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SHALLOW
SITES
MAGIC
KINGDOM - The reef has an
abundance of fish and flora life, you will see hard and soft corals,
marine life includes Lemon Rays, Spotted Moray Eels, Lobsters,
Octopus, Triggerfish, Porkfish, Grunts, Snappers, Squirrefish and
Butterflyfish. (30'-40')
SHARK
ALLEY - Divers watch as the
Instructor hand feeds Caribbean reef Sharks and puts them into a
trance. The sharks are four to eight feet in length and there can be
as many as 30 sharks at the site. The area is situated by an old
Recompression Chamber with coral reef surrounding it. There are also
Jacks, Angel fish, Grouper, Hogfish and a large Green Moray Eel.
There may be the occasional Nurse Shark, Hammerhead or Whale.
(20'-40')
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MEDIUM SITES
DOUG'S
WRECK - This wreck is a 45'
tugboat that lies upside-down between isolated coral heads. Bits and
pieces of a small cabin cruiser are scattered on the bottom near the
tug. Stingrays and Eels are usually spotted on the sand.
(45'-60')
SPID
CITY - SPID is an acronym for
the Self-contained, Portable, Inflatable Dwelling that was once used
for short term habitation experiments in the mid-to-late ‘70's.
Large schools of blue parrot fish are often seen grazing on the
bottom. As you head south, the coral will become solid with surge
channels running through it. This site is very close to the location
of our shark dive, so you may see one or two Caribbean reef sharks
passing through. (45'-60')
ANGELS'
CAMP - At the mooring pin you
find sections of high profile corals running from east to west.
Running parallel to this first line, you find another row of very
pretty coral heads. Queen, Grey and French Angel fish are often
encountered in the area. (35'-45')
PAPA DOC
WRECK - A group of
mercenaries headed to fight in the Haitian revolution to overthrow
Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier made it no further than this spot.
Their 70-foot boat sunk in a storm in 1968. As recently as ten years
ago, ammunition clips could still be found among the scattered coral
heads. Two engine blocks and assorted sections of the old shrimper
are still visible. (35'-45')
ARROW
POINTS - The coral heads at
this site form a rough triangle, hence the name. You can see a bit
of everything here; sandy bottom at the blue hole, scattered coral
heads to the east and a more solid reef to the west and southwest. A
blue hole, eel garden and stingrays are some of the highlights.(50'
-60' )
ETHERIDGE
WRECK - Once a car ferry
operating in the Carolinas, this vessel was featured in the movie
Halloween. Sunk in early 1992 in an area of scattered coral heads,
schools of silversides, shad, schoolmaster snappers and grouper make
their home in and under the wreck. (50'-60')
ANN'S
PARADISE - It's a very pretty
site with several large, tall coral pinnacles situated on the top of
the coral ridges. Porkfish and yellowtail snappers are frequently
seen. (50'-60')
SHARK
ENCOUNTER - Divers swim
through the reef system surrounded by the sharks at the shark-feed
site (shark alley) (45'-55')
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DEEP SITES
THEO'S
WRECK - Sunk in 1982, Theo's
was a 228-foot cement hauler. She lies on her port side at 100 feet,
adjacent to the continental shelf. The dive includes two
penetrations - the engine room and the cargo hold. A giant green
moray plus a few spotted eels sometimes resides in the wreck. (70'
-100')
JOSE'S
WRECK - Balanced between two
separate coral heads, this 40-foot tugboat allows divers to swim
under the hull, Lobsters and crabs can occasionally be seen hiding
in the crevices between the wreck and the reef. In the winter,
congregations of tiger groupers are in the vicinity.
(60'-80')
CRYSTAL
CAVES - Sharks and spotted
rays are frequently seen here. There is a coral cavern that passes
through the reef for about 100 feet. The cavern is inhabited by
soldier and squirrel fish. (65'-80')
TUNNELS - It is
possible to swim through this smaller circular cavern. In the summer
it is filled with silversides. Schools of horse-eyed jacks hover
above the reef and, occasionally, spotted eagle rays are seen here.
(60'-80')
LITTLE
HALE'S LAIR - This site has
two lairs (small caves) created by the coral growing over the surge
channels. It is possible to swim through the most westerly of these
two lairs. This area is loaded with white, French and blue stripped
grunts. (60'-80')
PLATE
REEF - Many varieties of hard
coral have formed here. Many plate coral overlap above the surge
channels. The blue hole here is quite large and comes right out of
the side of a high profile coral. Mahogany and yellowtail snappers,
goatfish, and French grunts are usually seen. (60'-80')
PYGMY
CAVES - The high profile
corals here form small caves. One would have to be as small as a
pygmy to swim through them! Quite often, lobsters or spotted morays
are hiding in these small crevices. Here you will also see lapping
plates of hard coral. Frequently, schools of spadefish float near
the surface. (60'-80')
BLAIR
HOUSE - Plate and deep water
staghorn coral adorn the area. There are numerable swim-throughs at
this site that can be full of silversides during the summers months.
Dramatic deep channels house blue tangs, eels and schools of grunts.
(65'-80')
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BLUE HOLES & CAVE DIVES
BLUE HOLE
(cavern/Cave) DIVING: - The
caves and Caverns are a hidden part of Grand Bahama, a secret realm
that only a few visitors will ever know about or take the time to
understand. What you cannot see beneath the surface is an immense
underwater cavern, the gateway to a vast, flooded, labyrinth of
caverns, caves and submerged tunnels that honeycomb the entire
island of Grand Bahama and the surrounding sea bed.
