Bahamas trip? Who's been there?

[jrpark22000]

Hey all reefers.

Curious to see if anyone's been to the Bahamas to snorkel or dive? I don't dive, I know my limits and am not very comfortable in water. Places like the USVI have some great hard coral reefs that are great to snorkel. Curious to see how the Abacos and other islands in the bahamas might compare.

Thanks!

 

[maidia]

I went there one...Nice beach, town and people. Snorkel for fishes were good but corals were not that much good. West Grand Bahama where I stayed.

 

[jrpark22000]

Thanks Mai. Anybody hit the outlying islands?

 

[maidia]

Thanks Mai. Anybody hit the outlying islands?

Compare Bahama to USVI (St Thomas..St John), Jamaica, Republic Dominican, Hawaii,....more...I like St Thomas and St John...but compare all of them, don't expect they are nice like your reef tank . But I love all the beachs for relaxing on vacation.

 

[Joe5688]

I've been scuba in the dominican, cancun and cozumel. Cozumel was by far the nicest as far as amount of fish and colors of coral. Def dont expect coral to look like your tank. Lots of greens and browns no matter where you go. I've only dove 3 trips and done a total of 5-6 tanks and my last trip we went down to 45 feet and me and the wife were still really comfortable. Our 1st dive was scary but each one after that is easy. By our 3rd dive we had no issues of fear. I'd suggest buying your self a nice mask and making sure you prep it for diving. Last dive in cozumel me and the wife had our own masks and it made a world of difference. Nothing is worse than fogging while your under water.

 

[jrpark22000]

I've been scuba in the dominican, cancun and cozumel. Cozumel was by far the nicest as far as amount of fish and colors of coral. Def dont expect coral to look like your tank. Lots of greens and browns no matter where you go. I've only dove 3 trips and done a total of 5-6 tanks and my last trip we went down to 45 feet and me and the wife were still really comfortable. Our 1st dive was scary but each one after that is easy. By our 3rd dive we had no issues of fear. I'd suggest buying your self a nice mask and making sure you prep it for diving. Last dive in cozumel me and the wife had our own masks and it made a world of difference. Nothing is worse than fogging while your under water.

I'd love to see the things which only diving allows, but I do really poorly when I can't breath freely. Pretty sure me entire fear of water stems from it. Panic attack sets in and I loose my mind, so no diving for me.

 

[madjoe]

I'd love to see the things which only diving allows, but I do really poorly when I can't breath freely. Pretty sure me entire fear of water stems from it. Panic attack sets in and I loose my mind, so no diving for me.

What fear of water lol think u in wrong hobby then

 

[Smitty]

I went to the Bahamas for my honeymoon this past June, and we did the snorkeling. It was really nice and colorful. Our dive was cut kinda short tho due to a reef shark coming a few yards out from our boat. Hahaha

Sent from my Note 5

 

[jrpark22000]

I went to the Bahamas for my honeymoon this past June, and we did the snorkeling. It was really nice and colorful. Our dive was cut kinda short tho due to a reef shark coming a few yards out from our boat. Hahaha
Sent from my Note 5

Good reason to cut the boat trip short Do you remember what part of the island chain?

 

[Smitty]

Good reason to cut the boat trip short Do you remember what part of the island chain?

Yeah, it was. Sorry, i don't even remember. We did the sandals resort...the "Grand Bahamian".

Sent from my Note 5

 

[anarchy]

Yeah, it was. Sorry, i don't even remember. We did the sandals resort...the "Grand Bahamian".

Sent from my Note 5

Shouldve grabbed a fin and let the shark take you on a tour of his reef

 

[Smitty]

Yeah, i wasn't afraid of it really, but everyone panicked, including the tour guide people. Lol.

Sent from my Note 5

 

[Smitty]

Good reason to cut the boat trip short Do you remember what part of the island chain?

It was Nassau, Bahamas Josh

Sent from my Note 5

 

[ninjamyst]

Go to Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. They have Snuba, which is a hybrid between snorkeling and scuba. You still get to go down deeper but no tank on your back.

Pictures from our most recent trip:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/40199713@N03/albums/72157644786816264

They have a beach accessible reef too with lots of fish and some corals. Pictures near the end of that album

 

[jrpark22000]

Go to Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. They have Snuba, which is a hybrid between snorkeling and scuba. You still get to go down deeper but no tank on your back.

Pictures from our most recent trip:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/40199713@N03/albums/72157644786816264

They have a beach accessible reef too with lots of fish and some corals. Pictures near the end of that album

Thanks. It's already on my wife and my list. I'm just trying to build a picture of the great sps snorkling in the semi local area. I saw something on AWE channel and wondered if it was as good as they made it look. Not sure which outlying island, but know it was on a boat trip away from the major tourist spots.

 

[fftfk]

I went snorkeling in little cayman and it was very good depending on the weather. Good weather and clear days it was great. Choppy water and it was awful.

 

[jrpark22000]

I went snorkeling in little cayman and it was very good depending on the weather. Good weather and clear days it was great. Choppy water and it was awful.

Thanks for the info. Do you remember the types of animals you were able to see; sea grass, soft coral, hard coral?

 

[fftfk]

I saw so much it's hard to say. The one I remember the most is the giant sea turtle bc I was just floating looking down in about 8 feet of water, looked to my right, and it was just swimming right by my doing its thing. That was really cool. The thing about little cayman is that most snorkeling is in 25-45 of water. On a calm day it beautiful with great visibility: on a bad day it was very cloudy with poor visibility. Point of sand (driving distance from any resort) was the only place we found that was good snorkeling easy to get to from the shore. Here is a link comparing little cayman with Bonaire for snorkeling: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/greater-caribbean-and-bermuda/393287-bonaire-vs-little-cayman-snorkeling.html

 

[jrpark22000]

I saw so much it's hard to say. The one I remember the most is the giant sea turtle bc I was just floating looking down in about 8 feet of water, looked to my right, and it was just swimming right by my doing its thing. That was really cool. The thing about little cayman is that most snorkeling is in 25-45 of water. On a calm day it beautiful with great visibility: on a bad day it was very cloudy with poor visibility. Point of sand (driving distance from any resort) was the only place we found that was good snorkeling easy to get to from the shore. Here is a link comparing little cayman with Bonaire for snorkeling: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/greater-caribbean-and-bermuda/393287-bonaire-vs-little-cayman-snorkeling.html

Great, thanks for all the info!

 

[nanodude87]

I have snorkeled in Freeport as well as Carnivals island, half moon cay. Both were pretty comparable to each other. Lots of fish and sea fans. Not the best snorkeling but still enjoyable none the less.