Warm water shark diving

[Dan]

Will you be my Dive Daddy? Lololol. I wanna gooooooooo. Loving your schedule!

For the OP...Bahamas is sharky. We didn't do a liveaboard which is unacceptable to me because I'm ADDICTED to them but we went land based and I don't regret it.

Back in late March 2017, we hit up Bimini and did the Great Hammerheads, then went to Grand Bahama and did Tiger Beach for Tigers and along the way also had a lot of Caribbean Reef shark, many very large nurse sharks, and too many lemons to count. If you had more time, I would then try to hop onto a liveaboard to the Exumas or more southern regions of the Bahamas for a liveaboard. Our land based shark excursions did not disappoint and it was bucket list good.

Ha! You are welcome to join me any time! I'm playing catchup while I still can. You never know when the body says that's enough diving I can handle. I have a dive buddy that one day had allergic reaction towards saltwater. When she swallowed salt water, she started vomiting. So, no more diving for her. Bummer!

I add Bimini, Grand Bahama & Tiger Beach into my 2019 bucket list. I heard about Aquacat liveaboard is pretty good Thanks for the tips!

Also the shark diving, along with the Sardin Run in South Africa I heard is another cool bucket list trip.

 

[Dan]

How about seeing wall of hammerheads & other deep water fish while staying dry in sub in 1000 feet deep?

 

[shrkdive]

Thanks everyone for such a quick response. This gives us a number of ideas to think about. We usually book our trips out 1 year plus but have nothing planned yet for this fall. Perhaps a trip to Grand Bahama/Tiger Beach is in order since it is an easy flight for us. I have also previously been intrigued with Cocos on the Argos to try out their sub so will look at our schedule compared to their future openings.

I would echo DanT and recommend to anyone visiting Cozumel in the summer to spend their last day on Isle Mujeres. We did it a few years ago in August..... Just took the ferry on our last off gas day before flight home over to Playa del Carmen and then bused to Cancun to meet the boats. We spent the day among ~50 whale sharks. That was such an incredible experience

 

[Hoag]

This was posted on another thread, but if the Socorro Islands sound like they might be interesting to you, here are a couple charts from the Nautilus website:

 

[KathyV]

My wife and I are looking to book our next liveaboard. We are both experienced divers and have vacationed multiple times in Cozumel, Bonaire, Grand Cayman, Roatan, Hawaii, Tahiti and most recently spent 2 weeks in Indonesia sailing through the Komodo Islands. We are now hooked on liveaboards. Our interests include large pelagics including sharks. So my question is where are the best liveaboards for pelagics. I know Galapagos is known for the great hammerhead experiences and may be at the top of our list but the water is somewhat cold and we would prefer to dive warmer waters if possible. Where else (and which liveaboards) would you recommend us checking out?

You should also consider a liveaboard in the Turks and Caicos for a high probability of seeing sharks on most dives along with beautiful coral walls, lots of sea life, and other large aninmals - like spotted eagle rays and tarpons, and in warm water, too. Mostly reef sharks and nurse sharks, and some other breeds may chance by. It's not a place where you will see masses of hundreds of sharks, but they are quite a regular sighting on just about every dive on the lovely Caribbean walls and reefs.

You also get some of the best T&C diving from LOBs because the nicest reefs (French Cay and West Caicos) are a long boat ride from the most popular tourist destination of Providenciales. But be aware that the 2 LOBs that work the area (Aggressor and Explorer) do whale watching tours on the Silver Banks during the first few months of the year, so a LOB may not always be available for the dates you want.

As mentioned, you may also want to look at some of the Bahamas liveaboards because there are some very sharky areas of the Bahamas, but the reefs aren't as nice IMO - but still lots of sea life, but the water can get pretty cold in the winter.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Thanks everyone for such a quick response. This gives us a number of ideas to think about. We usually book our trips out 1 year plus but have nothing planned yet for this fall. Perhaps a trip to Grand Bahama/Tiger Beach is in order since it is an easy flight for us.

I believe the Tigers and therefore the lemons and nurses are there year round but the Great Hammerheads in Bimini are only around in the first few months of the year so if that is a highlight for you, then the timing might not work out in the fall. Of course, the Caribbean Reef Sharks are always there...

AS mentioned, you may also want to look at some of the Bahamas liveaboards because there are some very sharky areas of the Bahamas, but the reefs aren't as nice IMO - but still lots of sea life, but the water can get pretty cold in the winter.

Agree on the reefs - there are lots of interesting and some larger barrel sponges and some fans and soft corals, but if you are looking for color, pop, and the "wow" through your reg, it's not the Bahamas from day boats. (I've been spoiled and have dived Indonesia so nothing has compared to that yet.!) I have heard the LOBs are a much better experience, sharks aside. We were there in late March and water was 75-78F, in some spots it may have juuuuuust hit 80 for a brief amount of time.

 

[shrkdive]

Thanks everyone for your recommendations. After reviewing the pros/cons we have booked a trip on Belle Amie to the Soccoro Islands. It is not exactly warm water diving and has a long boat ride but we the prospect of seeing hammerheads, mantas and even possibly humpback whales sold us on it.

 

[Dan]

If you haven't seen Sand tigers, go to Wilmington, NC. I was there during the last Labor Day weekend. The temperatures were about 81F.

Gill & Hyde Wreck Diving on Sep 3-4, 2017, Trip report

They are just like pussy cat, not shy like hammerheads. They are pretty harmless towards divers, even though they look mean & closely related to Great White.