Dive Review of Divi Flamingo in
Cayman Islands/Cayman Brac

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Divi Flamingo, Dec, 2004, by Michael Bergen, CA, USA . Report 1532.
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	The Cayman Islands are located between Cuba and Jamaica. The largest is Grand Cayman (where Cayman Air has their hub) with the nightlife and above-water attractions, and the two sister islands located 90 miles east are Little Cayman and Cayman Brac (“brac” is Gaelic for bluff), known for their diving. Grand Cayman was devastated by Hurricane Ivan, so most of the tourism was detoured to the other two islands. We were diving in Cayman Brac (okay, off the Brac technically), so we ended up meeting many more people in our resort than we would have otherwise but the dive boats were not overly full. The resort had big clean rooms, clean running water, Jacuzzi (which we ended up using as a gear rinse tank) in the bathroom, lots of good food, and great grounds crew. And a well-stocked bar. Divi Tiara is a fabulous place to go for diving. We both highly recommend it. On the 24th we met the dive crew. Hands down the best crew either of us have ever met. They not only knew the water, the boats, and all the dive sites, but took care of all their passengers so well that we all felt quite spoiled. The crew changed over our tanks between dives, made sure we all stayed hydrated, and even rinsed our gear in fresh water at the end of each day. Wow! What service! And all smiling. One guy, Christian, summed it up when there were strong winds one day. “What worries? I work in the Carribean.” Another guy, Scott, was the best boat captain ever. His boat was in fine shape, checked over each night, and ran like a dream even in rough water. The general manager, Max, made sure we all had enough supplies, even when one whole plane’s gear didn’t arrive for several days. And Liz, the Dive Operations manager, kept everyone straight on every boat on every dive. Mic’s wetsuit had gotten blown off of the dock during one particularly windy night, and was found 2 weeks after we got home. Liz sent an email to tell us it was found, and is sending it to us. That’s just great customer service. Scott gave a great dive briefing. He said, “When you’re down to 1000 psi, you should figure out where the boat is. Do your safety stop and ascend to the surface if you’re not sure where it is, because you should find the boat on the surface. That’s where we keep it.” I said, “What a nice change from our last dive trip.” Scott gave me a funny look and Mic explained. Scott then said, “Okay, a 99% chance of the boat being on top of the water, and 1% that it will be on shore.” On Christmas day, we went out in perfect weather. There was a family that traveled from D.C. consisting of 2 parents, their 3 teenage kids, and one kid’s fiancé. They came with 2 instructors to do their open water dives. They were certified on Christmas, and their dive master went down wearing a santa suit along with all his gear. They have photos of each person sitting on Santa’s lap at the bottom of the mooring line, most wearing another santa cap. Cute, especially since the pompoms floated! We got over to Little Cayman to dive Bloody Bay Wall – an incredible wall covered with tons of corals and sponges. It was like looking at the entire book of caribbean sponges and corals in one dive! And we got to dive it twice. One dive had rather strong current, and we surfaced at an empty mooring ball between 2 boats. Our boat was upcurrent, so Mic and another buddy hooked onto the mooring line and waited for the boat while Beth swam downstream to the next boat to let them know about the current. Good thing we had those bright orange safety sausages so that we were easily visible. Several other divers said that they would purchase them after getting home because they’re so handy. We had 6 days of diving, 4-1/2 in near-perfect conditions, then a strong current picked up with 25 knot winds and 10 foot swells. Beth called it a day but Mic went out anyway. Visibility was shot but he had a good time anyway. Both felt they had made the right decision. The only dive we didn’t get to do because of local conditions was a Russian destroyer, the Tibbits. Of course, the boats went there on our last day when we were out of the water. Guess we’ll have to go back for another trip.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Cozumel, Bonaire, Bay Islands, Monterey, Belize, Channel Islands, Bahamas, USVI
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, cloudy	Seas	calm, choppy, surge
Water Temp	78-82°F / 26-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	45-70 Ft/ 14-21 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Be on board with 500 PSI (per person, not per buddy team)
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	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	N/A
UW Photo Comments	No camera table on the boat, but there was a dedicated camera tank. Great photo shop with experts to ask questions of.

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Dive Review of Divi Flamingo in Cayman Islands/Cayman Brac

Divi Flamingo, Dec, 2004,

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 Divi Flamingo in
Cayman Islands/Cayman Brac