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Scuba Forum / Scuba Locations / July 2005Cayman Brac: Divi vs. Brac Reef
I understand that Divi Tiara is closing for a month this Fall. Is that true, and if so, for how long? Otherwise, are they in full operation? How is their dive dock progressing? Haven't heard much about Brac Reef. Their web site is great. Are their facilities in full operation? Is their restaurant a buffet style? Would appreciate comments from a recent visitor. -HW "Skip" Weldon Columbia, SC >I understand that Divi Tiara is closing for a month this Fall. Is >that true, and if so, for how long? Otherwise, are they in full [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >their facilities in full operation? Is their restaurant a buffet >style? Would appreciate comments from a recent visitor. Just received word that Divi will suspend operations from Sept 3 to Oct 1. I don't like the sound of that. Still hoping for any comments on recent visitors to Brac Reef. -HW "Skip" Weldon Columbia, SC HW "Skip" Weldon wrote: > Just received word that Divi will suspend operations from Sept 3 to > Oct 1. I don't like the sound of that. Yes, it is "interesting", isn't it? > Still hoping for any comments on recent visitors to Brac Reef. I might be able to give you some feedback on BRBR's operations if you're willing wait until late September. It also wouldn't hurt for me to have a dive buddy then either...my recollections are that they tend to frown on solo's. We'll have a car if Ann wants to go exploring with Margaret :-) -hh >I might be able to give you some feedback on BRBR's operations if >you're willing wait until late September. It also wouldn't hurt for me >to have a dive buddy then either...my recollections are that they tend >to frown on solo's. We'll have a car if Ann wants to go exploring with >Margaret :-) I just got an email answer from BR that the meals were all buffet and that the double decked dock was taken away by Ivan. But that there were "rebuilding as we speak". Sounds familiar, huh? <grin> BTW, what the heck is going on at rec.scuba? I go away for a few years, come back, and there's a bunch of wackos posting about Iraq and all sorts of nonsense except scuba. -HW "Skip" Weldon Columbia, SC > On 24 Jun 2005 14:38:50 -0700, "-hh" <recscuba_google@huntzinger.com> > BTW, what the heck is going on at rec.scuba? I go away for a few > years, come back, and there's a bunch of wackos posting about Iraq and > all sorts of nonsense except scuba. So please come back and post your reports and maybe we can turn rec.scuba back into a semblance of its old self. There's a lot of us left that still dive! > I just got an email answer from BR that the meals were all buffet and > that the double decked dock was taken away by Ivan. But that there > were "rebuilding as we speak". Sounds familiar, huh? <grin> It does sound familiar, but its not quite the same. BRBR had the government's concrete to start dive operations from (IIRC, Divi used it too), and their wooden extension got patched up "ugly but quick" shortly afterwords (December 2004): http://www.huntzinger.com/photo/2004/brac/brac_reef_dive_doc-(12-04).jpg Insofar as the double decker dock, it was wiped away clean by Ivan (again December 2004): http://www.huntzinger.com/photo/2004/brac/brac_reef_double_deck(12-04).jp g Since BRBR's DD dock wasn't necessary for day to day operations at BRBR, it would have been a low priority. Given how hard it was to get supplies into Grand Cayman, etc, it shouldn't be too great of a surprise to have waited until now for rebuilding. However, since BRBR knows that over-the-water permits are harder to get these days, they will undoubtedly rebuild it in a reasonably timely fashion, before a new (expensive) permit would be required. Divi didn't do this after Hurricane Gilbert, which is why the rebuilding of the *original* Turtle Bar, often promised, will never happen. FWIW, Jeff up at Carib Sands also has his hands full with their dock, as it was built to be more rugged, so he has to fix it instead of simply replace it. > BTW, what the heck is going on at rec.scuba? I go away for a few > years, come back, and there's a bunch of wackos posting about Iraq and > all sorts of nonsense except scuba. It goes back to the last Presidential election; its unfortunately a manifestation of the inflexible & divisive politics of the USA today. Hopefully, it will end by November 2008. -hh >It does sound familiar, but its not quite the same. BRBR had the >government's concrete to start dive operations from (IIRC, Divi used it >too), and their wooden extension got patched up "ugly but quick" shortly >afterwords (December 2004): I just got an email response from Max at Divi and he says that after the temporary shut down in Sept, they will once again go full blast. In fact, they are booked solid Christmas week. He also said that the dock was complete except for the east part of the "T" and that the platform and shed would be next. Also, that all rooms were available for booking. My understanding is that all aspects are "go" (rooms, restaurant, Turtle Bar, diving) as of now. Is that your understanding? We're giving thought to going between Thanksgiving and Christmas for a few nights. I probably will get a dive refresher of some sort as my last dive was several years ago. Maybe I'll get a dive babe instructor <grin> to be my buddy for the first time. BTW, it looks like there are two small airlines (Island Air and a new group) for inter-island travel. Is one more reliable than the other? Schedules look about same. -HW "Skip" Weldon Columbia, SC HW "Skip" Weldon wrote: > I just got an email response from Max at Divi and he says that after > the temporary shut down in Sept, they will once again go full blast. Personally, I would have felt a lot more comfortable if he would have said: "We are going full blast right