The Bahamas

In The Bahamas you’ll find....
absolute dives, total wrecks and real sharks

Birth of the Blues

When Columbus first encountered The Islands of the Bahamas more than five hundred years ago, he named them ‘La Baja Mar’, meaning ‘the shallow sea’. From this ‘The Bahamas’ derived their name. Around 700 islands pepper the sunny Atlantic between Florida and the Caribbean, the water varying from the most delicate turquoise to the deepest ultramarine. This vast spectrum of blues reflects the diverse range of underwater environments you will enjoy in The Bahamas.

Light and Shade

With no rivers to deposit visibility-reducing sediments and vast areas of mangrove that restrict rainwater run-off and provide an ideal nursery for young fish, there is plenty of marine life to see in The Bahamas – and perfect, clear blue water to see it in.

Beyond the famous beaches, white sand seabeds reflect the Bahamian sunshine, rendering the water with a seductive luminance. Offshore, sand soon gives way to shallow coral reefs and deep coral walls. The Bahamas enjoy the protection of the third largest barrier-reef in the world.

Soft corals crowd the shallow reef tops, their fronds swaying in the gentle surge. Walls of hard corals adorned by colourful sponges form a buttress to the deeper ocean. Here, octopuses stalk crabs and small shellfish, reaching out tentacles for a secure hold as they move stealthily from place to place. Spiny lobsters skulk among the corals, waving long antennae.

Great gatherings of bronze schoolmaster fish hover under coral overhangs; their shimmer rivalled only by the glittering yellow-striped grunts. Turtles lazily breaststroke at the reef shoulder. Stingrays bury themselves in convenient sand patches between coral outcrops. Striped batfish glide by in formation. Dense clouds of silvery jacks swim close together in an attempt to look like one big fish. Bold Yellowtails close up after divers returning to the surface, in the hope of a food handout.

The onset of winter weather in November precipitates the famous ‘March of the Lobsters’. The lobsters stream fearlessly over any obstacle in their path, each animal protecting the one in front.

Half a dozen different types of grouper cruise quietly, ready to make a meal of any smaller unsuspecting fish. The star of this show is the boldly-striped Nassau Grouper, named after the capital of The Bahamas. To witness huge aggregations of groupers during spawning season (sometimes up to 100,000), head to Andros, Long Island, Cat Island, or the Berry Islands in January or February.

A Ships’ Graveyard

The shallow waters of The Bahamas are littered with the wrecks of vessels that came to grief here: the ‘San Jacinto’, America’s first steamship that sank in the Abacos in 1865, the ‘Cienfuegos’ that sank in 1895 near Eleuthera, and the ‘Frascate’ that went down near San Salvador in 1902, to name just a few.

However, more recent wrecks in moderate waters make the most interesting dives -- even though most of them were sunk intentionally!

Hollywood filmmakers, attracted by the clear waters, began sinking wrecks off the coast of New Providence for the production of James Bond movies. One wreck, the ‘Vulcan Bomber’ from ‘Thunderball’, was even built underwater in situ. All that remains is a scaffold structure that makes a spectacular dive for those interested in colourful invertebrates and sponges.

Since then, more than forty unwanted vessels, and even a few airplanes, have been sunk throughout The Bahamas for the benefit of divers. These have ranged from modest undertakings such as the twin tugboats at Walker’s Cay in the Abacos to extremely ambitious projects like ‘Theo’s Wreck’, a 238ft long freighter sunk 30m off Grand Bahama in 1982.

New Providence has the largest tally of intentionally sunk wrecks – with everything from a Cessna light airplane to a 200ft-long tanker, the ‘Caribe Breeze’.

Just as interesting as the wrecks themselves is the marine life they attract. The wreck of the ‘Hesperus’ off the island of Bimini may be only 5m deep, but attracts vast numbers of fish, and is noted for the huge loggerhead turtles that like to shelter in its twisted planks during the hours of darkness.

