Grand Bahamas is truely GRAND

52 miles east of West Palm Beach inlet is an Island that truely a Great Cave diving locale.

Trip report for Grand Bahamas,
Early this year I posted a request for information about cave diving on Grand Bahamas.
I had researched the island and knew there were several good sites but as I had never been there before a guide was going to be needed. Brian K recommended Christina Zenato at Unexso, this turned out to be great since I stayed right across the street.
Christina put together a great day, since we had never met the first dive was a main line swim in Mermaid’s Lair. I little about this cave, it is a saltwater pool about 10ft round about 500 yards inland from a beautiful beach. Once you duck under the water you enter a very large cavern of breakdown. There is a large line the runs the perimeter of the cavern for cavern tours. We ran our line through this cavern and dropped into the cave section. Tied off to the main line and Christina had me lead on from there.
If you have never dove in a decorated cave you will find yourself almost paralyzed by the sight before you. The passage is fairly low by Florida standards 5-7 ft but it is as wide as the eye can see with HUNDREDS of columns, stalagmites and stalactites. The passage winds around and between formations that rival anything in Mexico, walls are covered in Flowstone. Swimming slow and easy the time still goes way too fast and it is time to turn the dive. We exit and do our safety stop without any problems.
It is a short drive back to Unexso to change tanks and have lunch. (If I go back there I will bring two sets and pack a picnic for the beach.) After lunch we planned a second dive at Mermaid’s this time we took a smaller passage that goes through the most densely forested passage I have ever seen, flowstone, columns everything. We made a couple of lads of this area then made our exit. I wish I had more time to dive but as I was on a company trip I was very limited. I can highly recommend a trip and the Unexso facility is great. Please get hold of Christina for your next trio to Grand Bahamas and treat yourself to a great dive and a great guide.


Curt Schuster

Wow! For those of us short on funds, this sounds like an excellent alternative to a trip to Mexico.

Especailly if you have a friend with a boat in South Florida.

We met Christina last year at Ben's Cavern (it's a national park on Grand Bahama). I was diving with Ben Cook, out of Xanadu. He also took me on a tour of Mermaids, and I couldn't agree more about the beauty of this system. Ben has since relocated back to the states (Ft. Lauderdale area, I believe), but he still runs trips over to guide the caves there. Nice thing is a boat leaves from Ft. Lauderdale to Freeport -- $100 roundtrip -- no weight restrictions (bring your gear).
Safe diving,
John

Nice report and good info on Ben and Christie!!!

Anyone want to put a trip together????

i think im going this summer :-D

jforder- tell me more about this boat!

seems price is up to $159 (sorry, I was going by what our dive partners told us in august). Still not bad, considering it's round trip.

http://www.onedaycruise.com/discover...se-pricing.htm

If you get a chance for another trip there, you can actually do a traverse from Mermaid's Lair to Owl Hole. If the ladder is back in Owl Hole, it is about a 2780 foot traverse. If not, you're talking over a mile and stage tanks. I go there 2-3 times a year and Christina was actually one of my instructors. There are other caves, especially out on Sweetings Caye on the extreme east end of the island. These caves as well as Owl Hole and Mermaid's lair have all been explored by Rob Palmer. Ben's Cavern is another great dive there also.

I hear you on that Curt. I was in GB in December and unfortunately Christina was out of the country on holiday, therefore I was limited to only a " cavern tour ", yet my guide Fred at Grand Bahama Scuba ( great guy) did a slightly more complex dive at Mermaids. It is by far one of the most beautiful caves I have ever been in. It is unbelievable how brittle the limestone is there. I had a falling chunk of the ceiling hit me in the head dislodged by only our exhaust bubbles. :roll:

If you would like to help Christina put the ladder back she needs some help. Give her a call a Unexso if anyone is planning on going soon.

Check out the little video I put together

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4LV8cFQC6g

That did it. Andrew, let's start setting up a trip for this summer right away!

Awesome footage Curt. I cant wait until I go back next year. What did you think about all the stalact's glued back together?

Ok here is what I said to Christina about this.
I think the idea has merit but my personal opinion is that foramtions that are broken may have happened by divers or they may not, unless you did it we don't know for sure. But we know without a doubt that those formations that are fixed have been touched by man.

I just got off the phone this company

http://www.onedaycruise.com/discover...se-pricing.htm

They have a pretty good deal there

I looked at a May 2007 trip 4 days 3 night All inclusive at the Viva Resort

$474.99 per person.

