In January 1995, we came to Cayman Brac for the first time and fell in love with the island. We purchased a timeshare at the Divi Tiara then and our week is in the middle of July so that our two girls could come when school was out.
Our daughters were young teenagers then and the Brac was and is a safe and wonderful place for children to enjoy themselves and the ocean. Over the years we enjoyed meeting the many local people employed by the Divi and those who visited there. Of course we ventured off the resort to see the entire island and meet many friendly and gracious people.
We originally came to Cayman Brac for the diving and enjoyed returning yearly to dive and photograph again. It has always been my favorite place to dive, because it’s made so easy on the Brac.
Now getting to the Brac on Cayman Air over the years has been another story and I can’t count the 11 pm arrivals or 6 am departures over the years. Ending your vacation by getting up at 4 am to fly out with kids and not have them complain means they really loved the place they’ve been. This year we finally had decent flight schedules and now Divi has shut down the resort.
When I received word that Divi was closing the resort, I immediately sent emails to the Governor of the Cayman Islands, The Sister Island Tourism Board, Cayman Air and Divi Resorts.
Though each was worded differently the request was the same. Won’t you please work together so that this resort will not close and the people of Cayman Brac will not lose their jobs at this resort since it is a major employer?
The governor’s office did respond but wasn’t responsive. Divi responded with the same reasons that they gave your newspaper for closing originally. I would think that Cayman Airways and the tourism group would be equally concerned about all the Islands but got no response from them.
As timeshare owners we are now left with few options and the laws of the Cayman Islands and its courts to protect us. Divi who allowed its property there on the Brac to deteriorate badly over the years and lowered the number of locals it employed, has closed the resort that we as timeshare owners were promised use of in our contracts with Divi upon purchase.
They are trying to force us to give up ownership of our timeshares and take less valuable properties or keep the timeshare on the Brac and face huge maintenance fees. We have no way of knowing how high the fees may go and Divi will give no hint.
The truth of the matter is that at the end of our contracts we the timeshare owners own the timeshares according to our contracts.
If the resort stays closed, the Cayman government does nothing and we are all forced to give up our property there, then Divi has a very valuable piece of property that we paid top dollar for and paid maintenance for over the years.
The Cayman Island Government can help the timeshare owners who have chosen to become a part of the Brac and stop Divi from exploiting their power over us.
Lydia and Renay Adkins -
Cordele, Georgia USA
