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Scuba Forum / Scuba Locations / September 2004Cayman Brac Divi Trip Report
I was lucky enough to be part of a group of four divers staying at Divi Tiara on the Brac from 10 to 24 July. As Time-Share owners, we routinely stay in those units, but because they are currently under renovation, we stayed in two poolside hotel rooms. The diving operation was absolutely superb. Fairly large organized dive groups were in attendance both weeks, and the crews handled them (and several Open Water Course trainees) with no difficulty. In general, two boats operated daily, with one of the five "Old" boats carrying 8 to 14 divers, and the new Newton 46' carrying 12 to 20. The Newton is a joy to dive from, with dual ladders, three water entry points, huge amounts of deck space and room for cameras, and with the big engines it took about 15 minutes less to make the trip to Little Cayman. The divemasters were outstanding, and handled various problems with gear, scheduling, etc. in a competent and friendly manner. Because the weather cooperated, we dove several of the sites on the Brac South side along the bluff at the East end, and they were just magnificent. A government mooring crew was active on the island, replacing some moorings and opening up some new dive sites. Conditions at Little Cayman were just as good, and Reef Sharks were seen around Jackson's Bight on both our trips. The food at Divi is wonderful (we always get the Breakfast / Dinner package, and have never been disappointed). Some work has been done to improve the hotel rooms, and they were very acceptable, although some characteristics of Island engineering and maintenance may drive many Type-A Americans nuts.... like watching the air conditioner churning its little heart out to make up for the 1/4 inch gaps in the corrosion-fused louvered windows. Such minor points, however, do nothing to diminish the very positive experience, and I did not hear a single complaint from a guest/diver during the whole visit. The on-site manager, Max, is doing an excellent job, and I would (and do) recommend the current Divi operation most highly. Hawkeye Hughes Polson MT Nice report. Serious question: On Cayman Brac, how are the mosquitos; my wife is very reactive to the little offenders and rule #1 is, if she ain't happy, I ain't happy. Next question: Which time-share outfit do they use. We own an Interval unit. Final question: She doesn't dive for medical reasons. Anything else to do there? Thanks, Bart F. > I was lucky enough to be part of a group of four divers staying at > Divi Tiara on the Brac from 10 to 24 July. As Time-Share owners, we [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > Hawkeye Hughes > Polson MT > Nice report. Serious question: On Cayman Brac, how are the mosquitos; We didn't notice any on a January/February trip, but we didn't spend much time wandering in the woods. > Next question: Which time-share outfit do they use. We own an Interval > unit. If you want to go there, check with your company to see if you can trade. > Final question: She doesn't dive for medical reasons. Anything else to > do there? Sure, but not nearly as much as on some other islands. There's good snorkeling right out front or just down the beach (if it's at all like CB Beach Resort be extra careful of the numerous sea urchins). There are lots of caves, and plenty of jungle to explore (much of the jungle will have very sharp ironshore underfoot; if you fall you may die from blood loss). The view from the bluff is very nice, so she could bring a chair and read there instead of at the resort for a change of pace. The bluff also offers plenty of rock climbing opportunities. If she needs to fill up her time by shopping or gambling, OTOH, she won't like CB.  SignatureSteve The above can be construed as personal opinion in the absence of a reasonable belief that it was intended as a statement of fact. If you want a reply to reach me, remove the SPAMTRAP from the address. > Nice report. Serious question: On Cayman Brac, how are the mosquitos; my > wife is very reactive to the little offenders and rule #1 is, if she > ain't happy, I ain't happy. Usually they are well controlled by local spraying, but this year massive rains had left lots of standing water, and I had to break out the 'Off' on several evenings...Second time in 14 years. Even the locals were complaining pretty vocally. > Next question: Which time-share outfit do they use. We own an Interval unit. I believe that the time shares are listed as Divi Tiara Interval Ownership units and most of the folks that I have met there have traded through RCI. With only 12 units available, it is sometimes difficult to get the weeks that you want, and many trades seem to be filled at the last minute to compensate for late cancellations. It will be at least another year before all the refurbished units (really a total rebuild) will be available for occupancy. > Final question: She doesn't dive for medical reasons. Anything else to > do there? The options for non-divers are pretty limited. Places like Bonaire offer a lot more in terms of 'easy' high-quality snorkeling, shops, restaurants, tours etc. > Thanks, > > Bart F. > I was lucky enough to be part of a group of four divers staying at > Divi Tiara on the Brac from 10 to 24 July. <snip> It's nice to hear Divi is doing well. We used to go there yearly up until about 1990 and have great memories. My kids still have the "I got the crabs at Tiara beach" t-shirts Donna and Chris gave them after winning the crab races one year. Treasured possessions, ya know! In those days there was only an option or two, not always open, not always willing, for meals other than the Divi plan and I would get tired of the food at the