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Dives with wow appeal
WHAT-TO-DO (FREEPORT) - JANUARY 2008 ISSUE
Dives with wow appeal
Spectacular underwater sights
pristine reefs, and abundant sea life, Grand Bahama always delivers a superior diving experience. But every now and then divers see something special: a pod of porpoises or a school of uncocerned eagle rays cruising through the dive area, for example. That's the "wow factor" of diving around this island, says Ray Lightbourne, manager of Xanadu Undersea Adventures Ltd.
"In our clear water and in sunlight, everything is magnified 10 times interms of beauty. You are going to see some awesome stuff," promises Lightbourne.
Experienced divers can up their chances of encountering the wow factor by entering an underwater cave. The whole island is shot through with blue holes and underwater cavern, including one of the largest underwater cave systems in the world. It runs for about six miles underneath the island, says Cristina Zenato, diving supervisor and cave diving instructor for UNEXSO, Grand Bahama's oldest dive company.
UNEXSO offers cave iving certification courses along with a wide range of open-water excursions for both novices and experienced divers.
The Lucayan cave system gives experienced scuba explorers a look at the island's geological past. Fossilized reefs, stalagmites and stalctites, and unique cave dwelling crustaceans are part of the show, says Zenato.
"There's some caves where there's been fewer divers than there have been people on the moon, or by all means on Mount Everest.
"It is absolutely incredible what nature has ceated down there."
Expert divers are drawn to Ben's Cavern, an inland blue hole with a layer of fresh water resting on top of salt water. It opens up into an underwater cavern.
Extraordinary sharks
Shark dives up your chances of seeing something extraodinary.
A scuba excursion to shark alley,about three-quarters of a mile off the southeast coast of the island, gives divers a front-row seat in about 45 feet of water. There you can watch dive staff hand-feed wild sharks up to eight feet long.
This divewill change your perception of sharks. They're not the maneaters they're sometimes portrayed as being. They feed mostly on sick or injured fish and thus keep the reefs healthy, says Zenato."Sharks are fantastic animals [and] they're absolutely gorgeous."
Another dive that never fails to be spectacular, says Zenato, is UNEXSO's open sea encounter with dolphins.
Family fun
Xanadu offers shallow reef snorkelling packages that are kid-friendly, allowing the whole family to get in on exploring the sea and corls around the island, says Lightbourne.
Silver Point Reef, Blair House Reef and Plate's Reef are all popular dive and snorkelling sites, says Lightbourne, with great visibility and a variety of marine life.
Both UNEXSO and Xanadu also offer learn-to-die packages that can take you from a resort swimming pool to the ocean as a certified open-water diver.
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