Shore diving on Cayman Brac?

[scubadada]

...As for flights, it looks like its only inbould that you can do miami to brac? Returning is still thru GC?

That's correct, return must go through Grand Cayman. I heard the reason once but can not remember the details, something to do with immigration I think.

 

[scubadada]

@scubadada Thank you for the information. Is the book that you mentioned, Shore Diving Guide to Cayman Brac, one of the free brochures available over there, or did you buy it? I could not find it at Amazon.

Hi Yuri,

I bought the guidebook from Scuba Shack. I did not happen to see it in the Reef Divers shop at CBBR, but it may have been there too. It has a publication date of 2015 by the Sister Islands Tourism Association (SITA). I do not find it available online either.

Good diving, Craig

 

[drrich2]

Anyone know whether the powers that be on Brac make an issue of solo shore diving? If someone Brac Scuba Shack doesn’t know shows up with a c-card to rent tanks, weights and a dive float, obviously alone, is it ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell,’ or what?

Richard.

 

[divezonescuba]

Shore diving on CB is way easier than Bonaire in general. Possible exceptions would be The docks off of Buddy Dive and Den Lamen, but that is not really shore diving. There are a couple of good shore entries in Bonaire like the rock and the far entrance to the salt pier, but these are more exceptions.

Many of the CB shore dive sites have large stainless steel ladders like oil slick leap. There are also a number of boat ramps and cuts that can be used.

Somebody at some time actually though to make CB shore diving friendly with steps and the ladders. Compare that to climbing over the iron shore on Bonaire.

On the subject of solo shore diving. It does not appear to be specifically addressed in the cita guideline document for watersports operators. The cita document is suppose to regulate the watersports boat operators, but does not appear to specifically address individual shore divers other than saying shore diving buddy teams must have a flag. However, they identify "rogue" divers who do not follow the cita guidelines and who are to be reported to all the other cita members. I think they are referring to depth limits off the boat for that.

 

[scubadada]

Anyone know whether the powers that be on Brac make an issue of solo shore diving? If someone Brac Scuba Shack doesn’t know shows up with a c-card to rent tanks, weights and a dive float, obviously alone, is it ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell,’ or what?

Richard.

Hi Richard,

Solo diving in the Cayman Islands appears to be a point of some confusion. I believe that the CITA regulations require buddy diving and do not address solo diving. However, I have dived solo on all or part of dives in the Cayman Islands for many years. This includes Divetech, when they were at Cobalt Coast, Ocean Frontiers, Reef Divers on Little Cayman, and, most recently, Reef Divers on Cayman Brac. I have only done shore diving on Grand Cayman and never dived by myself. You might want to send Scuba Shack a brief email to inquire about solo shore diving on the Brac. I'm sure it would not be held against you should you decide to visit in the future. At CBBR, the shore diving tank checkout is not monitored, I'm not at all sure they would know that you are solo diving, but, I did not give it a try. I'm sure there are divers who can answer your question with more specificity.

 

[Doctorfish]

IMO, the diving rank would be LC, East End GC, Brac then north and west sides of GC.
As pointed out, there is much more to do in GC, shopping, attractions, restaurants, magnificent beach, etc. but many more people, cruise shippers and traffic jams. ( at least on the west side )
On LC, there is nothing else to do but dive, Brac is somewhere in between with hiking and rock climbing. On a direct comparison between LCBR and Brac Beach Resort, Brac has a beautiful new pool area and bar. I think all 3 islands are wonderful Caribbean dive destinations, it just depends on what you want.

We tend to rotate between the islands depending on what we want out of the holiday. All are great dive destinations.

 

[scubadada]

IMO, the diving rank would be LC, East End GC, Brac then north and west sides of GC.
As pointed out, there is much more to do in GC, shopping, attractions, restaurants, magnificent beach, etc. but many more people, cruise shippers and traffic jams. ( at least on the west side )
On LC, there is nothing else to do but dive, Brac is somewhere in between with hiking and rock climbing. On a direct comparison between LCBR and Brac Beach Resort, Brac has a beautiful new pool area and bar. I think all 3 islands are wonderful Caribbean dive destinations, it just depends on what you want.

We tend to rotate between the islands depending on what we want out of the holiday. All are great dive destinations.

The North wall of Grand Cayman is pretty cool, not sure how I would rank the sites. Ghost Mountain, one of my favorite dives, I've probably done it 5-6 times.

 

[Ray and Pam]

We'll be there first week of December...if you are also there then and interested in shore diving, let me know. Either way, have a great time on the Brac. It's "back to the Brac" for the 4th time for us!

Sue/Dave,
We appreciate the offer but we'll be there next week! We're Brac beginners, so maybe next time. If you don't mind telling, where do you generally stay for shore diving and can you dive directly from the propery? Any other advice for newbys who like to explore the whole island?

Thanks, Ray

 

[drrich2]

Since this thread may well become a resource for people doing searches about Cayman Brac and shore diving on the forum, I did some searching online for more and found some website called X-Ray Mag International Dive Magazine, and a Lawson Wood contributed an article called Cayman Brac, the best shore-diving in the Caribbean.

Perhaps those of you who've shore dove there can comment whether this downloadable PDF would be a helpful resource for people considering going?

Richard.

 

[scubadada]

Since this thread may well become a resource for people doing searches about Cayman Brac and shore diving on the forum, I did some searching online for more and found some website called X-Ray Mag International Dive Magazine, and a Lawson Wood contributed an article called Cayman Brac, the best shore-diving in the Caribbean.

Perhaps those of you who've shore dove there can comment whether this downloadable PDF would be a helpful resource for people considering going?

Richard.

Here's the full article http://www.xray-mag.com/pdfs/articles/Travel_CaymanBrac_LawsonWood_60_locked.pdf from a previous thread New Shore Diving Signs - Cayman Brac!