Ten years ago we stayed at Divi Tiara Beach Resort with 16 divers. In July 1999 the fourteen of us traveled to Brac Reef Resort, which is smaller. The Brac Reef has a nice layout; all the rooms have an ocean view, and many are also close to the pool and hot tub. When we were there both were about the same temperature! Rooms are comfortable, some larger than others, with 2 beds and cable TV. Meals were served buffet style, and the food was terrific, with several choices at all meals. We definitely did not go hungry on this trip! We could eat inside the (usually) air-conditioned dining room, in an enclosed patio, or outside. There's a small boutique, a meeting room where we watched the resident photo pro's videos a couple nights, and very friendly locals at the reception desk.

Commercial flights are arranged so that everyone arrives on the daily 10:30 P.M. flight, which makes for quite a jumble of people and dive gear. The van and bus drivers managed to sort us all out and when we arrived at the Brac Reef, drinks and snacks were waiting for us. After a quick check-in we unpacked, threw our dive gear together and hit the sack. Next morning our dive gear was magically picked up outside our doors and taken to the dock. There are three large, comfortable dive boats, Big Sister, Little Sister, and Twin Sister. After we pointed out our dive bags, they were put on the correct boat; we put our gear together once, and after that all we needed to do was double-check everything. Bags and other gear went under the bench seat. One thing we really liked about the dive operation is that each group pretty much had its own boat--even when only five of us went out for the afternoon dive, they didn't switch us to another boat to conserve fuel. The only time they don't use all the boats is for the night dives. 

The daily routine was usually two morning dives, back to the resort for a delicious lunch, then an afternoon dive. Depth restrictions were 110' for computer divers, 100' for the rest. Time was usually about 50 minutes, but they didn't get on anyone's case for staying longer. One day became a two-tanker over on Little Cayman, where the wall dives are truly spectacular. We also dove Little Cayman one morning when the seas were like glass and the captain couldn't resist the mere 20 minutes it took to get there! Another great dive is the Captain Keith Tibbetts, a Russian frigate, which storms have now broken in two. There is a resident Jewfish and the engine rooms are pristine. There are also a couple other small wrecks.
We saw several eagle rays, some feeding--when they're busy rooting in the sand they don't pay attention to divers, so we got very close. One dive site has a half dozen or so impressive-looking tarpon and another has such a huge lobster it marched out and showed us who was boss! Although some dives were more interesting than others, we never got bored--if there weren't bigger things to look at, we just searched for smaller stuff!
When diving is finished for the day, the dive masters rinsed everything except wetsuits and cameras; there are two large bins for rinsing gear and one for cameras. Next to the nicely set-up dive store is a large room for hanging gear. There wasn't a rinse barrel on the boat, although they have a fresh water hose. There is a small camera table that is adequate if not too many people have cameras. About the only thing we didn't care for was that the gear towards the stern of the boat had the sun beating down on it all day.

Ed Beaty, the resident photographer spent two dives taking underwater videos of our group. He did such an excellent job editing it, we were going to buy one, which we never do. Instead, we were told each diver in our group would receive a complimentary copy! So we bought another video he made, which is also excellent.

When not diving there's a great two-story pavilion where we relaxed and watch the sunsets. There's also Ping-Pong, bicycling, tennis, car rentals, and karaoke night. Try snorkeling around the pavilion--during the day the schooling southern sennets hang out, and at night the tarpon come in to feed on the little fish that are attracted by the lights. There are also a couple octopuses, but watch out for the scorpionfish, and especially the sea urchins, as the water is shallow.

Except for the late-night arrival and the early-morning (you don't want to know) departure, we had no real complaints. The folk at Brac Reef know what they're doing!