Under the Sea

Its been exactly a year since I've had the opportunity to do what I love most... Scuba dive. I booked my trips w Grand Bahama Scuba who's dive shop is conveniently located right here at the resort, with their boat docked right here in the marina.  

Day one we hit up the dive sights Arrow Point and The Chamber.  Neither of which were super spectacular, but as we say in the dive world, "Any dive, is a good dive!"  And when your chilling with the fishes in 75 degree water with 100 ft visibility then what's not to love?  Interesting to note that at the dive site The Chamber, boats actually moore to the only hyperbaric chamber on the island.  Apparently a certain dive insurance company (I won't mention names) neglected to keep up with the payments on this chamber so it was confiscated, sunk, and it's now used as a marker for a dive sight. Also on that note, because the only chamber on the island lyes in 80ft of water, mandatory safety stops 1min at 25ft and 4mins at 15 no mater how short and/or shallow your dives.   

Day two was amazing; Dunkens Wreck and Shark Junction. Dunkens wreck is a 172 ft container ship from Panama that was seized by the government when it was discovered to have 200,000 kilos of cocaine buried in the walls of the ship. It was sunk in 2002 and lay perfectly upright in 120ft of water. When the hurricanes hit in 2004 it knocked the ship on its starboard side, twisting and crushing the stern like a soda can and ripped it completely apart from the rest of the ship.  This site is home to many eels, giant grouper, sea turtles and some of the biggest puffer fish I've ever seen (my fav's!!!)

Next came Shark Junction and as you can probably guess, considering my love and passion for these creatures, it was the highlight of my trip. Sharks sharks and more sharks. Every where you looked. Coming up behind you, swimming straight toward you, off in the distance. All Caribbean reef sharks ranging from 5 to 10 ft long with a few pregnant mamas who looked ready to burst.  They are such fascinating animals and if I had enough air in my tank I'll probably still be sitting on the bottom of the ocean completely awestruck.  

I also had the rare pleasure of having a sea turtle as my dive buddy for about 5 minutes.  We swam along side each other, checking each other out... completely memorized by each other.  It was fantastic!! Also fantastic was the opportunity for my mom to take a stab at a free discover scuba class offered at the resort. And although in the end she didn't sign up to get her open water certification, she at least shlept around in all the gear and got to experience breathing underwater.  She now has a better understanding of why diving is such a passion of mine. Can't wait to do it again!

PS:  photos taken by Melinda Riger from Grand Bahama Scuba - owner, captain and photographer.  And wherever you see that ugly black and bright yellow wet suit, that's me... Gotta love rentals :)