Stoo
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We returned from an impromptu summer trip to Brac Reef Resort in Cayman Brac. This is our trip report.
Typically, we are winter travellers, but Mrs. Stoo had the urge to do a little warm-water diving, having been short-changed during a March trip to Turneffe Island Lodge due to some ear problems. (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/belize/328892-trip-report-turneffe-island-resort.html) Just as we were discussing merits of a trip, we received an email blast about a fall special to Brac Reef. We had stayed at their sister resort on Little Cayman a couple of years ago and loved it so decided to investigate some.
I replied to the email and asked if the special could be applied to an August trip, and within an hour, the booking agent replied that they couldnt do that, but made an enticing offer. We were asking about leaving within a week or two at most, so perhaps a little Last Minute Club logic applied
We used Expedia to book flights and had a little trouble getting seats to Miami from Toronto, but it all worked out fine almost anyway
So within 10 days we were met at the airport in Cayman Brac (direct from Miami). The resort is right adjacent to the airport but we knew that noise wouldnt be an issue thanks to previous reports here on SB.
Our initial reaction to the resort was favourable. Everything was brand new thanks to recent renovations brought about by a visit from Hurricane Paloma a couple of years ago. Photos on the lobby wall showed the devastation. We were glad we werent there when Paloma came visiting!
Our room was pleasant, but compared to some recent vacations, we were starting to get a bit if a feeling of ordinary. Our room looked like every Holiday Inn Express I have stayed in. It was easily 200 yards back from the ocean and our view was largely of concrete. (We wondered if this was the reason that we got a bit of a deal, but it was obvious that all rooms had the same view). Bear in mind that our more recent trips include Turneffe Island Lodge and Laguna Beach in Utila.
Once settled, we made our way to the dive shop and completed the necessary paperwork and got a briefing on the dive plans for the week. We had signed up for the three-dive a day package). The operation looked good, with the usual retail selection of forgottables and tee-shirts. The boats were Newton 46s which are great dive boats. We were told to expect 21 people on board the following morning! (We flashed back to our wee boat at Turneffe with 4 6 divers!!!)
We enjoyed a delicious buffet-style dinner that night and called it a night after a couple of cold ones at the outside bar.
The next day we started off with a nice breakfast, and headed to the dock. Our gear had been picked up at 7:00 AM and was set up on the boat already! We headed out after a brief boat briefing with about 19 on board, but there was plenty of space.
The rest of the week was very nice consistent, good, plentiful meals, consistent good diving, great weather (although we kept a close eye on a couple of depressions that went north and south of us.) The number of divers varied but other than the first day, we generally had about 16 to 18 divers. The DMs were pretty mellow and allowed us to go our own way if we preferred and we appreciated this. We generally get very good mileage from our tanks so after the first day, our DMs helped us to get in first so we could max our time. A small group on board had apparently complained" about having to wait for us. They apparently generally surfaced after about 35 minutes of a 60 minute dive
Overall, I would describe the Brac diving as very good although our day trip to Bloody Bay Wall in Little Cayman confirmed my belief that the diving was better there. (One dive: 3 turtles, 6 sharks (including two less than 8 feet away ). The water was very warm (86 88) so that even my 98# wife could stay warm without her hooded vest, although she took a fair bit of ribbing in her 5 mil suit. The reefs were very nice and appeared to be healthy, although there was several concerning blooms of red algae as well as a green algae that I dont recognize. Another guest was a marine biologist and he didnt know what it was either. It might have been a seasonal bloom caused by the warm water.
As usual, a week went by way too fast. I am up in Tobermory again, enjoying water that is almost exactly 50 degees colder!
Would we return? Sure, but there are other places we would go back to first. The staff at Brac Reef was wonderful. They were very attentive, called us by name and catered to our every need. The dive staff was very nice, but tended to change daily. The resort has four boats, but only operated one that week since they were so quiet. I assume that the rotating staff was to spread the work around. We met some people from Vancouver area who were on there 14th trip to the resort and they cited the staff as the reason they kept coming back, which I could understand.
The resort facility was somewhat ordinary as I mentioned, but of course this meant that everything was brand new, and worked well. It perhaps lacked the character that we enjoy, but this trip also cost about half of what our trip to Turneffe cost.
We give this place a 4/5 stars if you are looking for a fairly economical, very nice operation!
Oh the one little glitch in our flight planning: Because flights to Miami were tight, we flew down on American, but returned with Air Canada no problem until we realized that our car was three terminals away!
