Cayman Brac/Little Cayman by Jason DeSalvo

I've been to the Caymans many times. This was my 5th trip in the last two years and my second time staying at the Divi Tiara Beach Hotel on Cayman Brac. Significantly, however, my last visit to Cayman Brac was in December of 1983 - almost 16 years ago.

The onsite "Peter Hughes" dive operation was fantastic, delivering top quality service despite having to cater to over 105 divers (2 large groups) the week of my stay. Restrictions were very liberal once you showed that you could be trusted. Three dives a day are standard consisting of a two-tank morning dive (9:00 am) and a one-tank afternoon dive (2:30 pm). Night dives were twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday and cost an extra $40 - they're not included in the package. The first dive each day was invariably a wall dive for 50 minutes (you could easily get 60 minutes if you were in the water first). Although they asked you not to go deeper than 110 feet, no one seemed to mind if you went off with your buddy to do your own thing and did a swim-through that put you over the wall in 135 feet. Both the second dive each morning and the afternoon dives were usually shallow spur and groove reefs with a 50 feet for 50 minutes profile (again, hour dives were common). One morning two-tank trip to Little Cayman is included with a one- week package. Additional trips cost an extra $30.

Upon arriving, we set our gear outside our room and then didn't touch it again (other than when diving) until it was delivered back to our room clean after our last dive of the trip. Your gear is kept in locked rooms at night and you are assigned a numbered gear bag for your entire stay. After each dive, you simply write your number on a white board for your next desired dive and your gear shows up on the boat - completely set up on a 3000+ psi aluminum 80. It really is that simple.

Being the kind of person that takes detailed notes on every dive I've ever done, I was quite surprised to hear people on the boat raving about the quality of the diving after each dive. Don't get me wrong, there were some sites worthy of such praise - Rockmonster on Cayman Brac; Randy's Gazebo, Mixing Bowl and Donna's Delight on Little Cayman - to name some of the most memorable. However, the health of the reefs and therefore the quality of the diving didn't even come close to what I experienced in 1983. Elkhorn Forest (on the Brac's south side) no longer has any significant growths of Elkhorn Coral. The fish life at most sites on the Brac was sparse (Little Cayman fared far better as far as fish life is concerned) and the shallow sites on the north side of the Brac (particularly those in Stake Bay) have more living algae than coral. Having dived all over the Caribbean, I can honestly say that the shallow sites on Cayman Brac's north side offer the worst diving I've done at any "quality" dive destination.

Even Little Cayman's famed walls are showing signs of deterioration. The wall in Jackson's Bay (east of Bloody Bay) was literally covered in algae below 50 feet. Divemasters and locals claim that the massive algae problem on both islands has to do with consistently high water temperatures (about 83 - 84 degrees during my trip) caused by last year's El Nino. Unfortunately, by the time the water does cool down (if it cools down), the algae will have killed a very large percentage of the coral. Although the gorgonians look to be healthy and plentiful at most sites, on some shallow dives in Stake Bay, my buddy and I estimated that living hard corals covered less than 10-15% of the reef.

Not all was bad, however, and had I not visited the Brac in 1983, I might not have been that disturbed by the condition of the reefs. I saw more big marine life on this trip than I have in my last 5 trips to the Caribbean -- Caribbean Reef Sharks, Nurse Sharks, Hawksbill Turtles, Spotted Eagle Rays and Southern Stingrays. We saw at least one of these species on every dive and on one dive at Mixing Bowl (Little Cayman) I counted 2 Eagle Rays, 2 Caribbean Reef Sharks, 3 Nurse Sharks (all under the same ledge in 10 feet of water) and 2 Hawksbill Turtles, not to mention the 20+ large groupers patrolling the reefs!

In general, get to Little Cayman as often as you can and when diving on the Brac, try to convince your captain to go East where the diving is significantly better than at the Western sites near the hotels. The Russian Destroyer is a pretty weak dive - interesting once for conversation value but not worth a second visit. Our night dive was notable only for the fact that we saw nothing that we couldn't see during the day - not one octopus, squid or eel and only a couple of small lobsters.

The hotel was nice, albeit a bit run down. The manager Stevo says that a complete refurbishment has been authorized and the pool and surrounding patio will be redone beginning in September. Service at the hotel was very good and the staff would go out of their way to see that your stay was enjoyable. The food was a pleasant surprise. Breakfast included cereals, fruit, yogurt and a choice of French toast, pancakes or eggs made to order. Lunches and dinners were all interesting (if not gourmet) with several entrees from which to choose and fresh salads and bread always available. All meals were served buffet style and there was ample food for even the heartiest appetite.

Overall, this one of the most relaxing and enjoyable dive vacations I have taken. Both the hotel and dive operation cater to divers in a manner that's on par with the finest anywhere. The island is quiet and idyllic and offers the perfect environment in which to completely unwind. Unfortunately, knowing what the reefs of Cayman Brac were 16 years ago made each dive bittersweet - although many were good, the sites are mere shadows of what they used to be. More concerning, however, is what they might be like 16 years from now…

Last edited on June 29, 2002