Shorediving without renting car

[Candiru]

Any thoughts on how one would go about shore diving without renting a car on Cayman Brac? I’m staying at CBBR diving three boat dives daily.

 

[KathyV]

Any thoughts on how one would go about shore diving without renting a car on Cayman Brac? I’m staying at CBBR diving three boat dives daily.

No, there isn't a house reef so you can't shore dive on the CBBR property. Renting a car is easy on Brac, even though you will be driving on the left there isn't much traffic.

After doing 3 dives per day and maybe a couple of night dives you won't have much time for shore diving anyway, especially during these short winter days.

If you were only doing the 2 morning dives you could do shore dives during the afternoons but you'd still need a car. You can't transport tanks and gear on a bicycle!

Or maybe you can find a buddy that has a car!

 

[Candiru]

So no taxi in the island?

 

[KathyV]

So no taxi in the island?

I am sure that the resort could arrange for someone to drive you, but then what, does the guy hang around while you dive - or do you make arrangements for him to come back for you later, while you stand by the side of the road in wet gear? There are only 2000 residents on the island so it's not a big place. I don't think that there is a bus service.

Some of the locals volunteer to give visitors a free tour of the island, see the links below, you can ask at the hotel desk, they can also arrange for car rentals.

http://www.islands.com/free-tour-you-cant-miss-cayman-brac

Journey to Cayman Brac

 

[KathyV]

It seems that I am wrong, there are taxis, they mostly do airport transfers but the front desk can make the arrangements. There is also a bus but I have never seen it - probably just a van; see the link below.

So you plan to put tanks and your wet gear in a taxi?

Maybe you should ask the dive shop for advice about shore diving. Perhaps you could hire a divemaster to drive you and shore dive with you.

I have never shore dived on Brac, but I have been to Bonaire several times and other shore diving destinations and I can't imagine shore diving without a car, except for the house reef at the resort.

Cayman Brac and Little Cayman :: Official Travel and Tourism Web Site :: It’s Yours to Explore :: Car Rentals/Taxi Services

 

[T.C.]

I recommend a good LPC.

Leather Personnel Carrier.

Dive gear weights about 60-70 lbs, so you should be able to march about 3 mph with it for a considerable distance....

Hey, you asked for thoughts....

 

[Damselfish]

Do you want to do this to fit in more dives, just curious about the shore diving there, or ...? Unless you can find someone local to drive and dive with, a car certainly seems most practical - is there a reason you don't want to rent a car for this?

I've stayed at LCBR many times and only visited CBBR on a day trip, but I assume the routine is similar. If you are on a 3 dive/3 meal a day package there is not really a lot of extra time in there. There's hammock/nap time but not time to do everything and also go off to squeeze in a shore dive - maybe even less if you are not renting a car and found some other way to get around. And if gear handling is the same, normally leaving BCs and regs on the boat all week, interfering with that routine is not so convenient either.

If you really want to go shore diving, it might work better to do just that for a solid day or afternoon (on which you ideally pay for the non-diver or 2 dive package, if they will do that.) Or just blow off your paid boat dive some afternoon and go out to do a couple shore dives. If you simply don't want to rent a car for the whole week, if you concentrate your shore diving you can just rent for that day or whatever.

One thing that might make sense, if you're really into night diving, is to try and arrange night shore dives with someone. Or even a late afternoon and night dive. Again, I'm assuming CBBR is similar to LCBR - they only schedule 1 or 2 night boat dives per week, and those often don't happen because not enough people sign up. You'd have to snag your gear at the end of the dive day, and bring it all back in the morning, and getting in dinner at the resort may be tricky.

 

[KathyV]

Do you want to do this to fit in more dives, just curious about the shore diving there, or ...? Unless you can find someone local to drive and dive with, a car certainly seems most practical - is there a reason you don't want to rent a car for this?

