Grand, Little, or Brac?

[Diver Rick]

I can't begin to thank all of you enough for your info and insight in response ot my question!

I thought I'd let everyone know my wife and I are booked in Nov 9th - 16th at LCBR and really looking forward to some warm dives (after a summer of dry suit diving in the Great Lakes). Plus it will be my first dives since spending 6 hours in a recompression chamber in August after getting bent! (long story, several mistakes on my part)

If anyone else is going to be there around that time, make sure we meet up and say hello!

PS: Others from Canada considering the Caymans, a lot of airlines have recently offered some good choices in flights and lowered their prices, we got ours for $500 return!

 

[glimmertwins]

I'm planning a trip to Cayman Brac at Thanksgiving, but have only seen feedback for Reef Beach Resort. Are there other suggests for a place to stay and dive? Any suggestions for particular sites?

 

[Diver Rick]

I'm planning a trip to Cayman Brac at Thanksgiving, but have only seen feedback for Reef Beach Resort. Are there other suggests for a place to stay and dive? Any suggestions for particular sites?

I've never heard of it myself, but your best bet is to start your own thread and find out more. (hint hint)

 

[bcaderunr]

Just got back from 2 weeks (Sep. 12-26) in Brac. Since we were there for more than a week, we rented a house. That said, if I were going to Brac for JUST a week, the Brac Reef Beach resort is the only way to go. There are no other dive ops on the island -- except for private charters. And the resort has the best beach, restaurant and outdoor bar -- all in one place (IMO). It was rebuilt a year ago after Paloma and the accommodations are top notch.

After a detailed briefing Reef Divers will let you dive your own profile with or without a guide (who always goes in for those wishing to follow). Just be courteous and don't be the last ones back on the boat by more than a few minutes. No one likes to be late for lunch!

 

[South4Scuba]

The only real "resort" on the island is Brac Reef Beach Resort. Divi Resort pulled out several years ago and the only other options are private homes or private condos. There are some nice ones, but who wants to cook your own food and have to drive to a dive shop (Reef Divers at BRBR) to catch a boat.

Just call Reef FantaSeas and they will set you up with a trip. They will book the airfare and dive package. If they book the airfare they will help you if the airlines screw you around by changing or cancelling your flight. It has happened to me twice.

There are two non-stop jet flights out of Miami to Brac. You can bypass Grand Cayman. I know because I WILL BE THERE THIS SATURDAY FOR A WEEK!!!!!

 

[ronski101]

which airline is flying out of miami directly to brac?

 

[jdcpa]

which airline is flying out of miami directly to brac?

Cayman Airways!!

 

[Scared Silly]

The only real "resort" on the island is Brac Reef Beach Resort. Divi Resort pulled out several years ago and the only other options are private homes or private condos. There are some nice ones, but who wants to cook your own food and have to drive to a dive shop (Reef Divers at BRBR) to catch a boat.[/B]

To each their own but for many of our trips that is exactly what we do. Rent a place and do our own cooking. Not to say that we do not eat out. But for the most part most all breakfasts and lunches we do ourselves. And the money we save by buying groceries we can spend on good booze and rum ice cream .

Shameless plug a friend has a house on Brac that he rents out and is less than a 5 minute drive from the resort.

 

[AggieDiver]

For a longer trip, I could see trying that, but based on the other thread they started, they are only looking at going for 4-5 days. You won't save that much over the resort price on such a short trip.

Also, you don't entirely skip GC on the Miami to Brac flights on Cayman Air. You skip GC on the inbound flight, but you still have to fly to GC on the way out since they don't have the facilities to xray bags on the Brac.

 

[South4Scuba]

Cayman Airways flys non-stop to The Brac and as noted they connect in Grand for the return trip to Miami. You still get to fly a jet all the way and there are numerous advantages to that.

Another option is to fly the Cayman Airways jet from Tampa to Grand and back. We did that one time. You still have to take a turbo-prop, but we were going to do that anyway since we were going to Little Cayman.

As a footnote, have your travel agent book the tickets on Cayman Airways as international flights and you might get two pieces of luggage for free on the domestic connecting flight. It worked for me last time.