Tim Ingersoll
Contributor
Well we are back. Spent January 10th - January 15th on Cayman Brac. Here's how it went:
We flew USAir out of Rochester, NY. Rochester - Charlotte - Grand Cayman - Cayman Brac. We took the Island Air shuttle over from Grand Cayman to Cayman Brac ($150.00/pp/rt., luggage weight limited to 55 lbs., small prop plane to accommodate the grass strip at Little Cayman) Flawless travel both ways. No delays no unexpected events, just smooth sailing. We arrived at Cayman Brac at about 5:30 p.m. after a long day of travel. We were met at the airport by our rent-a-car rep. I had e-mailed him all of the info ahead of time so it was just sign and drive (very old Suzuki Samurai $40.00/day). The vehicle had seen better days but was cheap and functional. Perfect for three guys on the island without wives or children. We took the top off and never put it back on.
We easily found our rented house - Turle Crossing - about three miles from the airport. Great house! Two story, vaulted celings, three bedroom, open loft, full kitchen, cable, entertainment center, CD, DVD, outside grill, right on the beach. $300.00/night. We checked in with Divi Tiara and Brac Beach Resort. We dove with Divi Tiara one day and Brac Beach for three days. Dinner was at Divi Tiara ($38.00 per person for an awesome prime rib buffet).
Our first day was a half day dive charter with Brac Beach Resort. Just three of us on a huge boat with a divemaster and captain. We asked for a weather report and decided that Little Cayman was the best option since it was pretty certain that a front was moving in on the afternoon of the 11th. Off we went. The trip from Brac to Little is about 45 minutes. The middle passage between the islands was a little rough but nothing exceptional, certainly nothing to make us reconsider. Partial overcast was a bit of a bummer.
First dive site: Cumbers Caves, Bloody Bay Wall. Vis: 70 feet, Water Temp. 78 degrees, Depth 6,000 feet plus. Nice swim-through to start, Anchor buried half way through. Started at about 50 feet and dumped us out over the wall at about 85 feet. Big wall. Nice trip along the wall. Max Depth 125 feet. Another swim-through to come up. Lots of stingrays and garden eels. Barracuda patrolling under the boat. 50 Minute dive.
Second dive site: Marilyn's Cut, Little Cayman. Awesome dive site. The sun came out and we really saw what Bloody Bay Wall was all about. Lots of beautiful coral, schooling fish, etc. Many small groupers, lobsters, flaming tongue, etc., etc.
That afternoon we cruised the island and did all the sightseeing. The Bluff (150 feet to the water), the batcaves, the grocery store ($100.00 for food for breakfast and lunch for four days, quite a bargain compared to resort food prices). That night we bought steaks and ate at the house. Very nice to grill in paradise.
Second Day: We checked in with Divi Tiara. We learned that we would have 14 divers on a 42 foot boat headed for Little Cayman ($90.00/pp/2 tank). The very attractive looking blonde behind the counter at Divi was a little put off when I mooed at her. She suggested, very nicely, that we could find someone else to dive with if we were unhappy with the situation (it was the nicest f-you I ever got. We already knew Brac Beach couldn't help us so we kissed her nether parts and she deigned to let us go. What a packed boat! Anyway the diving was enough to make up for the cramped quarters. When we returned she knocked off a third for the crowded conditions. Partly cloudy.
First Dive: Mixing Bowl, Little Cayman, Vis: 75 feet, Water Temp. 82 degrees, Big Wall dive. Deep dive. Played tic tac toe at 120 feet to see how narced we were. Paul showed no signs of narcosis and promptly beat me three times in a row. Go figure! We were coming up when we spotted a loggerhead turle at about 70 feet. I went down to get a good picture and he led us right up an unbelievable swim-through/chimney. Truly a moment to remember.
Second Dive: Jacksons Reef, Little Cayman. Great dive. Lots of turtles, 7' reef shark at the edge of the abyss. Swim-trough on the way down and chimney to come back up. Bad news was I was so intent on getting pictures that I got hit twice with fire coral. Maybe a shorty isn't the way to go. Still have the itch as I sit here typing.
Spent the afternoon with a good book, bottle of scotch (yeah, yeah we drink after we dive) and a sunburn. Dinner at the Captain's Table. Good food, good service, good drinks, pricey. Bought the dive video from Divi Tiara ($45.00). Nice work if a bit too much stock footage inserted. In bed with several glasses of ice water at 8:30 p.m.
