PreviousUndersea fun for everyone
WHAT-TO-DO - NASSAU, CABLE BEACH & PARADISE ISLAND - JULY 2007
Undersea fun for everyone
Dive companies cater to all
An out-of-this-world experience awaits anyone interested in the undersea side of The Bahamas. Whether you?re an accomplished diver or a novice, dive companies have scuba and snorkelling adventures designed just for you.
Beginners can sample shallow dive sites and reefs while intermediate and expert divers pick and choose from a wide range of challenging reef, shark and wreck dives.
Being underwater here ?really is an out-of-this-world experience,? says Stuart Cove, owner of Stuart Cove?s Dive Bahamas, adding that first timers never forget the adventure. Cove?s company has been offering training and dive excursions since 1978.
?The clarity of the water and the colours that we have [here], that?s what does the trick for the people you turn on [to diving]. They?re just overwhelmed by it,? agrees Leroy Lowe, co-owner of Bahama Divers, another company with a long track record of wowing visitors.
Both firms offer learn-to-dive courses and open-water certifications as well as a range of diving and snorkelling packages.
One of the most popular outings at Bahama Divers is its blue hole dive, says Lowe. Blue holes appear on land and under the ocean throughout The Bahamas. They form when the dome of a limestone cavern, created during the last ice age, collapses.
This one, a 100-ft-diameter opening in the ocean floor, is located about 11 miles north of New Providence. It?s under 30 feet of water and descends to a depth of about 200 feet.
?On this particular dive we can just about guarantee that you?ll see sharks every time you go,? says Lowe.
Beginners too
Stuart Cove?s also offers a wide range of excursions for certified divers but non-divers, and even non-swimmers, can also experience the ocean?s magic.
Anyone can take an undersea ride on a SUB or Scenic Underwater Bubble. This is a battery-powered submersible with a clear dome over the rider?s head.
A continuous airflow means the rider breathes normally with his or her head in a dry environment. The SUB is like an underwater motorbike that allows riders to submerge 15-20 feet and drive over a reef, says Cove.
?And it blows their minds ? they?re driving a submarine around a reef and seeing all the fish and the corals. It?s pretty life-changing stuff.?
Cove?s company also offers inter-island dives for experienced divers and hotel-based, learn-to-dive packages, but the shark dive is his company?s signature package.
The shark dive is near The Wall, a cliff that drops off into the Tongue of the Ocean?a mile deep trench?just off the coast of New Providence.
Cove?s company also offers an underwater walk in the shark tank at Atlantis resort on Paradise Island. Divers stroll the bottom of the tank wearing a helmet.
For enthusiasts, there?s a world-famous dive known as the Shipyard, where three ships were intentionally sunk in the early 1990s to encourage the formation of a reef.
The three encrusted vessels?a 150-foot supply ship, Ana Lise; a 95-foot passenger ship, Helena C, and an oil tanker, Bahama Shell?rest on the bottom about 90 feet down.
For snorkellers, there?s excellent coral in a marine preserve off Athol Island, just east of Paradise Island, and also off the shore of nearby Rose Island.
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