Dive Review of Shelby Scott - Bernard Watson (Private Charter)/Cayman Breakers Condominiums in
Cayman Islands/Cayman Brac & Little Cayman

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Shelby Scott - Bernard Watson (Private Charter)/Cayman Breakers Condominiums, Mar, 2003, by Reis Kayser, IL, USA . Report 462.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	When my three diving friends and I planned this trip to Cayman Brac we looked for a destination that we could dive independently without being part of a large group. After our previous trip to Bonaire we quickly learned to enjoy the non-structured freedom we had while shore diving. Searching the internet and Undercurrent I found a condo in Brac that would accommodate the four of us and a very helpful property manager that referred us to a car rental agency and a charter boat operator. Nina Banks (rbanks@candw.ky) the property manager, assured us that we would get great service from Capitan Shelby Scott and the car rental company. The accommodations were fantastic. We had a wonderfully appointed 2 bedroom and 2 bath condo with a fully equipped kitchen , living room, balcony, and all the amenities you would have at home. It was located on the far end of the island away from the airport so we had privacy and never heard anything but the waves crashing outside our living room. Everything Nina promised in advance of our trip was right on target with no disappointments. Capitan Shelby Scott (phone: 1-345-917-7074) owns a 23 foot twin outboard fishing boat that he runs fishing charters on and occasionally takes divers. Shelby has lived on Brac his whole life and proved to know the waters around both Brac and Little Cayman intimately. Shelby arranged a dive package for the four of us that included Shelby, the boat, fuel, tanks, air, and weights for 6 days of 3 daily dives. Shelby is not a diver but required us to dive with a local dive master on the first day so that he could be comfortable that we knew what we were doing. He arranged to have Bernard "Bunny" Watson, Dive Master (cybbline@candw.ky), join us on our first day. Bunny works for the Cayman Brac Fire Department and has been a dive master and dive instructor, I believe, for about 15 years. Bunny grew up on the island with Shelby and knows the lay of the land underwater around both islands better than one could imagine. Bunny was very knowledgeable and lots of fun to dive with. He was able to show us an amazing number of critters and things that we are certain we would have missed without him. It was so enjoyable diving with Bunny that we offered to hire him for the remainder of the week to dive with us. Fortunately he was able to swap work time with someone at the Fire department and joined us. During the week we were able to make two trips to Little Cayman that was truly a wonderful experience. The charter boat proved to be a good choice for another reason. While we made two trips to Little Cayman, divers at the airport told us that the resort boats were unable to visit Little Cayman that week due to "rough seas." The divers seemed to feel it was due to high fuel prices. Shelby trailers his boat and was able to launch from either side of the island. It is possible that while the water was dead calm where we launched, the other side of the island where the marina and the resort boats dock was very rough all week. I'm not judging, only reporting hearsay! This trip ranked among the best ever for us. We were able to dive where we wanted based on our research before the trip and when we wanted. Bunny was certainly a big help in directing us to some fantastic sites around both islands that were not on our dive site list. We were also able to stay down as long as we wanted. We all dive with computers and my Cochran told me my average dive time for the week was about 1 hour and 9 minutes. When you think about that being a 38% increase in bottom time over the 45 to 50 minutes the dive boats allow you to take. That adds value to the trip. This is probably not a good dive trip for a beginner. The security of a big boat and lots of other divers I believe helps build confidence and neutralizes many fears. The four of us on this trip are very comfortable in the water and agreed that overall it was a wonderful experience. If you are interested in contacting Nina Banks (1-345-948-1463), Bernard "Bunny" Watson (1-345-948-0254), or Shelby Scott (1-345-917-7074) you can call them in or email Nina and Bunny. Shelby is not into computers yet!!! Have fun diving. Reis Kayser
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Aruba, Belize, Bonaire, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Bahamas, Jupiter FL, Lake Michigan
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	calm, surge
Water Temp	80-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	100-150 Ft/ 30-46 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Safe diving practice within our own limits!
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	This was my first experience shooting all digital. I'll never shoot film underwater again! The results were fantastic. As for the facilities, we were on a small charter fishing boat that was not really equipped for diver conveniences. The quality of the dives and the dive master, who is also an experienced underwater photographer, was well worth the trade-off of not having a fancy dive boat.

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Dive Review of Shelby Scott - Bernard Watson (Private Charter)/Cayman Breakers Condominiums in Cayman Islands/Cayman Brac & Little Cayman

Shelby Scott - Bernard Watson (Private Charter)/Cayman Breakers Condominiums, Mar, 2003,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Shelby Scott - Bernard Watson (Private Charter)/Cayman Breakers Condominiums in
Cayman Islands/Cayman Brac & Little Cayman