morecowbells
Contributor
The why:
For a solid decade, Cozumel has been the go -to dive destination for our October vacation. My husband wanted to try somewhere new. I was initially reluctant since Cozumel is my favorite place to dive. After hearing the news that my favorite dive sites in Cozumel were off limits to divers, I felt we made the right decision in trying somewhere new. We were torn between Turks and Caicos, Belize and Cayman Brac. Since Cayman Brac offered shore diving, it offered the best balance for our diving preferences.
The How:
The traveling logistics were more complex than figuring out a Rubik’s Cube. We booked outgoing flights: St. Louis -Miami on AA. Miami directly into Cayman Brac on Cayman Airways. Returning flights were more arduous. We flew Cayman Brac to Grand Cayman on Cayman Airlines. Switched to Southwest Airlines from Grand Cayman to Fort Lauderdale (dumpy airport but less hectic than Miami) to St. Louis. Cayman Airways ran at least a good hour late on each leg. It was not a big deal for us since we had a long layover in Grand Cayman.
The Where:
I am not a big fan on doing all inclusive resorts. We booked a condo unit at Caribbean Beach Village in the West End. I will admit that I was apprehensive about this unit because it was sold to another owner just prior to our arrival. Fortunately, the unit surpassed our expectations. I am a light sleeper. This unit was by far the most peaceful place I have stayed. There as no noise from clubs, cars or roosters. While being close to the airport, the noise was minimal and during civilized hours. The beach directly in front of condo was not ideal for swimming, but next door is the Carib Sands Resort. We used their dock for boat pick up. While we didn’t do any snorkeling, I heard from others that the area around the pier offered some very good snorkeling.
Across the parking lot from the Caribbean Beach Village is the restaurant and bar ‘The Captain’s Table’. We did venture to some other (very few and limited) restaurants, but always gravitated back to The Captain’s Table. Drinks were fresh and reasonably priced, and the food was excellent. The menu offered a lot of food options and every day, their specials changed. Their taco night was my favorite. I am picky about Mexican food, so many places gringo down their spice and serve up a bland version of Mexican food; however, these tacos were delicious. The food never became repetitive.
The Who:
We booked our dives with Brac Scuba Shack. I was very satisfied with this choice. We never had more than 7 divers on the boat, and there were a few dives with only three divers. Liesel was great at communicating and setting up our dives. Captain Stuart was a seasoned professional. He made sure to find a calm area in the occasional rough seas to spend our surface interval. He was always helpful with setting up, donning and removing our gear. Our dive master Steiner has an amazing gift of finding the most obscure and camouflaged macro life. Some of the critters were literally smaller than a pencil eraser. Tanks were consistently filled at or above 3000 psi. No issues with O ring leaks. They were a well-run, professional and a very personable dive operation.
The What:
We did four days of two tank boat dives. We did two days of two tank shore dives. I was glad we did the Tibbet’s wreck as a boat dive. It would have been an arduous swim from shore. I am not a big fan of wreck dives, and do not feel comfortable diving an overhead environment. However, I enjoyed swimming around the wreck and the reefs around the wreck is where I saw eagle rays and turtles. One dive was at Tombstone Reef. In the distance was a squadron of four eagle rays. They were too far away to photograph.
The shore dives were well marked with signs. Our condo rental had a shore diving guide booklet which proved very helpful. The entrances were unlike any other place that I have shore dived. I am accustomed to navigating jagged rocks, slippery surfaces and iron shore. Here, the iron shore had cutouts with ladders and gentle entrances. Many of the areas actually had an area for swimming/snorkeling with a narrower mouth to the open sea. We were there during low season. We never came across other divers or boats. Unlike Bonaire or Curacao, there is no evidence of broken glass or other ominous signs around parked cars.
I enjoyed swimming around the Atlantis Sculpture Garden at Radar Reef. My husband was getting antsy for me to move along. Just past the sculptures, we spotted an eagle ray foraging in the sand. I was able to get fairly close. When I turned around there was a barracuda approaching me. I though it was just another of several that I saw in Brac. I decided to take some video of the guy. He went from curious to downright dickish. He was posturing and made several fast, close passes. I tucked away my camera and my husband and I stayed side by side. He must have menaced us for a good 10 minutes before swimming away.
Handcuff Reef is another dream shore entry. The swim out to the reef was about 5 minutes. The size and number of towering barrel sponges was unlike anything that I have seen. The hard corals are more of a spur and groove formation which makes for an interesting variety of critters. After our dive, we ordered some meat patties from Pioneer Bakery. They were delish! I wish we ordered some more to stash in the condo.
The Verdict:
Cayman Brac does not have the number or abundance of marine life that I have seen in Bonaire, Curacao or Cozumel. However, I thought the diving was more interesting and richer in marine life than Grand Cayman, St. Croix or Roatan. On other dive vacations I feel lucky to have one eagle ray encounter. In Cayman Brac, we saw an eagle ray every day!
I feel Cayman Brac has tremendous potential as a prime shore diving destination. Being in our 50’s, the easy entries and areas to gear up were a bonus. I am not sure why the island dive operations do not allow divers to take two tanks at a time. When shore diving, we typically head one direction, take surface interval, snack and for second dive head in the opposite direction. Returning to dive shop for the second tank is not isolated to an issue of time, but I do not like getting into a car wet more than absolutely necessary.
The people in Cayman Brac were incredibly friendly and easy going. It was such a refreshing change to visit a Caribbean destination where the presence of garbage, homes with bars on the windows, time share/store hawkers, stray dogs or broken glass in parking areas is not prevalent. The people take a lot of pride in their island which is clearly evident when exploring the island.
