BVI vs Cayman Brac

[KeithG]

Time for a new destination... I've dived in alot of spots in the Caribbean, including Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Dominican... I am spoiled, no doubt... I thought I would pose the question to you guys out on ScubaBoard...

My group is 4 divers consisting of divers of varying ability. I am the most experienced, certified DM, 28 yrs and 1000s of dives. My better half, only 6 years but is PADI AOW with ~200 dives and very competent. My sister and husband, who I'd consider intermediate and advanced, respectively.

So, on to the topic of my thread - BVI vs Brac:

1. Which would you pick for scuba only, and why?
2. Which would you pick overall for scuba and shore activities?

Also looking for dive operator recommendations. I prefer small groups and would even consider a private DM/Guide.

Thanks in advance,

Mark

Scuba only then go to brac. Because there is almost nothing shore based to do there except peak at the caves or sleep in a hammock. All of these are great vacation things.

By BVI I assume you mean Tortola. Tortola has lots of shore based stuff (thinking Pussers rum) and some pretty decent diving.

But they are very different. A Brac vacation will be very insular - you may not leave the dive resort. Tortola has more of a community and big town feel.

Both are great.

 

[KathyV]

BTW - is cayman Airways the only way to get from GCM to Brac?

Pretty much, but I have seen private jets flying in if you happen to have one of those!

Brac and Little are about 90 miles from Grand Cayman so there is no ferry service and Cayman Air is the only commercial passenger airline that services the sister islands. It is a short flight from GCM to CYB, usually a half hour or less. I think we each paid $110 roundtrip for our recent trip.

Cayman Air flies 3 different aircraft to CB, Twin Otters, a turboprop, and a jet - the price is the same.

The "wait to fly rule" does apply to the hop between GC and the sister islands. When booking our return flight we usually try to leave Brac around 11 am or 12 pm and get an afternoon flight home from GCM, that way we can dive 2 tanks in the morning the day before we leave.

 

[mcohen1021]

Now comes the fun part - booking a frequent flier air ticket!!! They have since got rid of the "nice" route and now I'll have to fly in/out on week days - thank god i have a generous PTO benefit

Private jet from GCM to CYB? No problems, President Trump will send his jet for us! Hahaha

 

[divezonescuba]

No way, no how would we ever go back to CB if we had to fly Cayman Airways from GC to CB and back. It doesn't matter if they fix the GB airport or not.

We are doing the Miami 737 direct to CB this year or we won't subject ourselves to Cayman Airways at all.

Look at some posts from last year using the search terms cayman Airways.

Maybe Richard Branson will start flying virgin air into CB and LC.

 

[mcohen1021]

Yeah I've heard some of the nightmares :/

 

[KathyV]

No way, no how would we ever go back to CB if we had to fly Cayman Airways from GC to CB and back. It doesn't matter if they fix the GB airport or not. We are doing the Miami 737 direct to CB this year or we won't subject ourselves to Cayman Airways at all....

Yeah I've heard some of the nightmares :/

I know that divezonescuba had a very bad experience with CA, but I have had both good and bad encounters with them. There were no problems with CA at all during our recent trip to Brac.

I have had both good and bad experiences with many airlines. The last time we flew Delta home from GCM the experience was so awful that I swore I would never fly Delta again, insisting that "I would rather fly with Klingons!"

But I travel for work and it wasn't long before Delta was my best option for a trip I had to take, and it was fine.

I recently had a flight home from Honolulu on United that was really terrible - flight delayed, waiting for a different plane, seat assignment changed 3 times, no WiFi or entertainment on a very, very long flight, ran out of food options before they got to half the passengers, one of the bathrooms was out of order - the list goes on and on - but I am flying United to DC soon and I just hope that things will be better this time - at least it's a short flight!

I am a equal-opportunity airline hater!

 

[KathyV]

...Private jet from GCM to CYB? No problems, President Trump will send his jet for us! Hahaha

Funny that you should say that! Take a look at the "US Military Jet" that recently landed on Grand Cayman - it's not your typical military plane!
US military jet lands in Cayman | Cayman Compass

 

[mcohen1021]

Ive tried and tried to get to Brac on miles... Or at least from DFW to GCM on miles. Aint happenin AA and CA schedules do not sync up... Looks like we'll have to bit the bullet and do American DFW-MIA on miles, followed by Cayman Air MIA to Brac

They have it perfectly planned out so you have to purchase a ticket on some leg.

 

[KathyV]

Ive tried and tried to get to Brac on miles... Or at least from DFW to GCM on miles. Aint happenin AA and CA schedules do not sync up... Looks like we'll have to bit the bullet and do American DFW-MIA on miles, followed by Cayman Air MIA to Brac...They have it perfectly planned out so you have to purchase a ticket on some leg.

Sorry to hear that but at least you won't have to stop in GCM and deal with going through security again or worry about transporting duty-free alcohol.

I still collect air miles from the airlines and use them when I can, but it is so frustrating and difficult and often inconvenient.

I know that everyone has opinions about "the best credit card" (and that's fine) but we have found the Capital One Rewards card to be very easy to use to cover flight reservations.

They have a program called the "purchase eraser" and you just go ahead and book the flights you want with your credit card in the normal manner, not trying to accommodate frequent flier schedules or sticking with a specific airline, just book the flights and carriers you want.

You will earn (and keep) the miles for purchasing the flights but then you will be able to erase the amount from your balance. You have 90 days to erase a purchase. It's really easy. But I imagine that other cards have similar programs.

The only downside is once you have used your miles, they are gone, so if your travel plans change you won't be able to get them back.

But a nice thing is that you have a record of the purchase so I am pretty confident that the flights will be covered by travel insurance (and why not, they have value, and you spent your hard-earned miles to get them.) When we buy travel insurance I use the total cost of the trip (including the flights) to estimate the amount of coverage required because I will need to replace the flight tickets too.

Previously we had a Capital One card with no annual fee and earned 1.5 miles per dollar but now we have the Capital One Venture card with an annual fee but we get double reward miles.

Another nice thing about Capital One is that there are no foreign transaction fees. Some credit cards charge 1, 2, or 3 percent extra as foreign transaction fees.

Just an FYI.

 

[mcohen1021]

I still collect air miles from the airlines and use them when I can, but it is so frustrating and difficult.

Oh, Don't even get me started on how we got shafted on the way back from Providenciales a few years ago!!! After a mid trip return leg flight cancellation... wait for it.... wait for it... we had to go provo-mia=iah-hou-dfw!!!

yes, we even had to switch airports - i fellt like steve martin in planes trains and automobiles, only worse time i had in airports was when i was working in and out of boston and logan just succccccckkkkssss lol