jpsexton
Contributor
Spent last week on a Royal Carribiean Cruise to the Bahamas from Port Canaveral to Nassau with a stop at Coco Cay.
Coco Cay - Went diving on the reef about 300 yards from shore. They tow you out and bring you back to shore on a rescue sled behind a jet ski. Sea's were 2'-3' so the ride was kinda rough but pretty fun. Keep the regulator in your mouth, you do get lots of water in the face. The reef was in 45'-50' water with a slight current. Visibility was a good 100' or better. Saw lots of fish. Triggers, Parrotfish, Damsels of many different colors, Groupers, Blennys, a Manta Ray, and a Baracuda. The coral was just ok though. Looks like a storm has been through recently. Lots of sand deposits on the coral. Overall a great dive.
Nassau - Went on 2 tank dive with Stuart Coves. Very organised and freindly operation. Our crew was really great, very thorough breifing including good instruction on getting on and off the boat. The first tank was a wall dive off of Pumpkin Patch Reef. The wall starts at about 80' and drops off to 6000' fom that. The reef was beautiful and very healthy. Lots of coral everywhere and also lots of fish. Saw all the same fish as Coco Cay and also Tangs, Angels, Snappers, and a 6'-8' Reef Shark. They were feeding them on the shark dive close to there and I guess he was late for dinner. He swam around us a couple of times and even came within a couple feet of my son. Very gracefull creature, I'm glad we saw him. The second tank was the James Bond Wreck movie set. This was in 40'-45' water. There is a sunken ship and the frame of an airplane setting next to each other. Visibility here was at least 150' or more. From the top deck of the dive boat you could see the wreck on the bottom when we got to the site. This site is also pretty old so everything is totally encrusted with coral. Very beatifull. There is a couple of Lionfish that live in the wreck. They should not be here but they think that they were probably turned loose from the Paradise Island aquarium. Saw the same fish as before but also got to see the lionfish and a sea turtle.
The Bahamas was a great trip and I'll definately be back. The next time though will be on a live aboard so I can get more diving in.
John
Coco Cay - Went diving on the reef about 300 yards from shore. They tow you out and bring you back to shore on a rescue sled behind a jet ski. Sea's were 2'-3' so the ride was kinda rough but pretty fun. Keep the regulator in your mouth, you do get lots of water in the face. The reef was in 45'-50' water with a slight current. Visibility was a good 100' or better. Saw lots of fish. Triggers, Parrotfish, Damsels of many different colors, Groupers, Blennys, a Manta Ray, and a Baracuda. The coral was just ok though. Looks like a storm has been through recently. Lots of sand deposits on the coral. Overall a great dive.
Nassau - Went on 2 tank dive with Stuart Coves. Very organised and freindly operation. Our crew was really great, very thorough breifing including good instruction on getting on and off the boat. The first tank was a wall dive off of Pumpkin Patch Reef. The wall starts at about 80' and drops off to 6000' fom that. The reef was beautiful and very healthy. Lots of coral everywhere and also lots of fish. Saw all the same fish as Coco Cay and also Tangs, Angels, Snappers, and a 6'-8' Reef Shark. They were feeding them on the shark dive close to there and I guess he was late for dinner. He swam around us a couple of times and even came within a couple feet of my son. Very gracefull creature, I'm glad we saw him. The second tank was the James Bond Wreck movie set. This was in 40'-45' water. There is a sunken ship and the frame of an airplane setting next to each other. Visibility here was at least 150' or more. From the top deck of the dive boat you could see the wreck on the bottom when we got to the site. This site is also pretty old so everything is totally encrusted with coral. Very beatifull. There is a couple of Lionfish that live in the wreck. They should not be here but they think that they were probably turned loose from the Paradise Island aquarium. Saw the same fish as before but also got to see the lionfish and a sea turtle.
The Bahamas was a great trip and I'll definately be back. The next time though will be on a live aboard so I can get more diving in.
John
