Tiger Beach and Bimini Hammerheads questions

[qwimjim]

Hi, I remember looking into these trips years ago and at the time there was only one boat doing the trips, and it was a liveaboard.. but now it seems there are multiple libaboards, and multiple day boats.. so are they all going to the exact same spot? Or is everyone creating their "own" tiger beach? When I look at videos it always looks like there's about a dozen divers at the bottom, so where does everyone go?

Are all the dive ops reputable/responsible, and if not, which ones are?

Is the visibility always amazing on these dives like in the videos or does it vary? Is there seasonality to the vis or it's a crapshoot?

How often to people get skunked and not see hammerheads or tigers? The season for both is several months, is there a "sweet spot" within the season where the odds are the best, or there's greater numbers that show up, etc?

I was just thinking of flying into Grand Bahama, doing 2 day trips to Tiger Beach, then hopping over to Bimini for 2 days of Hammerheads, and a day snorkeling with the dolphins. One week or so with travel. Is this a good plan? Is it one of those dives where after you do it, it's a one and done? If I'm not a photographer will I be satisfied after one day? I read you're spending 3-4 hours on the bottom.. which seems like it would satisfy me

Thanks!

 

[runsongas]

they all go to the same general area, it is a relatively shallow, sandy area north off the west end of grand bahama for tiger beach.

the main question is if you are against shark baiting/feeding, as most if not all of the boats will bait and some will do feeds.

the vis varies a bit, but generally not below 60 to 80ft. due to the baiting/feeding, unlikely to be skunked although the sharks don't stick around as long if not being actively fed. peak season for both is january.

 

[Knockneed Man]

In 19 dives there the least amount of tigers I saw was one, and that only happened on one dive. The max was 11 and we called that dive because it was too hot and hard to keep track of them all. There are several boats (primarily the dolphin dream and Bahamas master - these are the two most reputable but there are also others. My preferred is the dolphin dream) that offer it, and generally they’re at least 100 or more yards apart, so while the sharks may go back and forth between boat groups, you’re never any where close enough to see anyone not from your group. But no the vis isn’t always great, it usually is, but on a few dives vis was down to 30 feet or less. A few times I didn’t bother as low vis adds significantly to the stress and challenge of counting sharks. They try very hard to avoid slack tide and will usually schedule all the days dives around that… with feeds you want a definitive current for the bait scent, and of course also for vis.

 

[qwimjim]

Is January peak season because there's more sharks or better vis? Do they get storms around there in January that can cancel trips? I remember when I went to Cozumel they got a certain type of wind and there was no diving for 3 days.

I know there are now a few boats that do land based day trips, are there any standouts with regards to having the most experience? I don't really want to get on some boat that is trying out this "tiger beach thing" for the first time

 

[runsongas]

january catches the overlap between the best times for the largest tigers and hammers in both spots. the tigers start to drop off a bit in february whereas it still is core season for hammers.