Bahamas/Bimini Island Hammerhead Shark Diving Info

[sfabtx]

[QUOTE="

If I were to do it again, I wouldn't do it any different (lodging and diving) because I really enjoyed the peace and quiet of South Bimini, but I would certainly look into bringing food from the US.....and lots of repellent. I would also look into doing a day of Spotted Dolphins for variety.[/QUOTE]

What was the spotted dolphin option?
I was trying to find this as well.
Thanks,
Sherry

 

[sfabtx]

Hi Everyone,
We are a group of 4 divers looking to try a hammerhead shark dive in the Bahamas/Bimini Island. I've done a little bit of online research, but wanted to see if I could get some first hand knowledge on options for diving in late January or February. Ideally, we want to be based out of one location (too short of a trip to be changing hotels mid-trip or doing a live aboard) and have enough time for 3 or 4 days of diving with an additional travel day on the way in and the way out. Right now we are thinking 2 days of hammerhead diving and 2 days of reef diving through a local dive shop. From what I could find it looks like hammerhead diving is off of Bimini Island
Our primary goal is to see the hammerheads, so is 1-2 day enough and any suggestions on other dives in that area. We know there are no guarantees in diving, but is 1 day enough to see the hammerheads? Also any info/recommendations for dive operators would be greatly appreciated. We are very flexible on our where and when we dive so we are just trying to understand the options that have worked for some more experienced divers. All 4 divers have ~100 dives.

Thanks,
Joe

Hi Joe,
It looks like you've done some research concerning the GH already. Is Bimini the only place they congregate in the Bahamas?

 

[sfabtx]

Are there only three dive shops in Bimini?

 

[Manuel Sam]

Sorry, I was away for a while. This is in reply to the previous 3 postings by sfabtx.

Spotted Dolphins can be seen pretty much yearround off of Bimini and other areas in the Bahamas. It might take a couple of hours motoring northwards to get to the dolphin grounds. Spotted Dolphins are quite sociable and friendly - even more so than Bottlenose - and over the years, they have apparently become accustomed to snorkelers due to a number of boats that specialize in dolphin encounters. Like all dolphins, they are very playful but get bored easily if snorkelers just float on the surface. Clown around doing antics, and freedive and they stay around. Sometimes they can be seen with Bottlenose Dolphins as well.

The dive operation I went with, Neil Watson, offers Spotted Dolphin snorkeling trips - I am not sure what the minimum number of snorkelers is, but I know that a group of about 6 divers that were there doing the Great Hammerhead diving when I was there, arranged with Neil Watson to go look for the Spotted Dolphins one afternoon and were able to see and swim with them. If you go to the Neil Watson website, you should be able to find info on this.

As an aside, if swimming and freediving with these dolphins is something that really interests you, there is a liveaboard operating out of West Palm Beach called the Dolphin Dream that does 7day/6 night trips to the Bahamas and sometimes to Bimini in the late spring and summer that are pretty awesome, specially when Scott, the captain, takes you out to snorkel with them at night.

As best as I know, Bimini is the only place right now where you can get consistent sightings of GHs.....and up close. That is not to say that you can't see them elsewhere in the Bahamas. I know that they sometimes see them at Tiger Beach, and I was told that there is one large female that was once known to roam around Bimini but was last seen at Tiger Beach.

Lastly, I don't know how many different dive operations there are in Bimini, but I can tell you for sure that Neil Watson's operation is located at the Bimini Big Game Club, and it is the only one there. I believe that Bimini Undersea is the dive operation located at Resort World, which is waaay north on North Bimini Island. During the 5 days I was diving in Bimini, we didn't see any Bimini Undersea boats in the Hammerhead dive area, just the boats from the Bimini Shark Lab, Epic Diving, and two liveaboards.

 

[Rusty Roo]

Sorry, I was away for a while. This is in reply to the previous 3 postings by sfabtx.



Lastly, I don't know how many different dive operations there are in Bimini, but I can tell you for sure that Neil Watson's operation is located at the Bimini Big Game Club, and it is the only one there. I believe that Bimini Undersea is the dive operation located at Resort World, which is waaay north on North Bimini Island. During the 5 days I was diving in Bimini, we didn't see any Bimini Undersea boats in the Hammerhead dive area, just the boats from the Bimini Shark Lab, Epic Diving, and two liveaboards.

can you remember what liveaboards?

 

[Manuel Sam]

The two liveaboards that I saw while diving in Bimini were the Dolphin Dream and the Shearwater, both of which operate out of West Palm Beach in Florida. There may be other liveaboards, but those were the only ones that I saw. There was a third dive boat called Epic: on their trips, you stay on land and go out diving with them everyday.

Also, I alluded to this in either this thread or a different thread: there were rumors that the Bahamian government was considering banning dive boats from other countries from operating in the Bahamas. Not sure what the current status is.