Shore Diving

The Bahamas offers a huge array of different scuba diving experiences for all levels of diver, ranging from diving colourful coral reefs teeming with life, underwater caves, sunken ships, spectacular blue holes and exhilarating Shark Feeding Dives. 

Boat Diving

Diving the Bahamas you are likely to see many different Shark species, Nurse, Black tip, Bull, Tiger, Great Hammerhead and Caribbean Reef sharks all inhibit the crystal blue waters.  They can best be found near the coasts near the “Tongue of the Ocean”.  Shark Feeds are a huge attraction as The Bahamas is one of the only places in the world to take part in this activity.  The opportunity to watch these fascinating creatures feeding at close range will be a thrilling underwater experience that any diver will remember for a long time.  Most areas will have Shark Feeding dives available and most liveaboards will do at least one in the week.

Tiger Beach is the best spot in the Bahamas to dive with Tiger sharks as well as many other species and a highlight in many divers’ trips. It is an area of shallow sandy bars close to a deep drop off. This area was names Tiger beach after the Tiger sharks that people came to feed on the sandy bars. Now there are many trips to witness this shark feeding. Divers have the choice of diving in the safely of a cage, or when the conditions are right cage less amongst the feeding sharks! This is perfectly safe under supervision, the sharks here are all very used to divers but they do sometimes get a little curious and tend to bump some divers and especially camera gear. This can be disconcerting so if you are a beginner or nervous of sharks the cage option is by far the best, as you certainly do not want to panic surrounded by feeding sharks.

Liveaboard Diving

Grand Bahama is a base for liveaboard trips which visit further afield dive sites around the Out Islands of the Bahamas which can include sites around Bimini, the Berry Islands, Nassau and Andros, as well as taking in the best diving of Grand Bahama. Most liveaboards will visit the famous site of Tiger Beach and will have at least one shark dive there.

A famous event of the Bahamas is “The March of the Spiny Lobster” which is a widespread Phenomenon occurring on the Great and Little Bahamas Banks near Abacos, Grand Bahama and Andros. The lobsters are usually found solitary on the reef like the groupers but again gather in huge numbers for this event. The march is usually triggered by the first autumnal storms that arrive from the north and west in late October or early November. The lobsters agitated by the storms leave their ledges and overhangs and begin to march to deeper water. Chains of lobsters can then be seen marching in single file, each lobsters vulnerable parts protected by the lobster behind. This makes them become fearless and as a diver you can get very close and they will even march over you if you lie down in their way.

How to get there

Located just 55 miles off the coast of Florida, Grand Bahama can be can be easily reached by a 30 minute flight from Fort Lauderdale, Miami or Palm Beach. You can also get there by ferry or plane from most of the other islands in the Bahamas. There are 5 flights daily from the capital island of Nassau.

Once you are on the island you can easily get around by taxi, bus or by hiring a car or scooter.

Where to eat and drink

Bahamian cuisine is available all over the island as well as other international cuisines. This mainly consists of seafood, poultry and pork which has been fried, steamed or curried. Conch is a Bahamian food that is served in various ways including in salads, lightly battered, minced or in fritters.

There are many great little restaurants that serve excellent traditional food and cocktails, also many Italian, Chinese and American restaurants. But for the less adventurous there are also some Burger King’s and a Dominios Pizza on the island!

Other activities

Grand Bahama is a paradise for sports enthusiasts as well as nature lovers. There are plenty of golf courses, tennis courts and opportunities for swimming, kayaking around bays on in the mangroves, horse riding on the beautiful white sand beaches or fishing.

For those nature lovers who don’t dive there are glass bottomed boat trip so you can see the beautiful reefs without getting wet!

There are three national parks on the island and the best is the Lucayan National Park. This is the only place in the Bahamas where you can see all six of the islands ecosystems. There are caves, including the longest underwater limestone caves in the world, mangrove swamps, and white sand beaches. Some caves are only open seasonally as they are used for bat conservation.

Grand Bahama is also great for families and has a whole host of activities to keep children occupied. These range from bowling alleys, educational eco tours, a range of water sports, and there are even fishing trips using light tackle which is perfect for children.

Tips

American currency is accepted (sometimes even preferred) everywhere.

Sadly Bahamian culture is still intolerant of public displays of affection between same-sex couples so it can be easiest to exercise modesty in public.