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Diving caves, blue holes and caverns
WELCOME BAHAMAS - GRAND BAHAMA - 2006
Diving caves, blue holes and caverns
Rare sights for connoisseurs
Even some lifelong residents of Grand Bahama are unaware that their entire island, along with the surrounding seabed, is a labyrinth of caves, underwater tunnels and submerged caverns.
Formed during the last ice age, these huge limestone structures - including one of the longest underwater cave systems in the world - make for some spectacular scuba dives, says Niall Christoffersen, operations manager with the Underwater Explorers Society (UNEXSO).
One of the most popular, and the easiest says Christoffersen, is Ben's Cave, located in Lucayan National Park, about 20 miles out of Freeport on the eastern side of Grand Bahama.
This 42-acre park is a popular spot for ecotourism, with boardwalks and nature trails through sand dunes, mangrove swamps, hardwood coppices and pinelands. Migratory bats mate and raise their young in caves here, including Ben's Cave.
This dive is accessible to any open-water certified diver, but only a few get to see it. The Bahamas National Trust, which operates the country's park system, stipulates that only four divers can make the dive at one time and only one dive is permitted every other day. This means that reservations must be made early, says Christoffersen.
"It's a cavern dive, which means it's conducted where there is always light from the surface," he explains, pointing out that a cavern dive is different from a cave dive, where divers use special lights to explore selected sections of the system.
According to Cristina Zenato, UNEXSO's cave diving instructor and dive guide, the cavern was formed in one section of a cave where the roof collapsed - a cone of rocks litters the cavern floor. This phenomenon occurs throughout The Bahamas, creating blue holes, found both on land and on the seabed.
Certified leaders and instructors like Zenato help divers enjoy their cave and cavern diving experiences while protecting both the diver and the fragile environment they enter.
Home to Speleonectes
Because Ben's Cave is visited so seldom, its waters are crystal clear. The upper layer is fresh water - rainwater that has filtered through the porous limestone rock. Thirty-five feet down is salt water - home to very few full-time residents, including a blind fish. The cave is also home to a rarely seen crustacean called Speleonectes lucayensis, which looks like an inch-long swimming centipede. This creature was discovered in 1982, the first member of a new class given the name Remipedia, meaning "oar foot."
"We usually do not see the Speleonectes lucayensis. It lives only in the darkness of the cave," says Zenato. "I have seen it only once myself. It looks very frail and for that reason I tried not to disturb it. It seemed unaware of my presence."
Underwater stalactites and stalagmites are some of the most impressive things to be seen here. Divers can also visit fossilized corals and see calcite crystals.
At a depth of about 25 to 30 feet, divers experience the fresh/salt water interface, or halocline, as a distinct line. If you watch a diver passing through the halocline, their image is momentarily blurred and distorted by the mixing of the fresh and salt water.
Other dive locations include Mermaid's Lair, a cavern that looks like nothing more than a puddle hidden in the Bahamian forest. But as you descend you'll find yourself in a large cavern with some of the best formations to be seen anywhere.
Owl Hole is accessed by a 40-foot descent into the water by ladder. It's for the dedicated cavern explorer only, with the largest of the island's ambient light zones, a pristine halocline, and stunning views towards the entrance.
If you have already visited some of the spectacular snorkelling and diving sites that abound off Grand Bahama, you may be ready for something quite different: descending into one of the island's caverns, caves and mysterious blue holes.
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