Shore diving on Cayman Brac?

[AggieDiver]

Yeah, I mentioned Scuba Shack in my post because I agree that CBBR is unlikely to want to do anything that would draw divers away from their own boat packages. I see the shore diving as a way to make the island more affordable to divers who may not have the budget for a week long full resort package or 7 days of 3 dives/day boat diving. You get 4-6 people staying in a condo or rental house, share the car rental costs, and split the food costs to cook your own meals, and get unlimited tank fills for a set price, you could end up with a very Cozumel-level price for a week of very good diving.

And just for my education, why does everybody think it is so difficult to get to Brac or Little? It is one extra connection. Granted, the airport is a bit crowded at times, especially right now due to the rebuild in progress, but it really isn't that different from connecting to small puddle jumpers in a bunch of other places in the world. It never seemed that difficult to me, and getting away from the crowds more than made up for any extra effort for the extra leg. But I keep reading people taking about how difficult it is to get there... What am I missing?

 

[mbs]

Thanks for the info! I will be interested to see it for myself - soon Also noticed that Scuba Shack does offer a total package:
BRAC FREEDOM SPECIAL
US$1015 per person (based on double occupancy) includes 7 nights accommodation in a private home with pool, 6 days of two tank boat dives, unlimited shore diving and a rental vehicle

 

[drrich2]

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.

This is an important assertion worthy of discussion. A lot of divers go to Bonaire fairly early in their diving, as there's the option for really easy shore diving. At many shore dives to the south it's not a big deal if you pop up at dive's end a couple hundred feet north or south of your entry point. There are exceptions; I got a large abrasion at Aquarius when when sea sick wife insisted on exiting immediately without finding the cut through the iron shore, and I had to go with her (I'm still not sure why). Up north Oil Slick Leap has the ladder for exit; wouldn't want to miss that.

So, from the perspective of fairly new divers, OW cert.'d & under 50 dives, is at least a good-sized portion of the Cayman Brac shore diving scene comparably 'easy' to Bonaire?

Put another way, does shore diving C.B. require a more advanced diver than Bonaire?

Richard.

 

[scubadada]

I agree with @AggieDiver It is actually easier to get to Brac if you can take the nonstop from Miami. Otherwise, it is not harder to get to Brac than to Little Cayman. The latter seems to be much more successful for other reasons. Perhaps it's the choice of accommodations and operators or something else?

On this trip, I traveled Monday-Monday, the Grand Cayman airport was a piece of cake without the weekend crowds. Maybe we'll see how the airport expansion works if it opens next year as they say it will. Right now, the airport looks and works exactly like it did when I first visited in 1996, but with more security

 

[drrich2]

On this forum, Little Cayman's Bloody Bay Wall and Jackson Bight are sometimes said to have the 'best diving in the Caribbean,' IIRC, a title I don't see used often for others except Turks & Caicos. Neither Little Cayman or Cayman Brac is often advocated for non-diving topside activities; Grand Cayman seems to grab that mindshare. I've seen Brac advocated as 'almost as good' as Little Cayman; I wonder how pervasive that view is?

So the question becomes, why go to Brac instead of L.C.? Is there any reason beyond a minor cost difference on some trips? What is Cayman Brac's 'market segment,' that G.C. or L.C. can't meet better?

Richard.

 

[scubadada]

On this forum, Little Cayman's Bloody Bay Wall and Jackson Bight are sometimes said to have the 'best diving in the Caribbean,' IIRC, a title I don't see used often for others except Turks & Caicos. Neither Little Cayman or Cayman Brac is often advocated for non-diving topside activities; Grand Cayman seems to grab that mindshare. I've seen Brac advocated as 'almost as good' as Little Cayman; I wonder how pervasive that view is?

So the question becomes, why go to Brac instead of L.C.? Is there any reason beyond a minor cost difference on some trips? What is Cayman Brac's 'market segment,' that G.C. or L.C. can't meet better?

