Missing Hammerheads of Bimini and trip logistics?

[Ned_Land]

Hi, I've never been to Bimini and have lots of questions! My son has one dive trip under his belt, took him to get certified in July, is utterly in love with sharks (snorkeled with whale sharks, saw nurse, blacktip, and bull sharks on our dives together) and he'd really like to see hammerheads when he is on his winter break from college.

Dr. Smukall from Shark Lab wrote The Missing Hammerheads in 2023: "the number of ‘regular’ great hammerheads frequenting the provisioning site in Bimini has fallen from more than ten to only three. This decline has significantly impacted the local ecotourism operations, which are instrumental to encouraging protective measures for sharks in the Bahamas" - does anyone have more recent experience? Likely to take a week to fly down there in early January and see no hammerheads?

How do people recommend getting there? Ferry or small plane? It doesn't seem like any liveaboards are available before Jan 12 other than Blackbeards out of Nassau which probably doesn't even stop there.

Any other important points I'm missing? Is the diving other than hammerheads great down there? Are there other places like tiger beach I should be considering at that time instead?

Thanks in advance for any responses!

 

[Snoweman]

Hi, I've never been to Bimini and have lots of questions! My son has one dive trip under his belt, took him to get certified in July, is utterly in love with sharks (snorkeled with whale sharks, saw nurse, blacktip, and bull sharks on our dives together) and he'd really like to see hammerheads when he is on his winter break from college.

Dr. Smukall from Shark Lab wrote The Missing Hammerheads in 2023: "the number of ‘regular’ great hammerheads frequenting the provisioning site in Bimini has fallen from more than ten to only three. This decline has significantly impacted the local ecotourism operations, which are instrumental to encouraging protective measures for sharks in the Bahamas" - does anyone have more recent experience? Likely to take a week to fly down there in early January and see no hammerheads?

How do people recommend getting there? Ferry or small plane? It doesn't seem like any liveaboards are available before Jan 12 other than Blackbeards out of Nassau which probably doesn't even stop there.

Any other important points I'm missing? Is the diving other than hammerheads great down there? Are there other places like tiger beach I should be considering at that time instead?

Thanks in advance for any responses!

The ferry and plane costs about the same if you stay overnight. I haven't been there, yet, but my research told me the ferry charges much more if it's not a return ticket on the same day. I also think one of the regular flights out of Ft. Lauderdale has shutdown.

 

[jtreed]

We went this year in March. We saw hammer heads and a tiger. It was great. The ferry was easy, not super cheap.

 

[Ned_Land]

We went this year in March. We saw hammer heads and a tiger. It was great. The ferry was easy, not super cheap.

Fantastic, thanks! Did you see both sharks on the same dive? How many days did you take, feel like you needed more or less time to do all the diving? You went with Neal Watson, Epic, or someone else?

 

[Ned_Land]

The ferry and plane costs about the same if you stay overnight. I haven't been there, yet, but my research told me the ferry charges much more if it's not a return ticket on the same day. I also think one of the regular flights out of Ft. Lauderdale has shutdown.

Thanks... oh wow, it looks like the ferry loses you a day each way... leaves FLL early, gets back late. I'm looking at seaplane flights to NSB, less than twice as expensive as the ferry on the way there but more than twice flying back to FLL. Might be less stressful to do the ferry on the way back, a hotel night in FLL would give you an extra day of diving on the island before flying. American starts flights from MIA to BIM south island in Feb, but not every day, like the ferry.

 

[johndiver999]

If you want to see sharks, you might try Jupiter Florida. Assuming you want to dive with people who feed dangerous sharks. Hammerheads are not that common there however.

 

[Living4Experiences]

I have done the hammerhead dive with Neal Watson's a couple of times on a cruise ship stop (Virgin Voyages) and also did a dive on the reef. The Shark Lab article is accurate. I've never seen more than three hammerheads, and in December 2024, we got a tiger shark that came in. The reef is nothing special.

For such a close location to Florida, logistically, it's difficult to get to Bimini. The Balearia Ferry is the only company I know of that goes to Bimini, and I think Tropic Air does the flight. Last time I looked into it, the flight was $700 round trip for a 35-minute flight. The arrival time for the ferry would require you to spend the night because it doesn't arrive in Bimini till after the morning dive boat has departed. For all that expense, you could take a 4-night Virgin cruise for 2 people for about $1400-$1500, and every Caribbean cruise with Virgin stops in Bimini, weather permitting.

Aside from all that, it's well worth the expense, $350 plus tax, to be in shallow, clear blue water to dive with hammerheads, and it can last as long as there's bait and you have air in your tank. The last dive for me was two hours long.

 

[jtreed]

Fantastic, thanks! Did you see both sharks on the same dive? How many days did you take, feel like you needed more or less time to do all the diving? You went with Neal Watson, Epic, or someone else?

We got lucky and saw them both on the first dive. The hammers were around the entire time we were there, but we did other dives the other days since we got them the first time. (Neal Watson - the hammer head dive is not cheap, but worth it if you see them)