Third day. Half day charter with Brac Beach again. Just the three of us on a full size dive boat. What a life.
Dive One: Inside Out, Cayman Brac. Nice wall dive but nothing compared to Bloody Bay. Vis was 60 feet. Water Temp was 80 degrees.
Dive Two: Tarpon Reef, Cayman Brac. As advertised many very large Tarpon. We had to put a diver in the photos to get scale or these three foot fishes would look like minnows. Very relaxing dive. Brac Beach resort took care of us. The divemasters were the same each day and we really got to know them. They seemed to enjoy the fact that they only had two divers to keep an eye on.
Lunch was barbequed ribs on the grill. Better than any restaurant at a fraction of the price. Dinner was Aunt Shas. Pretty good food at a fraction of the price of the Captains Table.
Last Day. Gorgeous day. Not a cloud in the sky. Simply a perfect Caribbean day.
First Dive: 75 feet max depth. 50 minutes. M/V Tibbetts. Retired Russian missile frigate sunk as an artificial reef. Torn in two by recent hurricane. Lots of passageways and interior spaces open for penetration. Entire ship covered with thin coat of fur (Sorry about the bad i.d.) Interior occupied by two huge groupers Boris and Natasha. Only Natasha was home. Lots of stingrays out in the sand. Also a bicycle for play. Great wreck, certainly the best I have ever done. The gun mounts hopefully made for some great pictures.
Second Dive: Cayman Keys, Cayman Brac. 48 feet for 35 minutes. Spur and groove coral formation. Two very large nurse sharks sharing a cave. Very cool. Spotted Drum. Flamingo Tongue, Small swim-through. I was very cold due to sunburn and aborted the dive early. The divemaster and Paul continued on for another half hour.
Last night dinner: Captains Table. Ate at the bar. Nice pool.
Travel back was no problems.
Impressions: After having stayed on Little Cayman and Cayman Brac I would probably go back to Little Cayman first. The diving was just that much better and more accessible. The food options were more limited on Little but the diving made up for it. If I was staying on Cayman Brac I would definitely rent the house again. If was going to a resort I would go to Brac Beach resort. I would always rent a house and do some of my own cooking over eating at a restaurant every meal.
We flew USAir out of Rochester, NY. Rochester - Charlotte - Grand Cayman - Cayman Brac. We took the Island Air shuttle over from Grand Cayman to Cayman Brac ($150.00/pp/rt., luggage weight limited to 55 lbs., small prop plane to accommodate the grass strip at Little Cayman) Flawless travel both ways. No delays no unexpected events, just smooth sailing. We arrived at Cayman Brac at about 5:30 p.m. after a long day of travel. We were met at the airport by our rent-a-car rep. I had e-mailed him all of the info ahead of time so it was just sign and drive (very old Suzuki Samurai $40.00/day). The vehicle had seen better days but was cheap and functional. Perfect for three guys on the island without wives or children. We took the top off and never put it back on.
We easily found our rented house - Turle Crossing - about three miles from the airport. Great house! Two story, vaulted celings, three bedroom, open loft, full kitchen, cable, entertainment center, CD, DVD, outside grill, right on the beach. $300.00/night. We checked in with Divi Tiara and Brac Beach Resort. We dove with Divi Tiara one day and Brac Beach for three days. Dinner was at Divi Tiara ($38.00 per person for an awesome prime rib buffet).
Our first day was a half day dive charter with Brac Beach Resort. Just three of us on a huge boat with a divemaster and captain. We asked for a weather report and decided that Little Cayman was the best option since it was pretty certain that a front was moving in on the afternoon of the 11th. Off we went. The trip from Brac to Little is about 45 minutes. The middle passage between the islands was a little rough but nothing exceptional, certainly nothing to make us reconsider. Partial overcast was a bit of a bummer.
First dive site: Cumbers Caves, Bloody Bay Wall. Vis: 70 feet, Water Temp. 78 degrees, Depth 6,000 feet plus. Nice swim-through to start, Anchor buried half way through. Started at about 50 feet and dumped us out over the wall at about 85 feet. Big wall. Nice trip along the wall. Max Depth 125 feet. Another swim-through to come up. Lots of stingrays and garden eels. Barracuda patrolling under the boat. 50 Minute dive.
