It has been a decade since I’ve been diving in the Bahamas, the last time being December 2015. From what I can remember, the diving was good. Abundant life, healthy reefs and a lot of sharks. I have fond memories of diving in Nassau.
So it’s a shame that returning almost a decade later, things aren’t as great as I remember.
Nassau is a great place for what I affectionately call “vacation only divers.” Those divers who maybe do one or two dives between time on the beach or by the pool and who maybe dive 5 times a year total. Not divers who take dive specific trips — who go all in and are diving from the moment they wake up to a few hours before falling asleep.
It’s evident by the only dive shop, Stewarts’s Cove, the cater towards the former. Not that Stewart’s Cove doesn’t do a good job or try and make dives enjoyable for ALL divers, but cruise ship and “vacation only” divers are their bread and butter. They are also the only dive shop in the area.
It’s controlled chaos.
The buses that pick you up and bring you to the dive center — though they claim they will wait up to 10 minutes for you, really don’t. They do a drive by, if you’re not there they’re leaving. Checking in for your boat is a smoother process, many kudos to the front office ladies who make it easy as possible. The dive staff are, well, they’re fantastic. One thing about Stuart’s Cove is they know how to find the best instructors, dive masters and captains.
The reefs…are not what I remember them being. I can’t tell if I’m looking back on them with nostalgia and rose colored glasses or if the health of our oceans reefs are in even more trouble than I thought — and I’ve known for a long time that our reefs were in trouble. It’s a bit heartbreaking to witness. The biomass of the reefs are also a little low, but perhaps this is how they’ve always been. It’s also full of lionfish. I haven’t done a ton of diving in the Caribbean other than the Yucatan area, but the lionfish seem more prevalent in the Bahamas than further south.
Southwest Reef
The one exception was Southwest Reef. That one site alone exceeded all expectations, the coral felt healthy and full of life. There were very few lionfish there, it was possible to find healthy reefs and good biomass of fish life. A few snoozing nurse sharks seal the deal.
Of course the big draw of the Bahamas, especially Nassau, are the sharks. Don’t dive the Bahamas if you don’t want to see sharks. It is always a delight to see such an abundance of apex predators in the area, and the Bahamas allow for the extra benefit of getting up close to them, if you so choose.
The Bahamas wasn’t the best diving experience, but it wasn’t the worst. I wouldn’t recommend it for a hardcore diver, but for someone who wants to sneak it in between time with family, might be diving with younger kids or doesn’t want to dedicate all their time off to time under the water it’s not bad.