 |
| Image by Ty Sawyer |
Located 80 miles due east of the Florida coast, Grand Bahama is just a 30-minute plane ride away. Most visitors come for the island's enticing collection of hotels, casinos and white-sand beaches, but the real action isn't at the gaming tables - it's in the water.
To divers, it's a place of diversity and adventure. A short boat ride from the island's southern shore will carry you to the open expanses of the Tongue of the Ocean, where you can step off the boat and into 2,000 feet of water, then drift back toward the precipitous, coral-encrusted slopes that rise from the abysmal depths.
If walls and blue water aren't enough to get your adrenaline flowing, then consider the sharks. The PADI Five-Star Gold Palm Resort Underwater Explorers Society (UNEXSO) has been staging shark dives for many years, and divers never tire of the thrill of seeing these apex reef predators.
Dolphin lovers will find an experience that can't be duplicated at a marine park. The UNEXSO team has given thousands of divers the chance to swim with a family of bottlenose dolphins in the open ocean. No pens, no trainers - just you and them, swimming together in a natural environment.
Third - but certainly not least - on the list is the mammoth hulk of Theo's Wreck. Sunk in October 1982 as a joint collaboration between the Bahama Cement Company and UNEXSO, this 230-foot, Norwegian-built steel freighter is the Bahamas' largest fully intact vessel situated within sport-diving range. Resting on her port side with a maximum depth of 105 feet, the dramatic appeal of this looming hulk is enhanced by the way it perches precariously close to the edge of the shelf.
Any one of Freeport's three signature dives would be a sensational adventure, worthy of many retellings. If you were to do all three, well, your family and friends might tire of hearing the stories, but the memories will last a lifetime.
QUICK GUIDE:
When UNEXSO (unexso.com) first opened in Freeport, Grand Bahama, back in 1966, it was both a dive operation and a club. Today, UNEXSO is a multifaceted dive operation with something for everyone. Located in Port Lucaya, within walking distance of the Westin and Sheraton at our Lucaya Resort, Pelican Bay at Lucaya and Port Lucaya Resort and Yacht Club, UNEXSO offers guests the option of daily scuba dives to reefs and wrecks a short distance off the beach. For the more adventurous, it offers shark dives where guests can see these majestic creatures swim by. Or, choose to participate in the Shark Feeder Program and feed these predators just like the pros do. If that's not your flavor, there is the Dolphin Experience in either its special lagoon facility or out in the open ocean. If that's not enough, inquire about its tech courses. For more information on diving in the Bahamas, contact the Bahamas Diving Association (bahamasdiving.com).
POST A COMMENT