I went to the island for 9 days of diving but was blown out most all of those days. Out of the 7 days available to dive, I got out for three morning dives, plus one cavern dive at Ben's Cavern. The reef is very bland and boring with not many fishes and not a colorful scene. The only site worth mentioning is Shark Junction, which I asked to go back to a second time for what would be my last dive of the trip. It's the only site with anything of interest to see, plus, since it was a former shark feeding site, there were 6-7 very healthy reef sharks checking us out, and that was very cool. They were very chill. Also at this site, we had a free swimming remora that kept wanting to attach to the divers and would move around the group trying to find a host. It was quite comical.
Towards the end of that dive as we were heading for the surface interval, we came upon two gigantic loggerhead turtles doing a beautiful dance, rolling around and chasing each other. These were the biggest loggerheads I've ever seen. While that's going on, here come two reef sharks to enter the scene. There was no interaction between the sharks and the turtles as they went about their business. I thought sharks ate turtles, but these were well fed sharks, so maybe they weren't hungry. Or maybe reef sharks don't eat loggerheads, which explains why they're so huge. Whatever was going on, I was excited to see two species of large marine life in the same moment.
There was an odd thing going on amongst the dive operators, Grand Bahama Scuba, Sunn Odyssey, Unexso, and Reef Oasis, and I could never get into a rhythm to dive with anyone. I was on the phone every afternoon calling around to see who was diving the next day. Nobody would commit to diving because of the weather and if they'd have enough divers. It became quite frustrating. Unexso only dives on Saturday and Sunday and only if they have 4 or more divers. Grand Bahama Scuba wanted me to call every morning at 9 a.m. to check if they're diving. Well, by that time, if GBS isn't diving, the other boats are already gone for their a.m. dives. Reef Oasis would never answer their phone and their voicemail box was always full. I even drove over to the Viva Wyndham to chat with them and told them to pick up their darn phone and clear the voicemail. They also wouldn't commit and wanted me to call each morning at 8 a.m. for a go-no-go diving for the day.
I am not a weather expert or a boat captain, but on some days, there was the slightest of breeze in the morning, but the boats wouldn't go out. It was puzzling, and it seemed like the ops were less than motivated for dive business, and the conditions had to be flat water to consider going out.
Sunn Odyssey is who I ended up with. The operation is not what I expected, but it was all I had if I wanted to salvage the trip. First, their shop looks like a hoarder's house with decades of junk everywhere and not at all organized. Not a good first impression. The owner, Karen, stays in the shop and owner Nicholas is the boat captain and dive guide. There were a couple of different boat crew during the three days but no more than one crew at a time. They were just learning how to be a deck hand. You can guess how that all went. The boat was very spacious, but there's no built-in tank holders, so a bungee was the only thing holding them in place. They were old bungees and very stretched out and we had to stay by our tanks so they wouldn't fall over. There were no snacks or smiles for the SI and there was an orange jug for water. There was no camera bucket, and when I asked for one, the crew member didn't seem to know what I was talking about. They did not have Nitrox, which I wasn't happy about. I have all my own gear except a regulator. (I know....please, no judgement. I have my reasons for renting.) I asked for a different reg each day because it was leaking. Others on the boat had full gear rental, and I noticed their equipment leaking.
All the dives were timed at 45-50 minutes, so you couldn't dive by your gauges. I'm not an air hog, so I like to dive my computer. A 2-tank dive costs $110, rental reg $15, plus 10% tax, plus 4% for using a credit card.
Ben's Cavern is not worth the high price tag for this single-tank dive. The cavern is about 30 minutes away and you have to self drive. Nicholas drove the tanks and the orange water jug to the site and was the in-water guide. The cavern was nice if you've never been in a cavern, but nothing special and it's small. Max depth is 40-50 feet with a roughly 5-foot halocline starting at 30 feet. For the single tank, driving yourself, with no snacks or smiles, it's $175, plus the 10% and 4% fees. It's a timed dive at 50 minutes regardless of what your gauge says. There were three divers total, and the other couple rented all of their gear and it cost them $600 for a single tank dive for two people.
Speaking of no smiles, the island is still devastated from Hurricane Dorian and I could feel the negative energy. I thought the island would be recovered a bit better by now, and I thought they would have safe drinking water. Instead, I had to buy bottled water because the tap water is unsafe. The grocery stores shelves were nearly empty of bottled water every time I went in. The government has not been rebuilding and the locals feel it. There's a depressing, dark cloud kind of mood hanging over everywhere you go. The island is devoid of any tourists. Many, many places are closed permanently. The Port Lucaya Marketplace is a ghost town. The roads are empty. Speaking to the locals, the hurricane recovery has been worse than the COVID recovery.
