Caribbean Snorkeling Adventures - Bahamas Style!

By Edward Smith

At one time the sea level was over 250 feet lower so you are actually swimming over one large island mass that was as big or bigger than Cuba and possibly attached to parts of Florida! This makes for great blue holes to explore, caves to dive into and snorkeling to be so enjoyable.

In fact these conditions make snorkeling in the Bahamas on par with diving- without having to get all the equipment & boats together to go out and dive. There are virtually endless places to snorkel and dive in the island chain made up of over 700 islands (only 30 inhabited) and over 2,300 smaller Cays (Keys), islets, sand bars and rocks!

I want to tell you about 3 great places we snorkeled at-

West End, Grand Bahama Island

My wife and I stayed at the luxurious Old Bahama Bay Resort near the sleepy little fishing village of West End on Grand Bahama Island.

The resort is situated on the westernmost point of the island (only 55 miles from Palm Beach, Florida) and has its own private white sand beach where you can enjoy kayaking and sailing- but the best part is the 7 snorkel trails you can enjoy and explore!

The resort provides complimentary bikes so we grabbed one everyday along with our snorkel gear and biked out to the point as well as explored the endless stretches of beaches and an old abandoned runway. But the snorkeling was just short of incredible as we walked into the sea and slid into warm, clear waters. Within seconds we were among thousands of sea creatures such as triggerfish, trumpet fish, snapper, groupers, soldier fish, angel fish and parrot fish.

“We were checking off our underwater charts as fast as we could as it seemed like we were snorkeling in our own private Aquarium.”

Each day we would discover something new that would set our hearts racing. We came across a deep blue hole where a stingray was lying on the sandy bottom. I took a deep breath and went down 25-30 feet of cliff line to visit him, several smaller stingrays came out of the blue hole as I went in. A Barracuda served as our curious guide, on another day I got to swim in formation with 3 gorgeous spotted eagle rays and on another tugged on the tail of a sleeping nurse shark laying 20 feet down in a sunny, sandy reef hole.

We took a motorboat trip out to the three off-shore Cays that Ponce de Leon once visited Lucayan Indians on in the 1500’s. Miles off-shore at Sandy Cay we snorkeled on the remains of a ship that ran aground in the shallow waters in a storm.

It was strange and exciting to be so far out to sea but to still be able to stand up in water to my chin. The wreck has become a living reef to thousands of exotic fish and it was fun to see them lurking in all the holes and passageways. On our way back to Old Bahama Bay Resort we were joined by a pod of over 14 dolphins with babies. They added to special sunset that was occurring as they splashed and danced in front of our boat for about 15 minutes- what a great ending to the day!

Caribbean Villas and a great snorkeling escape!

This is what you are going to find at Paradise Cove- a secluded get away from it all hotel with a few small villas, a famous bar and grill, some of the best prices on local foods and a place to rent kayaks many of which have glass bottoms.

But the focus here is on one of the best reefs to be found in the entire Bahamas and the largest reef on Grand Bahama- the famous Deadman’s Reef.

You can practically walk out to the huge reef line where you can explore spectacular reef formations filled with marine life and occasionally encounter dolphins. Beginner snorkel programs and equipment can be rented here and a program teaches you how to protect the reef. There are even small boats set up at the reef so you can rest on the sides of the boats rather than touch or hurt the reef!

Mermaid Reef, Great Abaco Island

While staying at the Abaco Beach Resort in Marsh Harbour my wife and I hiked about ½ mile to Mermaid Reef to do some snorkeling. The entrance was through a scenic beach cove with palm trees. The water was shallow, clear and warm. We experienced seeing lots of sea life in this protected marine environment- check it out if you are there!



Read last Month's Article - The Caribbean Canvas- A look at local island Artists