As an archipelgic nation, the Bahamas is famous for its diving. If you’re looking for a bit of adventure, breathtaking blue holes and long-lost shipwrecks await you under the ocean blue, all in the company of PADI-certified instructors.
DIVE PACKAGES TO THE BAHAMAS REEFS
Great Exuma is surrounded by some of the best reefs in the Bahamas. These beautiful underwater gardens are full of colorful corals and anemones, which are home to all sorts of unusual marine creatures. Diving around Great Exuma you may encounter nurse sharks, yellow stingrays, filefish and trunkfish.
If you’re serious about taking in a dive, speak with the concierge at Grand Isle Resort & Spa to arrange your trip. Local divers know the best spots for diving and will point out and identify many different types of fish. Expect to see shoals of snapper, French grunts, extraordinary porcupine puffer fish, queen angel fish and shoals of gorgeously colorful fish.
Other marine creatures to look out for on your dive package are Caribbean shiny lobsters and the occasional sea turtle drifting by. In Exuma, you can visit the Dog and Pup Reef, Elizabeth Reef, Stingray Reef and the trio of reefs known as Gazebo, Lobster and Turtle Reefs.
BLUE HOLES IN THE BAHAMAS
Diving solo is never recommended for safety reasons, so booking a dive package to see some of the incredible blue holes around Great Exuma makes good sense. Locals know the exact location of these underwater caves, which disappear down deep underwater chimneys and appear to have darker blue water.
The tidal blue holes in the Bahamas were probably formed when the sea levels were lower, during the previous Ice Age. Some blue holes are connected to inland sinkholes where water has eroded the limestone or coral.
Some of the best blue holes to visit on your dive package from Great Exuma are Crab Cay Crevasse with a blue hole 100 feet deep, Mystery Cave (80 feet deep) and Angelfish Blue Hole, near Stocking Island. Angelfish Blue Hole not only has angel fish, jacks and parrotfish, but it is also home to some impressive eagle rays and turtles. If you dive down 92 feet to the bottom, there is a chamber you can swim through.
You might also consider visiting Andros, the largest of all island in the Bahamas. This “sleeping gaint”, as it is often called, is home to some of the largest blue holes in the world.
WRECK DIVE PACKAGES
There are a few shipwrecks close to Great Exuma, all of which make for an exciting dive, including one deliberately scuttled for divers in 2005 by Dive Exuma.
Known as The Tug, this exciting dive is a 65-foot-long tug boat, which has gradually been inhabited by corals and sponges. Horse-eye jacks and a 6-foot-long green moray eel are some of the highlights of this dive location.
Another dive package around Great Exuma includes the Comberbach Wreck, a massive 110-foot-long freighter, which lies 100 feet deep near Long Island.
When planning your first or next visit to the Bahamas, make sure you leave time to enjoy at least one dive package during your stay.
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