Route Description - Hammerhead and Tiger Shark Experience
11 Days / 10 Nights (Approximately 30 dives in total)
The Bahamas are known to have the clearest waters on earth with an abundance of sharks. It is the third largest barrier reef area in the world with flourishing and diverse marine life as well as excellent dive site diversity: reefs, walls, drop-offs, drift dives, wrecks, caves and blue holes. Besides sharks, keep an eye out for several species of dolphins and whales as well as the endangered Nassau grouper, considered the national fish of the Bahamas, that can reach over a meter in length!
Hammerhead and Tiger Shark Experience covers the best of the West End of Grand Bahama Island plus the renowned Bimini Islands. Expect to see lots of sharks including hammerheads, nurse sharks, lemon sharks, tiger sharks, and even bull sharks, as well as dolphins, rays, grouper, turtles and octopus.
This 10 night liveaboard adventure allows up to 30 dives including several night dives (depending on conditions). In some areas the diving is comparatively shallow and there will be an 'open platform' policy to allow diving as and when you like between 8am and 10pm. This does not apply to Bimini Islands.
The diving day aboard M/V Bahamas Master has a typical schedule as follows:-
Light Breakfast followed by a briefing and dive 1
Full Breakfast, relaxation period, briefing and dive 2
Lunch, relaxation period, briefing and dive 3
Snack relaxation period, briefing and dive 4, where possible
Dinner
Diving Highlights
Tiger Beach - One of the best locations for tiger and lemon shark encounters located off the West End of Grand Bahama Islands. With a white sand bottom and shallow depth (6-7 meters) this is a favourite site for photographers and videographers as well. Sightings of great hammerheads and nurse sharks are common, with an occasional bull shark making an appearance.
Fish Tales - Close to Tiger Beach with similar shark sightings but a little deeper depths. There is an opportunity to see lemon sharks, Caribbean reef sharks and tiger sharks.
Lighthouse - Just beyond West End, this is another great location to see great hammerheads, tiger sharks, nurse sharks, lemon sharks, and even bull sharks have been spotted.
Sugar Wreck - This 110-meter long, four-masted steel sailing vessel sank about 100 years ago while carrying molasses. As a shallow wreck in just 7 meters of water, there will be plenty of bottom time for exploration. The wreck is now residence to green moral eels, turtles, octopus, nurse sharks and large schools of snappers.
Bimini Islands - only on te 10 night itinerary - As the westernmost island group of the Bahamas, the Bimini Islands are renowned for the marine life brought by the warm Gulf Stream current. Found to the southwest of Grand Bahama Island and on the edge of an underwater cliff that drops hundreds of meters into the abyss, Bimini provides a variety of dive sites including walls, reefs, wrecks and caverns. Bimini Road (or Bimini Wall) plunges over 1300 meters into the deep and has been claimed to be part of the lost city of Atlantis. In the shallow waters between South Bimini and North Cat Cay can be found several wrecks including Spanish galleons, a WWI freighter, and the Sapona which ran aground in 1926 during a hurricane and remains partly above the surface. The Bimini Islands are famous for great hammerheads and bull shark sightings, best seen between January and March. There is also a chance to see humpback whales, sperm whales and whale sharks in the spring, with dolphins, eagle rays and various turtles seen year round.
N.B. Master Liveaboards' policy excludes hand-feeding sharks. Instead, we will make use of some baiting/chumming to lure sharks to the boat. This entails a basket of fish to be hung in the water from the boat, spreading an enticing smell for the sharks.
Note: Diving in the Bahamas is comparatively shallow so where appropriate we operate an ‘open pool diving’ policy, meaning you can make multiple dives per day between 8 am and 10 pm.