It would be only a little more work for Brac Scuba Shack to do this, arrange for an accommodations partner(s)

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm not at all sure Brac currently has the scuba business to motivate either operator to start a program like this. In fact, all of Brac seemed somewhat economically depressed. I was not able to sample the shore diving this visit so really can't comment on the ease/quality/diversity of the shore diving. Perhaps if shore diving on Brac becomes more popular, services would increase. Of course, shore diving generates less revenue for the operator than boat diving, but the increase in overall number of customers, also doing some boat diving, may make up for it.

I really enjoyed my visit to Brac, hope to return someday

 

[divezonescuba]

Cayman Brac offers just about everything that Bonaire does both boat and shore diving wise, plus the topographiy is more diverse, and is it closer to the us. There are no van der twills or food warehouses, but there are three grocery stores. No kooyman, but a decent hardware store.

We sensed the economic situation as well. It seemed like half the houses were up for sale.

I think it mostly has to do with the difficulty of getting there and back from GC. Many people who went down there with us said they would never go down again because of that. If that ever gets solved, maybe things will change.

We thought or retiring there, but the missus says it is too primitively in comparison to Bonaire.

 

[Doctorfish]

I doubt the Brac Reef Resort would be interested in setting up the sort of package you are talking about as they already offer afternoon boat diving and the resort tends to be busy most of the time.