Bahamas/Bimini Island Hammerhead Shark Diving Info

[scubajoe86]

Hi Everyone,
We are a group of 4 divers looking to try a hammerhead shark dive in the Bahamas/Bimini Island. I've done a little bit of online research, but wanted to see if I could get some first hand knowledge on options for diving in late January or February. Ideally, we want to be based out of one location (too short of a trip to be changing hotels mid-trip or doing a live aboard) and have enough time for 3 or 4 days of diving with an additional travel day on the way in and the way out. Right now we are thinking 2 days of hammerhead diving and 2 days of reef diving through a local dive shop. From what I could find it looks like hammerhead diving is off of Bimini Island
Our primary goal is to see the hammerheads, so is 1-2 day enough and any suggestions on other dives in that area. We know there are no guarantees in diving, but is 1 day enough to see the hammerheads? Also any info/recommendations for dive operators would be greatly appreciated. We are very flexible on our where and when we dive so we are just trying to understand the options that have worked for some more experienced divers. All 4 divers have ~100 dives.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[diversteve]

I have not been on the island but have dove around it from a liveaboard. Also once considered diving with Lemon Sharks at the research center there after seeing it on 60 Minutes but the logistics were pretty difficult.

So here's a couple things I know.

Silver Airways is about the only decent option to South Bimini - which I believe has the larger population. From there it's a taxi/ferry/to North Bimini apparently.

It all seems to go thru Fort Lauderdale. (FLL) - it appears the one afternoon flight is at 3:30 - it's only like 50 mi. so can't take very long.

I just picked the first week in Feb - Su-Sat in this example. This appears to be the only jet (turbo-prop) service to Bimini.
and this is your plane:

Silver charges for everything - checked luggage, oversize/overweight - read their fees page. But it's about the only option unless you're adventurous and want to fly in one of the small Cessna seaplanes. I'm not sure 4 of you plus dive bags would be possible. Chalks used to fly there in big seaplanes from MIA but one crashed and the others were retired due to old age.

Neal Watson's Bimini Scuba Center is at the Bimini Big Game Club and does the Hammerhead dives. BBGC lists daily dive pkg. rates since you don't seem to be staying a week. Watson's also lists the ways to get there.

The other option I know even less about is Bimini Undersea on North Bimini. They work with (out of?) the Resorts World (Hilton) complex and there's a ferry to there from Miami.

hth, I couldn't really find much else at the Bahamas Diving Assn. website which is my go to for the Out Islands

 

[Manuel Sam]

I just came back after doing 5 days of GH diving with Neil Watson's Bimini Scuba Center from January 31 thru Feb. 4th. I highly recommend them. Their price is $299 plus 7.5% tax for a 2-tank dive day.

The only other commercial operations I saw out there were Epic Diving, which is primarily a charter operation based in the Bahamas, and two liveaboards: the Shearwater, and the Dolphin Dream, both of which operate out of West Palm Beach. The latter two were there for just one day - I suspect that they were doing a combo Tiger Beach and GHs itinerary.

Neil Watson's operation was fully booked the five days I was there. You may want to call or email to see what's available. They require full payment 30 days before you arrive.

All dives occur off the west side of South Bimini in 25-35 ft of water.

North Bimini is actually where there are more people and where there is more infrastructure, even tho the airport is in South Bimini.

As for lodging, we stayed in South Bimini at the Bimini Sands Resort. The boat came into the Bimini Sands marina to pick us up in the morning and drop us off in the afternoon. This needs to be prearranged with them but there is no additional cost. Only issue is that you cannot leave your gear on the boat, so you'll be lugging all your gear on and off everyday.

Bimini Sands is a condo resort and at least in my opinion, the accommodations are nicer and better equipped than at the Big Game Club. It is also very quiet here as compared to North Bimini.

They have one bedrooms, one bedroom lofts (the loft serves as a second bedroom), as well as two bedrooms. The one bedroom lofts have two bathrooms. During our stay in early Feb., the oceanview 1BR loft was $214/nt plus taxes, plus a couple of one-time fees (I think $60 for cleaning and maybe $10/day for something else). For 6 nights, it was just under $1500.

Food options in South Bimini are very limited. There is nothing at the condo unless you bring and cook your own food - not sure what the entry restrictions are coming into the Bahamas with food. There is one restaurant - the Thirsty Turtle - and one take out place called Small's (comparable food, less variety, but cheaper). And one grocery store. They are all within walking distance of Bimini Sands.

Conversely, if you stay in North Bimini, there are many eating places and grocery stores. If you stay at the Big Game Club, there is an onsite restaurant, and in the morning, all you do is walk down to the boat and board. I think that you still have to take your gear off the boat everyday for security reasons, but it can be stored at the dive shop.

One other issue with staying in South Bimini is that going out at dawn or dusk, the mosquitoes and noseeums are merciless. Didn't have that problem the two times I went to N. Bimini - one time early in the morning and another time in the early evening for dinner.

I would plan on at least two GH days. On any given day, the wind might change and they can't go out. Such was the case the day we flew into Bimini - fortunately we were not diving that day. We were lucky in that we had 7, 7, 5, 7, and 5 GHs on the 5 days that we dove, but what if you get skunked or only get one shark on one of your two days? Another argument for doing more than 2 days is that I also felt that everyday brought us something different - different individuals, different behaviors....There are also a few bull sharks lurking and tons of Nurse sharks.

Lastly, Silver Airways does indeed fly out of Ft. Lauderdale. When I originally booked it, I could get to Bimini on the same day I left home (Boston) because it was a mid-afternoon flight. But they then changed it to mid-morning, so I had to fly in the night before and overnight in a hotel.

If I were to do it again, I wouldn't do it any different (lodging and diving) because I really enjoyed the peace and quiet of South Bimini, but I would certainly look into bringing food from the US.....and lots of repellent. I would also look into doing a day of Spotted Dolphins for variety.

 

[drrich2]

So what's Bimini Scuba Center use to draw & keep them in? A sealed 'bait crate' of some sort? Is any food released into the water, like a 'chumsickle' or what have you?

Richard.

 

[Manuel Sam]

One way to draw them was to scrape a fish with a knife. Once drawn in, the sharks were hand-fed. I think that a chumsickle would create a chaotic frenzy with nurses, bulls, jacks and whatever else tearing away at it. I think that would probably keep the GHs away and kill the viz.

I might also add, as far as deciding how many days, that on some days it might take just a few minutes for at least one shark to show up and stay, at which point, divers can start going in. But on other days, it might take more than an hour.

 

[sfabtx]

GH??

 

[Buliwyf]

Great Hammerheads:

 

[Hoag]

GH??

Given the topic of the thread, I would imagine GH is short for Great Hammerhead.

 

[sfabtx]

Well, I figured hammerhead but didn't know they were GREAT =). Thanks. Anyway, we want to do some shark diving. I'd love to go to Bimini but it seems over twice as much as the other islands. I'm looking for a low-key place to go that has good shark diving and isn't too difficult to get to...Any other suggestions or recommendations that are more affordable?
Sherry

 

[Buliwyf]

FL.
Trips | Emerald Charters

Florida Shark Diving
(this one seems like snorkeling actually)