The
vertical walls of the
Bahamas are dramatic
and highly decorated
with
giant orange elephant ear
sponges and rainbow-hued
tube sponge formations,
while the coral reefs
are home to panoply of
colorful tropicals. Spotted
dolphins (Stenella frontalis)
are a uniquely Bahamian
encounter, with pods known
to be friendly to snorkelers
off both West End, Grand
Bahama, and Bimini.
The clear waters that wash the Tongue of the Ocean’s vertical walls
nourish a colorful cloak of sponge life that makes the wall diving a wide-angle paradise. Yet, it is the shallow reefs and
abundant marine life that are most memorable to me. Drifting in the current at Wax Cay Cut in the Exumas and snorkeling
with the spotted dolphins off Bimini or West End are experiences unlike any I’ve enjoyed anywhere else on the planet.
Cruising through the oceanic blue holes of Andros and being captivated by the cathedral lighting of the sun’s rays in glass-
minnow-filled Abacos caves are likewise unique. Plunging over a drop-off in seemingly unlimited visibility at San Salvador
and snorkeling along Long Island’s sugar-white-sand beaches or the shallow corals at New Providence’s Southwest Reef are
but a few Bahamas memories that rise to the top when I recount the best of the best the world of diving has to offer.
AD
www.alertdiver.com
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