now". I don't want to overinterpret, but given Divi's history of perennially being a few months from "going full blast" and the fact that the timeshare rennovation project is now 18 months & counting (yes, a full year before Hurricane Ivan...so much for that excuse), I'm obligated to read between the lines. Since I know that Divi's temporary construction work permits were for January - June 2005 and since its now the end of June, all work could very easily come to a screeching halt as of the end of this week...it depends on how their work permit request for July-Dec is turning out. > He also said that the dock was complete except for the east part of > the "T" and that the platform and shed would be next. As always, wait to see the photo's for proof. FWIW, I'm surprised that the western extension wasn't completed long ago, since dock frontage space is a bottleneck which affects dive operations. However, if business has been down, then the capacity isn't needed, so they can get away with procrastinating. > My understanding is that all aspects are "go" (rooms, restaurant, > Turtle Bar, diving) as of now. Is that your understanding? IMO, they're operational, but they'be been that for the past 6 months. The real question is have they made the incremental improvements that bring their load-carrying capacity back up to 100%. Obviously, since they haven't rebuilt the gear shed or western dock, the answer is no. They may be able to operate close to 100%, but with "band aids" that require more physical labor for the staff to overcome, such as hauling tanks from the temporary fill station location near the compressor (vs right at the end of the dock), etc. > We're giving thought to going between Thanksgiving and Christmas for a > few nights. There will probably be a decent lull between the two holiday crowds. > I probably will get a dive refresher of some sort as my > last dive was several years ago. Maybe I'll get a dive babe > instructor <grin> to be my buddy for the first time. If you're thinking of going to BRBR, I have someone I can recommend. Let me know offline. > BTW, it looks like there are two small airlines (Island Air and a new > group) for inter-island travel. Is one more reliable than the other? > Schedules look about same. Island Air just this month finally shut down scheduled service, due to their inability to compete with the Government-subsidized Cayman Airways flights. This means that to the best of my knowledge, the only way to get to LC or the Brac today is via Cayman Airway's scheduled service, or to hire Island Air as a private charter. If there's someone else, please let me know. -hh >> BTW, it looks like there are two small airlines (Island Air and a new >> group) for inter-island travel. Is one more reliable than the other? [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >If there's someone else, please let me know. This is the outfit I meant. They are calling it "Cayman Express" and it seems to be a sub of Cayman Airways. http://www.caymanairways.com/trip/schedules4.html -HW "Skip" Weldon Columbia, SC Got back yesterday from Divi Tiara. The boats were running. We had 17 on ours and were not crowded. We were on the Tiara Fever. Gary and Carl were the divemasters. They let us dive as we pleased. We did not have to follow the divemaster around. We did three boat dives a day each lasting about an hour. They have 5 boats going now. They were finishing the dock. The T of the dock holds 3 boats so they staggered the morning leaving times. They did not have much room for wetsuits, but that should be cleared up in the next week or so. The food was great. Buffets at every meal. The rooms could use rennovation, but they were clean and cool. Did not spend a lot of time in the room. The twin otters from GC to Brac made it difficult with the weight restrictions. However, there is a 737 flight out at 630 AM three to four days a week. We switched onto that one Sunday. The bad part of that is timing the connections in GC. I did ask Max about them closing. He said since they only had 5 reservations in September, they felt it was more cost effective to move those reservations and not have to keep the staff there full time. Sounded like manditory vacation. Hope this helps, Lucie Tucson AZ >I understand that Divi Tiara is closing for a month this Fall. Is > that true, and if so, for how long? Otherwise, are they in full [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > -HW "Skip" Weldon > Columbia, SC >Got back yesterday from Divi Tiara. Thanks for the nice report. Were the grounds and pool area well-kept? -HW "Skip" Weldon Columbia, SC Yes. We got in the pool after the afternoon dives. It was a good way to relax. However, booze was expensive. Good thing we bought in GC. $5 US for a beer. Oh, water temp was 84. Lucie >>Got back yesterday from Divi Tiara. > > Thanks for the nice report. Were the grounds and pool area well-kept? > > -HW "Skip" Weldon > Columbia, SC Interesting thread ... we did not use either operator and for the life of me I can not remember their name but it was started by Winston McDermit?? Also a friend has a place that he rents out for a very reasonable price. This worked out great as we cooked our own meals. Saved lots $$ since we loaded up on food and booze at the store. Let me know if you want details and I can did them up. Allen Winston's last surviving diveboat sank a couple of years ago, so even if it was Brac Aquatics you were thinking of, they're long gone. Besides, it was Winston who stiffed rec.scuban Trace out of his last paycheck. I do recall a somewhat recent trip report where someone effectively hired a local for a private boat, which may be able to be pulled from the archives. Nevertheless, I would be somewhat concerned with this approach, since they were an unlicenced operator. -hh |
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