Second dive site: Marilyn's Cut, Little Cayman. Awesome dive site. The sun came out and we really saw what Bloody Bay Wall was all about. Lots of beautiful coral, schooling fish, etc. Many small groupers, lobsters, flaming tongue, etc., etc.
That afternoon we cruised the island and did all the sightseeing. The Bluff (150 feet to the water), the batcaves, the grocery store ($100.00 for food for breakfast and lunch for four days, quite a bargain compared to resort food prices). That night we bought steaks and ate at the house. Very nice to grill in paradise.
Second Day: We checked in with Divi Tiara. We learned that we would have 14 divers on a 42 foot boat headed for Little Cayman ($90.00/pp/2 tank). The very attractive looking blonde behind the counter at Divi was a little put off when I mooed at her. She suggested, very nicely, that we could find someone else to dive with if we were unhappy with the situation (it was the nicest f-you I ever got. We already knew Brac Beach couldn't help us so we kissed her nether parts and she deigned to let us go. What a packed boat! Anyway the diving was enough to make up for the cramped quarters. When we returned she knocked off a third for the crowded conditions. Partly cloudy.
First Dive: Mixing Bowl, Little Cayman, Vis: 75 feet, Water Temp. 82 degrees, Big Wall dive. Deep dive. Played tic tac toe at 120 feet to see how narced we were. Paul showed no signs of narcosis and promptly beat me three times in a row. Go figure! We were coming up when we spotted a loggerhead turle at about 70 feet. I went down to get a good picture and he led us right up an unbelievable swim-through/chimney. Truly a moment to remember.
Second Dive: Jacksons Reef, Little Cayman. Great dive. Lots of turtles, 7' reef shark at the edge of the abyss. Swim-trough on the way down and chimney to come back up. Bad news was I was so intent on getting pictures that I got hit twice with fire coral. Maybe a shorty isn't the way to go. Still have the itch as I sit here typing.
Spent the afternoon with a good book, bottle of scotch (yeah, yeah we drink after we dive) and a sunburn. Dinner at the Captain's Table. Good food, good service, good drinks, pricey. Bought the dive video from Divi Tiara ($45.00). Nice work if a bit too much stock footage inserted. In bed with several glasses of ice water at 8:30 p.m.
Third day. Half day charter with Brac Beach again. Just the three of us on a full size dive boat. What a life.
Dive One: Inside Out, Cayman Brac. Nice wall dive but nothing compared to Bloody Bay. Vis was 60 feet. Water Temp was 80 degrees.
Dive Two: Tarpon Reef, Cayman Brac. As advertised many very large Tarpon. We had to put a diver in the photos to get scale or these three foot fishes would look like minnows. Very relaxing dive. Brac Beach resort took care of us. The divemasters were the same each day and we really got to know them. They seemed to enjoy the fact that they only had two divers to keep an eye on.
Lunch was barbequed ribs on the grill. Better than any restaurant at a fraction of the price. Dinner was Aunt Shas. Pretty good food at a fraction of the price of the Captains Table.
Last Day. Gorgeous day. Not a cloud in the sky. Simply a perfect Caribbean day.
First Dive: 75 feet max depth. 50 minutes. M/V Tibbetts. Retired Russian missile frigate sunk as an artificial reef. Torn in two by recent hurricane. Lots of passageways and interior spaces open for penetration. Entire ship covered with thin coat of fur (Sorry about the bad i.d.) Interior occupied by two huge groupers Boris and Natasha. Only Natasha was home. Lots of stingrays out in the sand. Also a bicycle for play. Great wreck, certainly the best I have ever done. The gun mounts hopefully made for some great pictures.
Second Dive: Cayman Keys, Cayman Brac. 48 feet for 35 minutes. Spur and groove coral formation. Two very large nurse sharks sharing a cave. Very cool. Spotted Drum. Flamingo Tongue, Small swim-through. I was very cold due to sunburn and aborted the dive early. The divemaster and Paul continued on for another half hour.
Last night dinner: Captains Table. Ate at the bar. Nice pool.
Travel back was no problems.
Impressions: After having stayed on Little Cayman and Cayman Brac I would probably go back to Little Cayman first. The diving was just that much better and more accessible. The food options were more limited on Little but the diving made up for it. If I was staying on Cayman Brac I would definitely rent the house again. If was going to a resort I would go to Brac Beach resort. I would always rent a house and do some of my own cooking over eating at a restaurant every meal.