Typically, we are winter travellers, but Mrs. Stoo had the urge to do a little warm-water diving, having been short-changed during a March trip to Turneffe Island Lodge due to some ear problems. (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/belize/328892-trip-report-turneffe-island-resort.html) Just as we were discussing merits of a trip, we received an email blast about a fall special to Brac Reef. We had stayed at their sister resort on Little Cayman a couple of years ago and loved it so decided to investigate some.
I replied to the email and asked if the special could be applied to an August trip, and within an hour, the booking agent replied that they couldnt do that, but made an enticing offer. We were asking about leaving within a week or two at most, so perhaps a little Last Minute Club logic applied
We used Expedia to book flights and had a little trouble getting seats to Miami from Toronto, but it all worked out fine almost anyway
So within 10 days we were met at the airport in Cayman Brac (direct from Miami). The resort is right adjacent to the airport but we knew that noise wouldnt be an issue thanks to previous reports here on SB.
Our initial reaction to the resort was favourable. Everything was brand new thanks to recent renovations brought about by a visit from Hurricane Paloma a couple of years ago. Photos on the lobby wall showed the devastation. We were glad we werent there when Paloma came visiting!
Our room was pleasant, but compared to some recent vacations, we were starting to get a bit if a feeling of ordinary. Our room looked like every Holiday Inn Express I have stayed in. It was easily 200 yards back from the ocean and our view was largely of concrete. (We wondered if this was the reason that we got a bit of a deal, but it was obvious that all rooms had the same view). Bear in mind that our more recent trips include Turneffe Island Lodge and Laguna Beach in Utila.
Once settled, we made our way to the dive shop and completed the necessary paperwork and got a briefing on the dive plans for the week. We had signed up for the three-dive a day package). The operation looked good, with the usual retail selection of forgottables and tee-shirts. The boats were Newton 46s which are great dive boats. We were told to expect 21 people on board the following morning! (We flashed back to our wee boat at Turneffe with 4 6 divers!!!)
We enjoyed a delicious buffet-style dinner that night and called it a night after a couple of cold ones at the outside bar.
The next day we started off with a nice breakfast, and headed to the dock. Our gear had been picked up at 7:00 AM and was set up on the boat already! We headed out after a brief boat briefing with about 19 on board, but there was plenty of space.
The rest of the week was very nice consistent, good, plentiful meals, consistent good diving, great weather (although we kept a close eye on a couple of depressions that went north and south of us.) The number of divers varied but other than the first day, we generally had about 16 to 18 divers. The DMs were pretty mellow and allowed us to go our own way if we preferred and we appreciated this. We generally get very good mileage from our tanks so after the first day, our DMs helped us to get in first so we could max our time. A small group on board had apparently complained" about having to wait for us. They apparently generally surfaced after about 35 minutes of a 60 minute dive
Overall, I would describe the Brac diving as very good although our day trip to Bloody Bay Wall in Little Cayman confirmed my belief that the diving was better there. (One dive: 3 turtles, 6 sharks (including two less than 8 feet away ). The water was very warm (86 88) so that even my 98# wife could stay warm without her hooded vest, although she took a fair bit of ribbing in her 5 mil suit. The reefs were very nice and appeared to be healthy, although there was several concerning blooms of red algae as well as a green algae that I dont recognize. Another guest was a marine biologist and he didnt know what it was either. It might have been a seasonal bloom caused by the warm water.
As usual, a week went by way too fast. I am up in Tobermory again, enjoying water that is almost exactly 50 degees colder!
Would we return? Sure, but there are other places we would go back to first. The staff at Brac Reef was wonderful. They were very attentive, called us by name and catered to our every need. The dive staff was very nice, but tended to change daily. The resort has four boats, but only operated one that week since they were so quiet. I assume that the rotating staff was to spread the work around. We met some people from Vancouver area who were on there 14th trip to the resort and they cited the staff as the reason they kept coming back, which I could understand.
The resort facility was somewhat ordinary as I mentioned, but of course this meant that everything was brand new, and worked well. It perhaps lacked the character that we enjoy, but this trip also cost about half of what our trip to Turneffe cost.
We give this place a 4/5 stars if you are looking for a fairly economical, very nice operation!
Oh the one little glitch in our flight planning: Because flights to Miami were tight, we flew down on American, but returned with Air Canada no problem until we realized that our car was three terminals away!
