TRAVELSPECIAL
Great hammerheads approach the bait off Bimini
BEST FOR Shark purists who don’ t mind baiting
Bahamas
What to expect: It may be more of a summer destination, but pack a 5mm wetsuit and the Bahamas will be your winter warming friend. From October to April you get the‘ warm and dry season’, though the water cools and there’ s a greater chance of wind. You may lose a day here or there to weather, but there’ s a lot to do around the 3,000 islands and cays that make up the Bahamian archipelago.
It is possible to enter via America, but given the capricious nature of US immigration officials, we recommend you fly direct to the Bahamas capital, Nassau, home to innumerable dive centres and hotels. Frankly, diving here can a bit of a one-size-fits-all exercise, as the centres are accustomed to catering for dopey groups disgorged by tourist liners. But there’ s plenty of local wrecks and the shark attraction dives are very good, even if there is a bit of a whiff of the circus sometimes. Try to persuade your operator to carry out a feed on the wreck near the usual baiting site – that’ s a lot of fun.
The options for internal travel around the Bahamas are practically endless. Andros
Island has caves, a famous blue hole and the lovely jetty dive at Small Hope Bay Lodge, one of the first ever dive resorts. Alternatively, Grand Bahama has plenty of dive spots, the most noteworthy being Tiger Beach off West End. It’ s a long sand bank, about 8-15m deep, where lemon, tiger and Caribbean reef sharks can be found in great numbers. Don’ t leave without... catching a flight from Nassau to Bimini island, which during the winter months is visited by great hammerhead sharks [ your Editor’ s favourite shark ]. Again, it’ s a slightly performative feeding scenario, but you get to see the most imposing species of the hammerhead family – 10ft beauties that make Red Sea hammerheads look like tiddlers.
Plume corals and sponges at Andros
Spotted dolphins
Smugness rating: Sharks on tap, but the weather can be dicey in winter and the water is 5mm territory. Medium to high smugness, progressing to peak smugness if you manage to see a great hammerhead.
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