Eating out became cost prohibitive after my first lunch and then I just bought groceries or went to Wendy's. A cheeseburger, 5 small potato wedges (their version of fries), and 1 cocktail cost $42.50. Weirdly, Wendy's asked to record my driver's license when I used the credit card. I politely declined and after talking to the manager, I didn't give it. There was also an armed security guard at Wendy's in the middle of the day. The gas station also asked to record my driver's license, which I also declined, then flatly refused, but the grocery store and restaurant did not.
This is a one-and-done trip for me.
Towards the end of that dive as we were heading for the surface interval, we came upon two gigantic loggerhead turtles doing a beautiful dance, rolling around and chasing each other. These were the biggest loggerheads I've ever seen. While that's going on, here come two reef sharks to enter the scene. There was no interaction between the sharks and the turtles as they went about their business. I thought sharks ate turtles, but these were well fed sharks, so maybe they weren't hungry. Or maybe reef sharks don't eat loggerheads, which explains why they're so huge. Whatever was going on, I was excited to see two species of large marine life in the same moment.
There was an odd thing going on amongst the dive operators, Grand Bahama Scuba, Sunn Odyssey, Unexso, and Reef Oasis, and I could never get into a rhythm to dive with anyone. I was on the phone every afternoon calling around to see who was diving the next day. Nobody would commit to diving because of the weather and if they'd have enough divers. It became quite frustrating. Unexso only dives on Saturday and Sunday and only if they have 4 or more divers. Grand Bahama Scuba wanted me to call every morning at 9 a.m. to check if they're diving. Well, by that time, if GBS isn't diving, the other boats are already gone for their a.m. dives. Reef Oasis would never answer their phone and their voicemail box was always full. I even drove over to the Viva Wyndham to chat with them and told them to pick up their darn phone and clear the voicemail. They also wouldn't commit and wanted me to call each morning at 8 a.m. for a go-no-go diving for the day.
I am not a weather expert or a boat captain, but on some days, there was the slightest of breeze in the morning, but the boats wouldn't go out. It was puzzling, and it seemed like the ops were less than motivated for dive business, and the conditions had to be flat water to consider going out.
Sunn Odyssey is who I ended up with. The operation is not what I expected, but it was all I had if I wanted to salvage the trip. First, their shop looks like a hoarder's house with decades of junk everywhere and not at all organized. Not a good first impression. The owner, Karen, stays in the shop and owner Nicholas is the boat captain and dive guide. There were a couple of different boat crew during the three days but no more than one crew at a time. They were just learning how to be a deck hand. You can guess how that all went. The boat was very spacious, but there's no built-in tank holders, so a bungee was the only thing holding them in place. They were old bungees and very stretched out and we had to stay by our tanks so they wouldn't fall over. There were no snacks or smiles for the SI and there was an orange jug for water. There was no camera bucket, and when I asked for one, the crew member didn't seem to know what I was talking about. They did not have Nitrox, which I wasn't happy about. I have all my own gear except a regulator. (I know....please, no judgement. I have my reasons for renting.) I asked for a different reg each day because it was leaking. Others on the boat had full gear rental, and I noticed their equipment leaking.
All the dives were timed at 45-50 minutes, so you couldn't dive by your gauges. I'm not an air hog, so I like to dive my computer. A 2-tank dive costs $110, rental reg $15, plus 10% tax, plus 4% for using a credit card.
Ben's Cavern is not worth the high price tag for this single-tank dive. The cavern is about 30 minutes away and you have to self drive. Nicholas drove the tanks and the orange water jug to the site and was the in-water guide. The cavern was nice if you've never been in a cavern, but nothing special and it's small. Max depth is 40-50 feet with a roughly 5-foot halocline starting at 30 feet. For the single tank, driving yourself, with no snacks or smiles, it's $175, plus the 10% and 4% fees. It's a timed dive at 50 minutes regardless of what your gauge says. There were three divers total, and the other couple rented all of their gear and it cost them $600 for a single tank dive for two people.
Speaking of no smiles, the island is still devastated from Hurricane Dorian and I could feel the negative energy. I thought the island would be recovered a bit better by now, and I thought they would have safe drinking water. Instead, I had to buy bottled water because the tap water is unsafe. The grocery stores shelves were nearly empty of bottled water every time I went in. The government has not been rebuilding and the locals feel it. There's a depressing, dark cloud kind of mood hanging over everywhere you go. The island is devoid of any tourists. Many, many places are closed permanently. The Port Lucaya Marketplace is a ghost town. The roads are empty. Speaking to the locals, the hurricane recovery has been worse than the COVID recovery.
Eating out became cost prohibitive after my first lunch and then I just bought groceries or went to Wendy's. A cheeseburger, 5 small potato wedges (their version of fries), and 1 cocktail cost $42.50. Weirdly, Wendy's asked to record my driver's license when I used the credit card. I politely declined and after talking to the manager, I didn't give it. There was also an armed security guard at Wendy's in the middle of the day. The gas station also asked to record my driver's license, which I also declined, then flatly refused, but the grocery store and restaurant did not.
This is a one-and-done trip for me.