I've stayed at LCBR many times and only visited CBBR on a day trip, but I assume the routine is similar. If you are on a 3 dive/3 meal a day package there is not really a lot of extra time in there. There's hammock/nap time but not time to do everything and also go off to squeeze in a shore dive - maybe even less if you are not renting a car and found some other way to get around. And if gear handling is the same, normally leaving BCs and regs on the boat all week, interfering with that routine is not so convenient either.

If you really want to go shore diving, it might work better to do just that for a solid day or afternoon (on which you ideally pay for the non-diver or 2 dive package, if they will do that.) Or just blow off your paid boat dive some afternoon and go out to do a couple shore dives. If you simply don't want to rent a car for the whole week, if you concentrate your shore diving you can just rent for that day or whatever.

One thing that might make sense, if you're really into night diving, is to try and arrange night shore dives with someone. Or even a late afternoon and night dive. Again, I'm assuming CBBR is similar to LCBR - they only schedule 1 or 2 night boat dives per week, and those often don't happen because not enough people sign up. You'd have to snag your gear at the end of the dive day, and bring it all back in the morning, and getting in dinner at the resort may be tricky.

This may be just me, but I usually like to dive a site during the day before I try it at night; just so that everything is comfortable and familiar. That is usually my experience on liveaboards, you do an afternoon dive or two on a shallow site and the boat stays moored in the same spot for the night dive.

I think that your idea of blowing off the afternoon dive one day and going shore diving makes the most sense, but a car will still be the best option. We usually rent a car just for one day to explore Brac and it isn't expensive, but there is a $20 fee for a temporary drivers license if you don't have an international license - we don't!

I didn't even think about the issue of leaving gear on the boat overnight, that adds another complication and some inconvenience.

OP, It might be best to consider this trip to Brac and CBBR to be an exploratory trip, and if you like the island and the diving you could come back later for a trip that is geared toward shore diving.

We've read that both of the dive ops on Brac will rent tanks to shore divers, but Brac Scuba Shack seems more into supporting shore diving where Reef Divers are more dedicated to their all-inclusive routine of 3 dives per day and a couple of night dives per week.

Next time you visit Brac you could rent a condo and a car and make arrangements with BSS for a package that offers boat dives in the morning and tanks for shore dives for the afternoon and evening - or maybe just shore dives:
Shore Diving and Snorkeling | Brac Scuba Shack

While you are on Brac during this trip, you can follow the example of @scubadada and borrow one of the free bicycles from the resort and do some exploring, to figure out if you might like to come back some time for a trip that includes shore diving:
Shore diving on Cayman Brac?

 

[Damselfish]

I basically agree about the night thing, though I find land-based boat night dives often don't go to a site done during the day, and sometimes not always liveaboards either. But you'll at least get a good briefing, option of following the guide, and the boat there for support. But if you could hire someone local to drive and guide, like a DM not busy that night, that could be ok. And you could do a late afternoon and night dive at the same place. (Dunno if such a person would typically have a car on Brac though? I also have no idea if the OP is going with someone or thinking of doing this solo?)

(Just to be clear, I think this is all too much of a PITA to be worth the trouble. Doing the AI as designed, or planning a trip there with shore diving in mind to begin with, makes more sense. Mixing the 2 together not so much. But then, I'm one who much prefers to fall off the boat or a resort dock!)

 

[KathyV]

I basically agree about the night thing, though I find land-based boat night dives often don't go to a site done during the day, and sometimes not always liveaboards either. But you'll at least get a good briefing, option of following the guide, and the boat there for support. But if you could hire someone local to drive and guide, like a DM not busy that night, that could be ok. And you could do a late afternoon and night dive at the same place. (Dunno if such a person would typically have a car on Brac though? I also have no idea if the OP is going with someone or thinking of doing this solo?)

True, I have done boat dives at night on unfamiliar sites, but as you say there is usually a good briefing, there may be a DM in the water, and there is usually a bright light hanging down from the boat!

I had a vision of the OP dragging heavy gear over ironshore in the dark in an unfamiliar setting to dive an unknown site, and it just didn't sound very safe to me!