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

 Aruba, Belize, Bonaire, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Bahamas, Jupiter FL, Lake
Michigan 

Dive Conditions

Safe diving practice within our own limits!   

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.  

Overall Rating

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
 

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