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Dive Review of Dive Tiara/Divi Tiara in
Cayman Islands/Cayman Brac

Dive Tiara/Divi Tiara, Dec, 2004,

by Janet Czapski, MI, USA (Contributor Contributor 14 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 1509.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 2 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments Unfortunately, Mother Nature wasn't too cooperative as far as the diving weather was concerned. Our first dive was on the North Side of Cayman Brac and everyone enjoyed the 79 degree water and 100' visibility and then the wind kicked up and so did the seas. The remainder of our week was spent trying to find the calmest water on the South Side we could. Our dive guys, Gary & Gavin, worked their tails off trying to find dive sites suitable for our mostly experienced divers and a few newbies so they weren't blown off the dive sites! Visibility remained good all week but currents were strong along the walls on the South and the shallower dive sites were surgey. There was no hope of getting over to Bloody Bay Wall on Little Cayman or even over to the North Side until later in the week. On Thursday we finally made it over to the "Wreck" and had excellent visibility and a good dive, but getting back on the boat in 5-8 foot seas taxed our poor guys terribly.

Dive Tiara's protocol is to have each diver sit at the back of the boat and help them on with their BCD, check their gauges and assist them off the dive platform. At the end of each dive, fins are handed up to the dive guys and after climbing up the ladder, to sit back down while your BCD is removed and tanks are swapped out for the next dive. One afternoon the Resort cancelled the afternoon boats because of safety concerns. A good call on their part as the winds seemed to pick up significantly as the day progressed. The staff was impressive with their cheerful, helpful attitudes but overall concerns about diver safety. We had a fun group and a fun crew and everyone enjoyed themselves immensely in spite of Mother Nature!

The Resort is looking better every time I take a group there. The new bar is larger with a much greater seating capacity. The Sunday Night Managers Cocktail Party is held between the bar and the dining room with a slide show featuring the best of the Brac both above and below the water. The Week in Review show was held on Thursday night this week because of the planned New Year's Eve festivities scheduled for Friday evening. All of the divers from the week were featured both above and below the water. One group diving on Christmas Day had a Santa under water with them and photos were taken of all the rest of the divers sitting on his lap with beautiful corals, turtles and sponges as background! Only one E-6 entry was submitted for the Weekly Photo Contest so it claimed First Place automatically. It seems the underwater photo world has joined the digital revolution and there were lots of qualified entries into the digital category. The winner of each category is awarded either a T-shirt or a hat as a prize and also entered into the Yearly Photo Contest which will reward the winner with a week's stay back at Divi Tiara.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving Malaysia, Indonesia, PNG, Fiji, Australia & most Caribbean dive destinations
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy Seas choppy, surge, currents, noCurrents
Water Temp 79-0°F / 26--18°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 75-100 Ft/ 23-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Cayman Islands restrictions of 130'; back on the boat with 500 psi
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 1 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

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

Subject Matter 3 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities 3 stars
UW Photo Comments Cameras were well-handled on the boats; camera rinse tank available on the boats and on the dock. No specific camera storage facilities available in the dive deck area; they needed to be carried to/from the rooms and charging was done in the rooms. E-6 processing on site; computer access available to digital photographers to burn their photos to CD if they wished.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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