Richard.

I have only been to Little Cayman twice, 2010 and 2014. The walls are absolutely gorgeous. Relying on my memory, I would say Brac has a higher density of fish than I remember from Little Cayman. I wonder if others have an opinion on this? I'd be very interesting in hearing why people think Little Cayman is more popular than Cayman Brac.

 

[scubadada]

Thanks for the info! I will be interested to see it for myself - soon Also noticed that Scuba Shack does offer a total package:
BRAC FREEDOM SPECIAL
US$1015 per person (based on double occupancy) includes 7 nights accommodation in a private home with pool, 6 days of two tank boat dives, unlimited shore diving and a rental vehicle

Hi @mbs

I had not seen this offer when I previously looked at their website. It's listed under current specials and looks like it may only be available for 3 specific months during 2018. They may offer this package at other times, one would have to inquire

BRAC FREEDOM SPECIAL
US$1015 per person (based on double occupancy) includes 7 nights accommodation in a private home with pool, 6 days of two tank boat dives, unlimited shore diving and a rental vehicle

VALID OF THE MONTHS OF MAY, SEPTEMBER & OCT 2018

 

[mbs]

Hi @mbs

I had not seen this offer when I previously looked at their website. It's listed under current specials and looks like it may only be available for 3 specific months during 2018. They may offer this package at other times, one would have to inquire

BRAC FREEDOM SPECIAL
US$1015 per person (based on double occupancy) includes 7 nights accommodation in a private home with pool, 6 days of two tank boat dives, unlimited shore diving and a rental vehicle

VALID OF THE MONTHS OF MAY, SEPTEMBER & OCT 2018

I probably would not have noticed it either except that when I first entered their site it popped up! I assume those 3 months are their slow months. I'll have to swing by their shop and have a chat with them.

I have been to LC a few times and this will be our first on Brac. It was a hard decision to not go back to LC. I originally had looked into GC explicitly for the skipping one additional flight thing, but after some back and forth's decided to give Brac a try. Flying is just a pita these days so direct non-stops are a real selling point. Not to say I won't do another hop if necessary, just directs are a big bonus! I'll report back afterwards, but the beautiful new renovations and talk that food is better than LCBR swayed me to give it a go. In Bonaire we do morning boat dives and afternoon shore dives so if something like that was an option in Brac that could be interesting! As for flights, it looks like its only inbould that you can do miami to brac? Returning is still thru GC?

 

[AggieDiver]

I think it is probably a personal preference thing. The islands are very close, but the topographic style of the diving is a bit different. The one thing that is pretty much unique to LC is the really shallow wall top depths. Many of the Bloody Bay Wall sites have vertical drop-offs that start at 20' or so, and most of the wall tops in the entire marine park are no deeper than about 35-40'. So if you love walls, but are an air hog when diving deeper and want to extend your dive time, it is kind of a paradise. For me, it is the big sandy areas. I just love the combination of a wall dive with a shallow top combined with a big sandy area with big coral heads in it. I don't know that I would agree Brac has more fish density, but I do think they probably have a few more sharks and eels than Little. It probably varies from site to site, with some on Brac fishier than others on LC and vice versa.

Brac is a bit different in that a lot more of the sites are spur and groove formations, with deeper wall tops and little or no sandy areas behind the wall edge. There are a few exceptions, like east and west chute, but generally it is slightly deeper diving and more linear, following spurs/grooves back and forth across the site. Brac has a little more for people to do topside, so for those who would prefer 2 dives in the morning and then an afternoon of driving around to do other things, Brac would get the nod. For me, I value the peace and quiet and solitude above most other things, so LC is just my ticket.

It really just comes down to what you prefer from your diving and from your above water vacation time.

 

[tarponchik]

@scubadada Thank you for the information. Is the book that you mentioned, Shore Diving Guide to Cayman Brac, one of the free brochures available over there, or did you buy it? I could not find it at Amazon.