For the most part, the inland
caves are not exactly teaming with life but there are creatures
living in the caves other than the migrating Grey Snappers. The full
time residents include a type of blind cave fish and a relatively
new species of animal found lurking in dark passages. Fortunately,
the creature, Speleonectes Lucayensis, is not a threat to
cave divers. It's only an inch or so in length and looks a bit like
a swimming centipede.
The caves
in the Bahamas were formed during the last ice age.
With much of the earth's water held in the
form of glacial ice, the sea level fell hunderds of feet, leving
most of the Bahama banks, which are now covered in water, high and
dry. Rain falling on the most porous limestone, slowly filtered down
to sea level forming a lens where it contacted the denser salt water
of the ocean permeating the spongy lime stone. The water at the
interface, was acidic enough to disolve away the limestone and form
the caves. Then, as more ice formed and the sea level dropped even
further, the caves became dry and rainwater dripping through the
ceiling, over thousands of years, created the incredible crystal
forests of stalagmites which now decorate the caves. Finally, when
the ice melted and the sea level rose, the caves were reclamed by
the sea.
The surface water you see in
these caves is fresh and pure. It's rainwater that seeps through the
porous limestone just as it did when the caves were created, forming
a gient lens that floats on the under layer of sea water. When you
dive in the caves, at a depth of about 25 to 30 feet, you can see
the fresh / alt water interface, or "halocline," as a
distinct line seperating the liquids, and if you watch a diver
passing through the halocline, their image is momentarily blurred
and distorted by the mixing of the fresh and salt water.
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SHARK FEEDING DIVES
Caribbean Reef
Shark
Carcharihnus Perezi
Habitat:
Caribbean reef sharks typically are found
on or near coral reefs.
Average adult size:
Adults can grow
to be 10 feet long. Those found near Grand Bahama usually range from
4 to 7 feet, the females being the largest.
Natural history:
The Caribbean
reef shark is a member of the Requiem shark family. When we conjure
up a picture in our mind, this is the "classic" shark. They are big,
fast, full-bodied sharks. They also are the sharks most commonly
seen on coral reefs. Caribbean reef sharks typically are seen
cruising the edge of the reef, over deep water. They feed on reef
fish, rays and large crabs. Females have four to six pups that are
about 2 feet long at birth. At Xanadu Undersea Adventures in Grand
Bahama we hold "shark" dives for our guests. Our Shark feeder,
wearing a chain mail suit, descends to the seabed to ring the shark
dinner bell. Sharks appear out of nowhere, smelling the bait from up
to a quarter of a mile away, to be fed by hand. Divers get a once in
a lifetime thrill, and the sharks get an easy snack.
Range:
From Florida, south
down to the coast of Brazil.
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NITROX DIVING
FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT ENRICHED AIR NITROX DIVING
WHAT IS
NITROX?
Nitrox is any combination of
nitrogen and oxygen. The air that we normally breathe contains about
21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen. Nitrox mixtures with percentages of
oxygen greater than 21% are called Enriched Air Nitrox (EAN).
Commonly used EAN mixtures are EAN32 (32% oxygen/68% nitrogen) and
EAN36 (36% oxygen/64% nitrogen).
ISN'T NITROX USED FOR DEEP
DIVING?
It is quite common to see technical divers
utilize nitrox during the decompression phase of a dive, so maybe
this is where the misconception came from. For recreational sport
divers the ideal range for nitrox is between 40 and 130 feet,
standard recreational depths.
ISN'T OXYGEN TOXICITY
DANGEROUS?
Certified divers are taught how to
monitor their nitrogen clock by following dive tables or a dive
computer. There is a similar concept used to monitor your oxygen
clock. Basically, for both nitrogen and oxygen clocks the deeper you
dive, the faster the clocks "run". Nitrox divers are taught to
monitor both clocks by using nitrox dive tables that provide a
reliable, conservative and easy way to dive between 40 and 130 feet
while taking advantage of EAN benefits.
WHAT
ARE THE BENEFITS OF USING NITROX?
1) EAN used with
standard air dive tables or computers provides a tremendous safety
factor. 2) A significant increase in NDL's. 3) Shorter surface
intervals. 4) Reduced post-dive fatigue (sub-clinical DCS). 5) A
slight reduction in nitrogen narcosis.
DO I
HAVE TO BE CERTIFIED TO USE NITROX?
Yes! Just as
diving can be dangerous to those that don't have the proper
education, diving nitrox without the proper training can be
unforgiving.
AREN'T THERE SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS TO USE
NITROX?
Yes-No-Maybe. This generally depends on
the equipment manufacturers recommendations. We recommend that if
there is any doubt, O2 cleaning and O2 compatible lubrication and
soft goods for all high pressure (over 200psig) EAN
applications.
STUDENT PRE-REQUISITES
1. Minimum
age: 18
2. Minimum certification of scuba diver with recognized
agency and minimum 12 logged dives in the past twelve months or
enrolled in an Advanced Open Water/Basic Nitrox course.
3.
Current medical insurance, provincial, DAN, DSI, etc.
REQUIRED
COURSE MINIMUMS
1. Four
hours of classroom
2. Plus practice analyzing oxygen/nitrogen
mixtures
3. A pass mark of at least 75% on written student
exam
4. A check-out dive is recommended (instructor
option)
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