Real Sharks

If there’s one thing the waters of The Bahamas are really famous for, it’s the guys in grey suits – sharks. It’s always a thrill to have a close-encounter with one of these predators, but in The Bahamas you can meet up to forty sharks on a single dive!

Many dive centres encourage sharks up from the deep by staging orchestrated shark feeds. It started at Long Island in the south but now sharks are drawn to dive sites all over The Bahamas in this way, including the Exuma Cays Marine Park and the outer reefs of the Abacos. To date, more than 100,000 people have safely gained a new perspective on this fascinating animal during the feeds.

At these feeds you will see mainly Caribbean reef sharks (beloved of Hollywood movie-makers), but also nurse sharks, black-tip sharks and bull sharks. Even tiger sharks and great hammerheads have been known to show up for a free meal of fish scraps.

Dive centres have different feed procedures. Listen attentively to instructions and then watch in awe as these magnificent marine animals are attracted up from the deep blue water beyond the reef walls. Don’t kid yourself that this is a circus act – sharks are unscrupulously efficient eating machines. It’s an adrenaline pumping experience to be hustled and bumped in the rush for food!

Sharks are essential to the eco-system of a healthy ocean, preventing epidemics of disease among other fish. Their very presence is an indicator of the high quality of diving in The Bahamas.

Dive with Dolphins

The sharks aren’t the only guys in grey here. Near Bimini, a resident pod of pan-tropical spotted dolphins like visitors to snorkel with them. Crews from live-aboard dive boats report that wild dolphin encounters are almost routine off the Great Bahama Banks. Spinner, bridled, striped, spotted and Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphins are all indigenous to the region.

A rehabilitation centre that works with dolphins rescued from dolphinariums and circuses worldwide, and those made redundant from Hollywood movie production, is based at Sanctuary Bay on Grand Bahama. These rescued dolphins are free to leave any time they like. But catching enough small fish to sustain themselves in the wild can be difficult, so they always return to Sanctuary Bay for food. In the meantime, you can be accompanied on your dives by these friendly, smiling mammals. It makes for a thoroughly reliable dolphin encounter that you will never forget.

Blue Holes

In prehistoric times extensive cave systems were formed by the passage of rainwater through the soft limestone structure of The Islands of the Bahamas. When sea levels rose, the caves, along with their spectacular stalagmites and stalactites, became flooded. However, in places the cave ceilings collapsed, and their presence was revealed in aerial views as dark blue circular holes, punctuating the light blues of the surrounding shallow seabed. The Bahamas are famous for their Blue Holes, especially among the world’s intrepid cave-divers.

Some of the entrances to these cave-systems are cathedral-like in their dimensions. Nurse sharks often frequent them, as they form a good habitat for the crustaceans they like to eat. The great round openings in the sea floor also confuse schooling fish, who follow the internal circular wall before discovering a way out.

Entrances are often found underwater, but can also be inland. Full exploration of any Blue Hole is only advisable for those with proper cave-diving experience and certification, and necessitates being fully equipped. Leisure divers can treat them as cavern-dives provided they never stray away from the blue window of daylight that indicates a quick, safe exit.

Something for Everyone

If you’re a qualified diver, or even if you’re still learning to swim, it doesn’t matter: The Bahamas has something for everyone.

Certified divers can rent a diver-propulsion vehicle (DPV) and ‘Fly-the-Wall’ in the ocean at the southern end of New Providence. In this way you can often surprise the occasional shark or visit more than one wreck during a dive. Those who just want to dive, dive, dive, can book a trip on a live-aboard boat.

The Bahamas is also the perfect place to learn: few currents, gin-clear waters, kind weather and relaxed instructors amount to the perfect diving environment for beginners. Many people have taken their first plunge here!

If you think that’s all too much for a holiday, you could always simply snorkel the shallow reef tops, or take a turn in a bubble-sub: these fun devices have introduced thousands to the underwater world and are totally safe, tethered as they are to their own flotation-buoy. You don’t even need to know how to swim.

When it comes to diving, it’s better in The Bahamas!