Cayman Brac  2002

 

 

 

What we did and what we recommend you do when you visit Cayman Brac for diving.

 

 

 

Interesting Island Facts -  This Island is small and remote, it doesn’t have any night life to speak of and the shopping is sparse.  This makes the island perfect for those that want to get away from it all and those that come for the superb diving.

• Area: 12 miles long by 1½ miles wide
• Population: Approximately 1200
• Crime: Practically nonexistent
• Public Transportation: 2 Taxis, but several rental car agencies to choose from, as well as rental scooters and bikes.
• Schools: 3 grade schools, 1 Middle/High School.
• People: Harmony of white, black and mixed. Renowned for their friendliness
• Location: 90 miles east of Grand Cayman (15 minutes by jet), 5 miles east of Little Cayman
• Shopping: Variety of local stores and gift shops to chose from.
• Getting There: Daily flights available through Cayman Airways or Island Air.

Interesting Scuba Diving Facts -

 

Cayman Brac's greatest attraction is its surrounding waters. Marine life of all shapes and sizes abound in these clear, warm waters of the Caribbean. As such, diving is perhaps the island's most famous attribute. With so many dives and dive sites to choose from on the island, divers find themselves amazed at the variety of diving available. With the recent sinking of the Russian Destroyer in fall of 1996, Cayman Brac has further increased its underwater appeal. The Russian Ship rests in about 55 ft. of water at its shallowest and 110 ft at it’s deepest. The ship rises to within about 15 ft of the surfaces ensuring that non-divers can get a good look at the vessel. Dive sites such as Greenhouse Reef or Radar reef are shallow reef dives (20-60 ft) and display spectacular coral rising to within feet of the surface. On the other hand, wall dives start quite deep on the island (about 70-100 ft) and provide quite a different dive experience. In addition to stunning corals and sponges divers can expect to see a variety of marine creatures ranging from turtles, squid, lobsters and rays (of all shapes and sizes) to the occasional shark or moray eel. For non-divers, the bottom can clearly be seen at over 100 feet, so the underwater treat is shared.

 

 

Lodging – 

The Divi Tiara Beach Resort is located on a palm-laden white sand beach on the picturesque island of Cayman Brac. The resort offers a variety of accommodation levels, as well as amenities like freshwater pool, tennis court, and an awesome restaurant.  We found the food here EXCELLENT!  We had the all-inclusive package, which can be scary some times when it comes to getting good food.  Let me assure you, nothing to worry about here.  They treated us to meals like surf and turf; prime steak and lobster tails on the grill, roast pork done just right, Prime Rib with their own rub, and all kinds of fresh fish.  And it’s all the seconds you can handle!!!!  Our lunches and breakfasts were as equally satisfying.  You have a choice of eating in the restaurant or out on the patio by the beach.  The patio was our choice spot, the table right underneath the great tree. 

The room was clean and comfortable.  We stayed in the lowest priced units; they have some really nice apartments for rent as well.  If you are looking for luxury check those out, if you’re looking for just a comfy place to lay your head at night our room type will do. 

The beach and pool are pleasant.  They have hammocks strung between the palm trees on the beach.  We found ourselves drawn to their therapeutic qualities more than once.

The snorkeling and shell hunting right off the beach was not that exciting and yielded few specimens for our fish tank.  But, who’s got time to snorkel when you’re diving 3/4 times a day!

 
Dive Tiara, the PADI five star dive center here, handles all of your diving needs.  Our fearless dive crew, Cary and Christophe, were excellent.  Tiara makes it easy; they rig all of your gear up for you, clean most of your gear for you overnight, and serve as your underwater tour guides if you want to follow.  Yep you get spoiled.  No more wrestling to get your gear on the boat, no more scrambling to rig up everything, and no more rinsing the BCD and unrigging everything.  You walk on the boat, go diving, and walk off the boat.  What an excellent operation!

Divi Tiara
PO Box 238
Stake Bay, Cayman Brac
Cayman Islands, BWI
345-948-1553
345-948-1316 Fax
Toll Free 800-367-3484 (USA)

 

Dive Sites we  visited – Courtesy of Jeff Watson

3 dives a day except for one day we did 4!

 

What we saw, and you Might see, under the water –

What an adventure!  The underwater experience here is like nothing I have seen before.  Everything looks so perfect, healthy, and abundant.  The colorful coral, sponges, and fans were everywhere.  The colors were vivid, brilliant, awe inspiring.  It felt like you were inside of a professionally made aquarium. We saw numerous schools of all kinds of fish, sting rays, Giant Eagle Rays, spiny lobsters, sea turtles, shrimp, clown fish, parrot fish, blow fish, green moray eels, spotted moray eels, nurse sharks, bristle worms, starfish, conch, grouper, huge tarpin, beautiful angle fish, crabs, and too many other to name.  Bottom line is the reefs of the Cayman’s are top notch!  Make sure you partake in at least one night dive while your there.  You’ll likely see octopus and squid.

 

Shopping – We only visited the shops at Divi.  They have a dive shop and 2 nice gift shops, just enough to satisfy our tourist trinkets.

 

Other cool stuff to do and places to visit – 

We took a bike ride to Rebecca’s cave; bikes are free by the way.  This is a large natural cave.  This is the site where 2 families sought shelter during the islands worst hurricane.  Rebecca was the 8 month old infant that lost her life here during the hurricane.  A memorial is setup in the cave to her.  There are many more caves and bluffs to explore on the island if you have time, we didn’t. 

 

Transportation Tips –

Airfare to Cayman Brac can be expensive, book well in advance.  Most flights go from Miami to Grand Cayman to Cayman Brac.  You do not need to rent a car for your whole stay, but you might want to rent one for a day to see all the sites on the island.   To find the best deal for a car visit Cayman Car Rental website. As for getting to the dive sites, Dive Tiara can’t be beat.

 

Have Fun!

 

Check out our trip leader’s website here.

Check out our photos and videos page.

 

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Last updated: April 14, 2002