FISHING AND DIVING - GRAND BAHAMA

Grand Bahama has earned worldwide recognition (and awards) as one of the most popular and famous Bahamian islands for fishing and diving.

At the tip of Grand Bahama 's East End is the Deep Water Cay Club, one of the best bonefish lodges anywhere. Located on its own island, the Club offers miles of winding channels and flats for bonefish and barracuda.

In May, bonefish stack up like cordwood in some sections apparently as part of the breeding ritual. Trips for truly mammoth permit between 30 to 50 pounds can be undertaken in calm weather.

Winter storms may churn up the bottom and could keep the boats from making some of the longer runs. Summer and early fall usually provide the best conditions.   

In planning a dive trip, keep in mind that the water temperature does get chilly in winter, sometimes dropping into the low 70’s. This requires a full wet suit. In summer, the temps reach bathtub comfort, into the 80s.

Grand Bahama (West End) may be only 55 miles from Florida, but the island chain might as well be on the other side of the world when it comes to the quality of diving.

It really is better--significantly better--in the Bahamas. Bahamian reefs, wrecks and marine life are far superior to anything divers find in Florida , including the highly touted--and far more crowded--Keys.   

Of the 700 Bahamas landfalls, only a small number have land-based dive operations, and most of them are clustered in two locations, Grand Bahama and New Providence.

Elsewhere, divers are scarce. Fewer than two dozen live-aboard boats are available to cover the 100,000 square miles of clear Atlantic waters. Clearly, the majority of islands never see a diver unless one happens to be passing through aboard a private yacht.

The variety of diving opportunities is impressive.

First, there are the incredible blue holes. One of the most picturesque, Ben's Cave, is located not in the ocean but inland, on Grand Bahama Island. Ben's Cave, a national preserve open only to six divers at a time, has many impressive, delicate geologic formations including both stalactites and stalagmites. It's a miniature, liquid-filled version of Mammoth Cave.

Diving with sharks is always an exciting prospect, particularly when you know the experience will be a safe one. Controlled shark feeding is rare in other parts of the hemisphere. In fact, it's not available anywhere in the Caribbean. By comparison, almost a dozen Bahamian dive operators routinely lure sharks to established feeding stations, which the agreeable sharks use as fast food take-outs.

Still, the animal with the most universal appeal--for divers and non-divers alike--it is the dolphin. Always wearing a kind of "Hey, how are you, buddy?" type of smile, dolphins rarely approach divers closely in the open ocean. At Freeport, anyone can feed, stroke and swim with bottle-nose dolphins in the open ocean. No nets or other enclosures are needed to keep the trained animals penned. This dolphin encounter is the only place in the world where divers can interact with dolphins on a scheduled basis.