resort by the 5th or 6th day. I haven't dived Brac or LC for years now but I used to think that LC had a more spectacular site or two, but that overall Brac had better diving. Having just returned, what's your take on that? > In those days there was only > an option or two, not always open, not always willing, for meals other than > the Divi plan and I would get tired of the food at the resort by the 5th or > 6th day. The options for meals are a little better now. Lenny's 'Captain's Table' restaurant is a short bike ride/walk East, as is a wonderful local fish place in a pink building a little further on. If you have access to a car there are several fine places to eat in Stake Bay on the North Side. > I haven't dived Brac or LC for years now but I used to think that LC had a > more spectacular site or two, but that overall Brac had better diving. > Having just returned, what's your take on that? Sites like Mixing Bowl on LC are unique in that they provide a gorgeous wall dive that starts at such a shallow level that 55+ minute dives are the rule. The walls on the Brac, particularly on the South side, are magnificent, but they generally require 70 to 80 ft dives to appreciate them. It was heartening this year to see how well most of the shallow sites on the North side of Brac have recovered from the algae that was pretty prevalent a few years ago. The sites at the far West end (like Fisheries) were in great shape with more critters than I ever remember seeing in the past. Most of the dive packages at Divi provide for one trip per week to LC, and we usually opt to add a second day to LC if weather and boat scheduling allow (in the past we have always been able to do this). It is interesting that the new Newton 46 at Divi gets to LC Bloody Bay Wall in about the same transit time as some of the Little Cayman based operators. hawk@digisys.net (Hawkeye Hughes) pounded away at his keyboard resulting in: :The on-site manager, Max, is doing an excellent job, and I would (and :do) recommend the current Divi operation most highly. So do I. Nice to hear that you had a good time. Dan Bracuk If at first you don't succeed, you run the risk of failure. The Best of rec.scuba http://www.pathcom.com/~bracuk/RecScuba/ >:The on-site manager, Max, is doing an excellent job, and I would (and >:do) recommend the current Divi operation most highly. > >So do I. Nice to hear that you had a good time. We used to go several times a year back in the 90s. Of all the places we went (Bonaire, Coz, Grand Cayman East End, Little Cayman, Bahamas), it was by far our favorite. Haven't been (or dived) since. Glad to hear the food is still outstanding. We always stayed in the nicer rooms around the pool (ground floor) - is that where you stayed or did you use the "standard" rooms (I call them the barracks). And who are some of the dive masters these days? -HW "Skip" Weldon Columbia, SC > >:The on-site manager, Max, is doing an excellent job, and I would (and > >:do) recommend the current Divi operation most highly. Max has got his hands full; I did drop him a note this past week to find out how they made out with Hurricane Charley, and his report was some minor dock damage that wasn't significant enough to stop them from going out diving. -hh >Max has got his hands full; I did drop him a note this past week to find >out how they made out with Hurricane Charley, and his report was some >minor dock damage that wasn't significant enough to stop them from going >out diving. Hugh are you going down this year? If so, I look forward to your trip report. Speaking of having your hands full, I just got a new Harley with what would have been dive money. -HW "Skip" Weldon Columbia, SC > Hugh are you going down this year? If so, I look forward to your trip > report. Going to be heading down to Pirate's Point on Little Cayman (heard they got better food :-). I thought I sent you the dates for this offline, to see if you were possibly interested? We might swing over to the Brac to see how the Divi's Timeshare Renovation is coming along. They've now been closed for repairs for roughly 50 weeks, and the scuttlebutt is that they will probably finish the first building by Christmas. > Speaking of having your hands full, I just got a new Harley with what > would have been dive money. Sounds like fun in your warmer climate. My future vacation/diving budget may be severely curtailed, depending on the outcome of an interesting opportunity at hand. We'll know more in a month or so. -hh >> Hugh are you going down this year? If so, I look forward to your trip >> report. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >I thought I sent you the dates for this offline, to see if you were >possibly interested? Senior moment here - you did mention it. Have a good time and file a trip report when finished. -HW "Skip" Weldon Columbia, SC > >> Hugh are you going down this year? If so, I look forward to your trip > >> report. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Senior moment here - you did mention it. Have a good time and file a > trip report when finished. We'll have to see what's left after Ivan...current bearings have Little Cayman, Cayman Brac and probably also Grand Cayman in his crosshairs. -hh >> Senior moment here - you did mention it. Have a good time and file a >> trip report when finished. >We'll have to see what's left after Ivan...current bearings have Little >Cayman, Cayman Brac and probably also Grand Cayman in his crosshairs. I noticed that this morning. If you hear anything, please post it here. This hurricane stuff is getting old. We had beaucoup tornados around here last week from Frances - can't imagine how Floridians are coping. -HW "Skip" Weldon Columbia, SC |
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