No trip report of mine is complete without some amateur video footage
For a solid decade, Cozumel has been the go -to dive destination for our October vacation. My husband wanted to try somewhere new. I was initially reluctant since Cozumel is my favorite place to dive. After hearing the news that my favorite dive sites in Cozumel were off limits to divers, I felt we made the right decision in trying somewhere new. We were torn between Turks and Caicos, Belize and Cayman Brac. Since Cayman Brac offered shore diving, it offered the best balance for our diving preferences.
The How:
The traveling logistics were more complex than figuring out a Rubik’s Cube. We booked outgoing flights: St. Louis -Miami on AA. Miami directly into Cayman Brac on Cayman Airways. Returning flights were more arduous. We flew Cayman Brac to Grand Cayman on Cayman Airlines. Switched to Southwest Airlines from Grand Cayman to Fort Lauderdale (dumpy airport but less hectic than Miami) to St. Louis. Cayman Airways ran at least a good hour late on each leg. It was not a big deal for us since we had a long layover in Grand Cayman.
The Where:
I am not a big fan on doing all inclusive resorts. We booked a condo unit at Caribbean Beach Village in the West End. I will admit that I was apprehensive about this unit because it was sold to another owner just prior to our arrival. Fortunately, the unit surpassed our expectations. I am a light sleeper. This unit was by far the most peaceful place I have stayed. There as no noise from clubs, cars or roosters. While being close to the airport, the noise was minimal and during civilized hours. The beach directly in front of condo was not ideal for swimming, but next door is the Carib Sands Resort. We used their dock for boat pick up. While we didn’t do any snorkeling, I heard from others that the area around the pier offered some very good snorkeling.
Across the parking lot from the Caribbean Beach Village is the restaurant and bar ‘The Captain’s Table’. We did venture to some other (very few and limited) restaurants, but always gravitated back to The Captain’s Table. Drinks were fresh and reasonably priced, and the food was excellent. The menu offered a lot of food options and every day, their specials changed. Their taco night was my favorite. I am picky about Mexican food, so many places gringo down their spice and serve up a bland version of Mexican food; however, these tacos were delicious. The food never became repetitive.
The Who:
We booked our dives with Brac Scuba Shack. I was very satisfied with this choice. We never had more than 7 divers on the boat, and there were a few dives with only three divers. Liesel was great at communicating and setting up our dives. Captain Stuart was a seasoned professional. He made sure to find a calm area in the occasional rough seas to spend our surface interval. He was always helpful with setting up, donning and removing our gear. Our dive master Steiner has an amazing gift of finding the most obscure and camouflaged macro life. Some of the critters were literally smaller than a pencil eraser. Tanks were consistently filled at or above 3000 psi. No issues with O ring leaks. They were a well-run, professional and a very personable dive operation.
The What:
We did four days of two tank boat dives. We did two days of two tank shore dives. I was glad we did the Tibbet’s wreck as a boat dive. It would have been an arduous swim from shore. I am not a big fan of wreck dives, and do not feel comfortable diving an overhead environment. However, I enjoyed swimming around the wreck and the reefs around the wreck is where I saw eagle rays and turtles. One dive was at Tombstone Reef. In the distance was a squadron of four eagle rays. They were too far away to photograph.
The shore dives were well marked with signs. Our condo rental had a shore diving guide booklet which proved very helpful. The entrances were unlike any other place that I have shore dived. I am accustomed to navigating jagged rocks, slippery surfaces and iron shore. Here, the iron shore had cutouts with ladders and gentle entrances. Many of the areas actually had an area for swimming/snorkeling with a narrower mouth to the open sea. We were there during low season. We never came across other divers or boats. Unlike Bonaire or Curacao, there is no evidence of broken glass or other ominous signs around parked cars.
I enjoyed swimming around the Atlantis Sculpture Garden at Radar Reef. My husband was getting antsy for me to move along. Just past the sculptures, we spotted an eagle ray foraging in the sand. I was able to get fairly close. When I turned around there was a barracuda approaching me. I though it was just another of several that I saw in Brac. I decided to take some video of the guy. He went from curious to downright dickish. He was posturing and made several fast, close passes. I tucked away my camera and my husband and I stayed side by side. He must have menaced us for a good 10 minutes before swimming away.
Handcuff Reef is another dream shore entry. The swim out to the reef was about 5 minutes. The size and number of towering barrel sponges was unlike anything that I have seen. The hard corals are more of a spur and groove formation which makes for an interesting variety of critters. After our dive, we ordered some meat patties from Pioneer Bakery. They were delish! I wish we ordered some more to stash in the condo.
The Verdict:
Cayman Brac does not have the number or abundance of marine life that I have seen in Bonaire, Curacao or Cozumel. However, I thought the diving was more interesting and richer in marine life than Grand Cayman, St. Croix or Roatan. On other dive vacations I feel lucky to have one eagle ray encounter. In Cayman Brac, we saw an eagle ray every day!
I feel Cayman Brac has tremendous potential as a prime shore diving destination. Being in our 50’s, the easy entries and areas to gear up were a bonus. I am not sure why the island dive operations do not allow divers to take two tanks at a time. When shore diving, we typically head one direction, take surface interval, snack and for second dive head in the opposite direction. Returning to dive shop for the second tank is not isolated to an issue of time, but I do not like getting into a car wet more than absolutely necessary.
The people in Cayman Brac were incredibly friendly and easy going. It was such a refreshing change to visit a Caribbean destination where the presence of garbage, homes with bars on the windows, time share/store hawkers, stray dogs or broken glass in parking areas is not prevalent. The people take a lot of pride in their island which is clearly evident when exploring the island.
No trip report of mine is complete without some amateur video footage
