Update on Brac Beach and Cobalt Coast Resorts

[scubadada]

Not sure they are after that market anyway. Even at LCBR or CBBR they offer at most one afternoon boat dive.

And that is one of my major criticisms of LCBR, why can't they offer 2 tank afternoon dives? It's also one of the reasons I really like Ocean Frontiers on Grand Cayman, the 2 tankers in the afternoon

I was prevented from shore diving from Cobalt Coast all of one visit, and part of another. The unlimited shore diving may not work out. Without Lighthouse Point, this will probably be even more limited.

It would be well worth it if Reef Divers would offer afternoon boat dives.

 

[drrich2]

At most one? Do LCBR and CBBR reliably offer one afternoon dive daily, or is it iffy?

 

[AdivingBel]

LCBR is 3 dives a day, all at the BB Wall / Jackson Bight marine park if weather allows (no intentional afternoon "short" runs). Two night dives a week (extra cost) if there is enough interest.

 

[scubadada]

LCBR is 3 dives a day, all at the BB Wall / Jackson Bight marine park if weather allows (no intentional afternoon "short" runs). Two night dives a week (extra cost) if there is enough interest.

Correct, LCBR/Reef Divers reliably offers a 1 tank afternoon dive

 

[BDSC]

LCBR is 3 dives a day, all at the BB Wall / Jackson Bight marine park if weather allows (no intentional afternoon "short" runs). Two night dives a week (extra cost) if there is enough interest.

As far as I know, this is correct. For a week long package, they offer a basic package with 6 days of 2-tank dives. You can add 5 afternoon dives for a total of 17 scheduled dives. It seems to work out quite nicely for them as they stay pretty full during the year.

 

[KathyV]

At most one? Do LCBR and CBBR reliably offer one afternoon dive daily, or is it iffy?

Both LCBR and Cayman Brac Reef Resort reliably offer 2 morning dives and 1 afternoon dive, with 2 night dives per week for an extra charge and if there is enough interest. They don't offer shore dives at the LC and CB resorts. They always try to take divers to the best sites, but if the weather is bad they may have to make adjustments and go to the best available options.

 

[anenomefishman]

We just returned from the Caymans, we spent a week on Grand Cayman and a week on Little Cayman. While we were on GC we visited the Cobalt Coast resort that was recently purchased by JEM, the Tibbetts family corporation that owns Cayman Brac Beach Resort and Little Cayman Beach Resort.

Cobalt Coast looked very nice from what we could see, it may need a little upgrading but it seemed like a nice place. It is well "off the beaten path" so if you want to see the sites and attractions of GC while staying there you will need to rent a car for at least part of the time.

LCBR has a new resort manager named Chris who just started. The previous manager Kimberly is taking over at Cobalt Coast. Craig from LC Reef Divers has also gone to Cobalt Coast and Sharon is now the manager of the dive op on LC.

Renovations at the newly renamed Cayman Brac Beach Resort are expected to end as of November 13 and the resort will be back open for business, but the official Grand Re-Opening ceremony with government representatives won't take place until January. I was told that the reason for the renovations, especially the huge pool system with an infinity pool, is to make the resort more attractive to non-diving spouses and families traveling with divers.

There were 4 dive boats operating at LCBR while we were there, Holiday Diver and Reef Fanta Seas along with 2 boats from Brac (Little Sister and Ocean Sister). We were told that Reef Divers is taking advantage of the shut down at Brac Beach to get some of their boats re-furbished. Also that at least 1 new boat will be coming to LCBR (maybe 2?) because of the expansion of the dive op to include Cobalt Coast.

That's all the news I heard while hanging out at the Beach Nuts Bar; it was a fantastic trip!

we were just at LCBR. 11/8 to 11/14. we were on the Reef Fanta Seas. Ed was captain and Eric was with him as other divemaster. we heard the same stuff about Cobalt acquisition. it was not clear if JEM was going to rename Cobalt to Grand Cayman Beach resort or similar. Some people on our boat were going to go to Brac and and had to come to Little Cayman instead as Brac was closed.

 

[Damselfish]

I don't necessarily mind when an afternoon boat is only one tank rather than 2, but I want at least that much as an option. At LCBR I imagine they could fit in 2 afternoon dives but it would leave little hammock time, which goes against the grain of the place a bit. Heading around to BBW takes a certain amount of time.

Ocean Frontiers used to be only one tank in the afternoon. I figured they made the move to 2 because they were always so booked - it allows them to accommodate more customers overall since not everyone will do both am & pm. I think many afternoon passengers can be folks that simply couldn't get a spot on the morning boat, besides those who just like to sleep in. It can be pretty tight sometimes to do both the am & pm boats, especially if you'd like to eat lunch, and especially if you're not staying on site and would like to pop back to wherever your room is.

I've never gotten on the dive boat at the dock at Cobalt Coast, have gotten blown out of shore diving enough, and found that I didn't want to do it all that often when I could because of the distance to much of anything. While hopefully all divers realize that everything everywhere is condition dependent, they may have some disappointed guests who don't realize the possible limitations there of the "unlimited shore diving."

 

[KathyV]

we were just at LCBR. 11/8 to 11/14. we were on the Reef Fanta Seas. Ed was captain and Eric was with him as other divemaster. we heard the same stuff about Cobalt acquisition. it was not clear if JEM was going to rename Cobalt to Grand Cayman Beach resort or similar. Some people on our boat were going to go to Brac and and had to come to Little Cayman instead as Brac was closed.

I think it would be a mistake to name it Grand Cayman Beach Resort because there is very little actual beach at Cobalt Coast. Just a narrow strip that looks like it was engineered into place on an ironshore base.

When a hotel claims to be a beach resort on Grand Cayman everyone naturally assumes it is on the Seven Mile Beach - and the Cobalt Coast beach is no where near in the same league as the 7MB.

 

[KathyV]

I pulled this pic of the Cobalt Coast beach off of tripadvisor. It is certainly a lovely tropical scene but I think it would take a lot of nerve to name this a "beach resort" on Grand Cayman. On Bonaire or Saba, this would be a nice beach, but not on GC!