Diving in the Bahamas

The Bahamas are a group of low-lying islands, in a mostly shallow area of the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Florida, north of Cuba and Haiti.

Understand

The name Bahamas means "shallow seas" and it comprises an extensive submerged limestone platform, with high points here and there just breaking the water to form an archipelago. The Bahamas are warm year-round, basking in the Gulf Stream, and hurricanes seldom strike. All the inhabited islands have local diving, and some have extensive inland cave systems. New Providence is the least interesting, being dominated by the sprawling capital Nassau, but is the base for liveaboard cruises around the archipelago.

Do

Blackbeards Cruises docks at Nassau Harbour Club Hotel & Marina, East Bay St., New Providence, 25.074380564579812°, -77.31337094307005°. . They are a liveaboard charter service operating out of Nassau.

Dive sites in the Bahamas include:

• Pacman Reef, 25.04646°, -77.23502°.
• Lost Blue Hole, 25.02673°, -77.142187°.
• Austin Smith, 24.72989°, -76.8028°.
• Washing Machine, 24.69678°, -76.81734°. The incoming tide through a narrow cut creates strong current. The current can push a diver down to 40 ft, then swell to push a diver to 15 ft. The dive site is off the coast of Highbourne Cay. The drift ends at the Basket Star Reef dive site.

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