A Sharky Adventure with a Splash of Rum and Airport Drama!
The Bahamas are famous amongst divers as being one of the best places in the world to dive with sharks, lots of sharks and lots of different species.
On the 9th January a group of 13 divers, of varying different abilities and 2 non-divers set off from the UK to Nassau.
Arriving in Nassau we were joined by Dave and Julie, 2 of our American cousins who have been on previous Oyster Diving holidays.
From here we took a short 15-seater flight to Bimini where the journey got more interesting. On arrival the airport was closed and we were effectively stranded on the runway with no way to get out. Thankfully our Pilot radioed the customs guys who had packed up for the day early and headed home. After a while they eventually turned, stamped our passports and we left the airport. We then were told that the mini-bus that takes you to the ferry terminal had also stopped for the day, so the Customs guys did several runs in their cars to take us to the ferry.
The ferry driver kindly dropped us off on the North Island right on our door step at the famous resort of ‘Bimini Big Game Club’. We dropped our kit and made use of the onsite bar, restaurant and extensive cocktail menu.
The next morning we checked in with the dive centre to do our first dive of the holiday. There was no messing around, we headed straight for the sandy area where the Great Hammerheads hangout.
Due to poor visibility caused by some recent rain the dive was called off, so we made our way to a local reef for a chilled dive where the viz was much better. On returning to the jetty of our resort some of our group made use of the cage that hangs in the water. Here you can find about 10 bull sharks circling around waiting for a fish or two to be thrown in. Getting this close to these apex predators is totally exhilarating and not for the faint-hearted, as even though you are in the safety of a metal cage, you do get the feeling that bill sharks would be a lot more interested in you if they could get passed the bars!
Undeterred, we tried our luck again the next day. Lo and behold, the Great Hammerheads appeared in all their giant glory, posing for our cameras like underwater supermodels.
Slowly they came in to view, one, two, three and eventually seven GIANT Hammerheads.
Some of the Hammerheads swam right in front of your nose, others skimmed your head and most of the time they danced around in front of you like a beaming model happy for everyone to fill their camera’s memory cards.
90 or so minutes later we emerged with grins bigger than the sharks themselves, hoping our camera footage was as fabulous as the dive.
The next day we had another couple of great dives; a wreck called the S.S. Sapona made famous by the bootleggers during America’s prohibition era. The wreck is very shallow and the majority sits above the water but large schools of fish, lobsters and soft corals make this a very cool and relaxed dive!
Next was another shark dive, this time in the region of 50 Caribbean reef sharks that circled our boat waiting for the end of the dive. We hovered mid-water in the clear water hoping the next shark would get even closer then that last.
Once all the divers were out of the water, fingers and toes intact, the crew thanked the sharks by throwing them a bucket of fish.
Having checked out some of the local rum shacks and the resorts bar, we jumped back on the ferry to the South island to meet our little propeller plane to whisk us to Grand Bahama.
Grand Bahama was made famous around the world a few years ago when a category five hurricane ripped through the island and tour large parts of it apart. Driving from the airport to our resort, Viva Grand Wyndham, you could still see some of the devastation.
On arriving at the dive centre located at the resort we were really disappointed to learn that the Tiger shark dives we had planned at Tiger Beach were closed due to poor visibility. Naturally the thought of diving with Tiger Sharks in poor visibility was not that appealing.
Not letting this disappointment get in the way we managed to thoroughly enjoy our week here. We ended up doing some pristine reef dives and the Caribbean Reef shark feed was so fantastic we did it again!
We did a few tours, one to a new rum distillery which was fascinating, especially when we got to the sampling room! Rum Runners bar in Freeport became a favourite among the rum cocktail connoisseurs.
Naturally we also made use of the outdoor pool, the mile long white sand beach, the various on-site restaurants and of course the all-inclusive bar.
As well as reef, tiger and hammerhead sharks there are loads of other dives you can do in the Bahamas too. It has a huge underwater cave system second only to Mexico’s cenotes, oceanic white tips at Cat Island or even dolphins in Andros or lots of other wrecks.
To plan your diving holiday to the Bahamas please check out our similar holiday package that can be tailored to your requirements. 🦈🍹✈️