TRAVELSPECIAL
A tiger shark( left) dominating lemon sharks around the bait
Tiger sharks of the Bahamas
Setting the scene: The Bahamas has a legitimate claim to being the world’ s greatest shark destination. A lot of its reputation is thanks to Tiger Beach, a long bank of sand and soft coral frequented by several shark species, including the eponymous tiger sharks.
Stars of the show: Tiger Beach is in my opinion the best place to dive with tiger sharks. Is it dangerous? Well, not as much as you’ d think. But you do need to be careful and stick to the rules. Speaking of sticks, that’ s what you get by means of protection, but we’ ll get to that.
Tiger sharks represent the pinnacle of shark intelligence
This is a baited dive, but rather than provoking a frenzy as it would with excitable species such as grey reef sharks, Bahamian sharks tend to be calm around bait if it’ s deployed in a sensible manner. The usual MO is for the divers to settle on the sand and watch passively while the sharks are drawn in by the wrangler, who produces fish scraps from a crate.
The tigers are habituated to the process and normally follow set patterns, but there are several safety rules. Among these is the edict not to wear white or any high contrast colour that may resemble fish flesh, so you need to wear a hood and gloves, and blue or black fins.
Above all, you need to be alert. Tiger sharks love to sneak up on people – it’ s hardwired behaviour. Just looking at them and letting them know they’ ve been seen is the first step to staying safe. Oh, and you’ re given that stick I mentioned earlier – it’ s normally a length of plastic pipe. You are not – repeat not – supposed to use it to thump the shark. Instead, you plant it vertically in the sand if a tiger shark approaches. The shark will not attempt to swim through the pole, but will chose a side; the trick is making sure you are on the other side. I call this the‘ tiger dance’.
Supporting cast: As well as the tigers, the site is frequented by lemon sharks, impressive in their own right. However, they can be a bit distracting when you’ re trying to keep an eye out for tigers. You also get Caribbean reef sharks and nurse sharks, and possibly occasional great hammerhead in winter.
Box office: Tiger Beach is just one dive site and can be visited from land, based at West End, Grand Bahama, or by liveaboard. For a week’ s diving around the Bahamas and flights, you’ re paying £ 3-4k; famous shark dives always fetch premium prices. I recommend three days at Tiger beach and three days diving other local sites.
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