jaydog
Registered
We just returned from a diving trip on Andros Island, Bahamas. Eight days of diving, 23 dives total. It was a great trip, especially for my wife and I who are fairly new divers. We stayed at an all inclusive lodge called Small Hope Bay Lodge which is geared primarily toward diving and bonefishing - and needless to say, with three dives a day, we didn't do much of anything other than dive, eat, and relax.
The diving was great, good dive masters and instructors who really knew their stuff AND took a personal interest in each and every diver. While we were there we completed our AOW certification, which was really almost just a confirmation of the skills that we were already working on developing - and we were constantly learning from ALL of the divemasters and instructors on nearly every dive.
The reef off Andros seems to be succumbing to a large scale algae growth - lots of dead coral, but the structure of the reef and the HUGE wall (nearly a 6000 ft drop into the Tongue of the Ocean) and even a couple of wrecks kept things very interesting. We saw lots of Caribbean reef sharks, hawksbill turtles, southern stingrays, Nassau groupers, a HUGE manta ray, lobster, tons of reef fish and even a big (to us!) 10-12 ft Hammerhead. The diving consisted of a two tank morning boat trip with a deep wall dive (90-130 ft) and a shallow reef dive (15-40ft) and an afternoon boat trip with a mid-depth dive (60-90 ft). Currents were almost non-existant - sometimes there was a slight current along the walls, but nothing too bothersome. All-in-all, very easy and pleasurable diving. We did see a LOT of the invasive lionfish, an import from the Pacific that has no natural predators in the Caribbean. No one is sure exactly how they were imported into the Carribean, but they seem to be thriving - time will tell how big of an impact they have on the native reef fish species.
The food at the lodge was outstanding - a mix of local Bahamian fare and typical North American style foods. The lodge staff and service were excellent - and everyone who worked there seemed to go out of their way to be friendly and to get to know the guests. That "personal" involvement with the guests is a Small Hope Bay Lodge trademark and really worked to make our stay especially enjoyable.
I'd highly recommend a stay here - especially for divers looking to build their experience levels. But even the seasoned divers that we dove with loved the dive sites. The reef and wall are just minutes away by boat - our longest boat trips were approximately 20 minutes with many sites even closer.
The diving was great, good dive masters and instructors who really knew their stuff AND took a personal interest in each and every diver. While we were there we completed our AOW certification, which was really almost just a confirmation of the skills that we were already working on developing - and we were constantly learning from ALL of the divemasters and instructors on nearly every dive.
The reef off Andros seems to be succumbing to a large scale algae growth - lots of dead coral, but the structure of the reef and the HUGE wall (nearly a 6000 ft drop into the Tongue of the Ocean) and even a couple of wrecks kept things very interesting. We saw lots of Caribbean reef sharks, hawksbill turtles, southern stingrays, Nassau groupers, a HUGE manta ray, lobster, tons of reef fish and even a big (to us!) 10-12 ft Hammerhead. The diving consisted of a two tank morning boat trip with a deep wall dive (90-130 ft) and a shallow reef dive (15-40ft) and an afternoon boat trip with a mid-depth dive (60-90 ft). Currents were almost non-existant - sometimes there was a slight current along the walls, but nothing too bothersome. All-in-all, very easy and pleasurable diving. We did see a LOT of the invasive lionfish, an import from the Pacific that has no natural predators in the Caribbean. No one is sure exactly how they were imported into the Carribean, but they seem to be thriving - time will tell how big of an impact they have on the native reef fish species.
The food at the lodge was outstanding - a mix of local Bahamian fare and typical North American style foods. The lodge staff and service were excellent - and everyone who worked there seemed to go out of their way to be friendly and to get to know the guests. That "personal" involvement with the guests is a Small Hope Bay Lodge trademark and really worked to make our stay especially enjoyable.
I'd highly recommend a stay here - especially for divers looking to build their experience levels. But even the seasoned divers that we dove with loved the dive sites. The reef and wall are just minutes away by boat - our longest boat trips were approximately 20 minutes with many sites even closer.
