Planning a trip to Cayman Brac in October

[bombadil1977]

First post, been reading around here, just a regular guy who enjoys swimming with the fishes. Now a good friend has his C-card and we want to go to Brac.

We will be staying at a condo there, and hiring our dives. I dived with Reef Divers when I was there in 2006 for a week, on the Big Sister boat. It was very nice to dive with them.

There's another outfit that I've heard about here called Indepth Watersports. Are they on Brac? Is there a shop there on Brac? Or is Indepth Watersports ONLY a Grand Cayman outfit?

Since we'll be staying on Brac, any advice about which outfit to rent gear, tanks and boat dives?

bombadil1977

 

[jcroy66]

I'm a big fan of Reef Divers, on both Brac and Little.

 

[knotical]

Indepth Watersports was a small, excellent operation on Cayman Brac. The original owner has apparently sold the name and boat to a new owner, operating on Grand Cayman.

I do not currently know of any other option on the Brac besides Reef Divers.

 

[AggieDiver]

So did Craig actually sell InDepth? Or did he just move to GC to run it there? I dove with him when he was working for Reef Divers before he started InDepth and he was a great Captain and DM.

Reef Divers is the only outfit I know of currently operating on CB, but they are excellent!

 

[knotical]

Craig is back in the states, and no longer owns InDepth.

 

[bombadil1977]

I appreciate the feedback, all. Reef Divers was very good when I've been to Brac before. Looking forward to diving in Brac again.

:cool2:

 

[-hh]

...Since we'll be staying on Brac, any advice about which outfit to rent gear, tanks and boat dives?

bombadil1977

Currently, Reef Divers is the only dive operation on the Brac with a running diveboat. You could perhaps take it upon yourself to pull In-Depth's old diveboat off the beach and get it running ... or make it an artificial reef ... its been sitting there since August 2008 (yes, before Paloma).


As knotical mentioned, In-Depth's boat is now on Grand ... although it does seem that Craig is currently there too, and still operating under the In-Depth name. If there is a new owner, it would appear that the company's name got sold too..?

I appreciate the feedback, all. Reef Divers was very good when I've been to Brac before. Looking forward to diving in Brac again.

Was just diving with them ~2 weeks ago; they're doing well. And on May 1st, I had the unusual opportunity to capture some photos of a pod of Orcas (Killer Whales) that migrate through the islands in the Spring & Fall.

Here's the link to where they're posted on FaceBook...it should be viewable by all.

Please note that these images are Copyrighted and I am (unfortunately) having to enforce it; Cayman27 has already been contacted and they've removed what they were using without permission.


-hh

 

[knotical]

... although it does seem that Craig is currently there too, and still operating under the In-Depth name. If there is a new owner, it would appear that the company's name got sold too..?

Although the website still has Craig's mini-bio, I've been in email contact with him over the last few weeks and was of the strong impression he is no longer in the Cayman - which is why I said I thought he'd sold the name, too. I'll email him and suggest he look at this thread. Then maybe he'll provide a definitive answer.

 

[Indepth Watersports]

Well, first let me say thank you for the kind words about Indepth Watersports. We truly love the Brac and have spilt our fare share of blood sweat and tears on that island. We loved and still love our guests and everyone that dove with us knew we didnt do it for the money but for the love of the sport and the betterment of cayman Brac. Im always amazed at how many people like to state facts they know nothing about.

Just so were all on the same page. Indepth Watersports of Cayman Brac has been moved to Grand Cayman. I ( Craig Burhart ) still own my share of the business however I am also not living in Cayman Brac or Grand Cayman at this time. This could or could not change at anytime.

Nat Robb is running Indepth Watersports and has my full blessing on everything he does. Nat is one of the most qualified divers out there and I have full faith that he will stear Indepth in the right direction. The business is being run in the same manner as it was in Cayman Brac. High adventure diving with a very experenced crew and lots of fun and a very special boat.

As far as " Indepth's Boat " being on the beach, Deja Vu was sold right after I returned to the Brac from building Peaceful Warrior, The boat Nat is running in Grand.
HH.. I love you buddy but your facts are always a bit off.. She was put on the beach during hurricane Gustuv about a whole 2 weeks before Paloma. The boat was sold as is and has no bearing on Indepth or anyone with our company. It was sold with the responsibility of the new owner to move the boat and to tell you the truth, with the shape Divi is in, I can only see it makes it look better. =)

I of course dont need to say how sad we are about not being in Cayman Brac, We are not ones to cry over spilled milk.. We gave it our best and when it came time to invest another quater of a million to keep it going we decided it was time to move the shop to the bigger island where we could keep the boat full more of the time. After being the only dive shop for over a year we simply could not keep the doors open with out going way more into debt.

Reef Divers II is the only dive shop on Cayman Brac and they are more then capable of making sure every diver that wants to come to Cayman Brac for some of the worlds best diving gets taken care of in a professional manner. They are a world class operation.

Once again thanks everyone for the kind words about what we do and did. If you find yourself in Grand Cayman and want to see some of the lesser dove sites with a very talanted crew please give Nat a call. His contact info is listed on the web site.

Indepthwatersports.com

To all my past guests, Friends and family in the Cayman Islands. You always have our total support and love. It is with out a doubt some of the best diving anywhere in the world and we miss it very much.

all the best
Craig Burhart

 

[-hh]

...As far as " Indepth's Boat " being on the beach, Deja Vu was sold right after I returned to the Brac from building Peaceful Warrior, The boat Nat is running in Grand.

HH.. I love you buddy but your facts are always a bit off.. She was put on the beach during hurricane Gustuv about a whole 2 weeks before Paloma...

Same here bud, but August 2008 (Gustov) to November 2008 (Paloma) was a bit more than two weeks apart.

Unfortunately, the reason why I know is because I was financially damaged by the beached boat's presence (a month after Gustov, and still a month before Paloma), courtesy of the Divi Timeshare businessmen in North Carolina, who used your beached boat as their excuse for keeping $1000 of my money without then providing the paid-for accommodations. They still have that money.

Yes, this was mostly Divi's fault, but it nevertheless was your boat (while you still owned it) sitting there for a month that gave them the excuse.


Granted, Palmoa did have an impact a month later, and while she does now belong today to someone else, we do know that unless a grounded boat gets back into the water within short order (days/weeks), realistically, she probably won't ever float again...

The boat was sold as is and ... with the responsibility of the new owner to move the boat ...

Which still hasn't happened, 1.5 years later.

For better or worse, history remembers the last captain, not the last owner, for the fate of a ship.
Hence the Teignmouth Electron was Donald Crowhurst's (not Winston)...
Hence, the Barbara Ann was Pastor King's...

For the Deja Vu, she is sitting there with the "In Depth" business logo still visible on its stern.

...and to tell you the truth, with the shape Divi is in, I can only see it makes it look better =)

True, Bldg#1 was heavily damaged and a mess, but that building's renovation was shoddy and the work was not done in accordance to the building code. But Bldg#2 was built to code and it only lost one window in Paloma. Despite ~18 months of subsequent neglect, its structure is still ~95% solid and closed.

Divi doesn't have more than six customers remaining for any individual TS week, so Bldg #1 can be ignored. Without any inspection, its hard to say how much it would cost to put Bldg #2 back into service, but I'd ballpark it at ~$100K, with most of that budget being for utilities. Divi Resorts apparently prefers to be in breach of their service contracts than to stick out their neck to satisfy a customer.

But you're right: no need to cry over spilled milk. The lesson learned is more valuable than the money lost. Hope you're staying warm enough up North.


-hh