Awesome footage Curt, thanks for sharing it. Does the quote you provided include the trip over and back, or was it just for lodging on the Island? Are there any restrictions such which days you would have to travel on, weight of items carried (can you carry your own gear)? This definitely sounds like an interesting proposition.

Nice!!!

What would the details be on a trip like that? IE, departure, return, time you can actually dive?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by curtschu

I just got off the phone this company

http://www.onedaycruise.com/discover...se-pricing.htm

They have a pretty good deal there

I looked at a May 2007 trip 4 days 3 night All inclusive at the Viva Resort

$474.99 per person.

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That quote was for the first week of May time frame
It included the cruise ship ride round trip from Ft. Lauderdale and the Hotel All-inclusive Food, booze etc. 4 days 3 nights You need to add a rental car/truck and diving fees. guided dives two sets of doubles was $200 per day. The ship departs Ft. Lauderdale daily at about 7:00AM and departs GBI about 4:00PM daily so you can travel any days you want.
I was told two carry on bags per person (I got all my gear in one) no weight limit was given. I asked about Tanks but the lady I talked to said she thinks they are OK but would have to confirm.

You can get cheaper Hotel but I would have to bring the Mrs. so I was looking at a little better. You can also do a little more expensive Limited all-inclusive if you are not a big Booze drinker at the Sheridan Our Lucaya which is right across the street from Unexso for $702.99 PP.

If you really want to set something up Please Give Christina a call at Unexso. Also Call Kristina at the Cruise at 561-470-9915 She gave me these quote numbers.

Curt,
I not sure if you know him but Cliff Sutton figured out a way to get tanks shipped over full of gas including trimix and o2 at reasonable rates. Both I think are pretty high over there. I think Kristina knows how he did it. That's if you're going to be diving a blue hole or something deep where it would pay off. Note I've not done this; I just got email from Cliff about it. I also got big thumbs up for Kristina by Cliff and another friend Manny.
Tom

Quote:

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Originally Posted by curtschu

That quote was for the first week of May time frame
It included the cruise ship ride round trip from Ft. Lauderdale and the Hotel All-inclusive Food, booze etc. 4 days 3 nights You need to add a rental car/truck and diving fees. guided dives two sets of doubles was $200 per day. The ship departs Ft. Lauderdale daily at about 7:00AM and departs GBI about 4:00PM daily so you can travel any days you want.
I was told two carry on bags per person (I got all my gear in one) no weight limit was given. I asked about Tanks but the lady I talked to said she thinks they are OK but would have to confirm.

You can get cheaper Hotel but I would have to bring the Mrs. so I was looking at a little better. You can also do a little more expensive Limited all-inclusive if you are not a big Booze drinker at the Sheridan Our Lucaya which is right across the street from Unexso for $702.99 PP.

If you really want to set something up Please Give Christina a call at Unexso. Also Call Kristina at the Cruise at 561-470-9915 She gave me these quote numbers.

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Hiya Gang, It's great to see a little buzz about Grand Bahama cave diving. Just felt I'd like to reply to a couple of the comments.
First off, we are told that the entrance collapses are most likely to happen when the caves are dry(10,000 years ago during last ice age), this would be the only event I can imagine that would knock over the stalamites. The sediments in the caves seem to have been deposited since the caves were filled with water(indicated by their horizontal uniformity). The broken stalagmites are lying on top of the sediments. This convinced me that what we are seeing is the result of diver impact as opposed to natural processes(unless diver impact can be considered a natural process!). I have been promised a copy of a video made by the original explorers which should clear this up. The rights and wrongs of glueing broken stalagmites were discussed more thoroughly in a thread I started on the conservation board of CDF entitled 'beyond conservation...reconstruction'. Personally, I quite like the fact that it is still obvious which stalagmites have been damaged by diver action, as I hope this will encourage divers to be more careful. Also, anyone who has assisted me in the reconstruction effort will realise how long it takes to rebuild a formation(poorly) which can be destroyed in an instant.
Next point. When on the island, please make sure that your guides are qualified for the level of diving you are doing. International guidelines suggest that a cavern guide should be cave certified. Cavern tours should be restricted to the cavern zone. Cristina is of course excellently qualified.
I'll be on the island next month, when I mean to replace the ladder in Owl's hole. I removed the old one last August after rungs started to bend and break. We have an excellent replacement which should last even longer than the ten years of service supplied by the old one.
I always take 2 sets of doubles when diving Old Freetown, one for the morning, one for the afternoon. A 30 minute ride each way back into town is a shame when you could be enjoying a picnic in a still unpopulated, unspoilt paradise. I love it.

Thanks for all the info guys!! Do the guides allow sidemount diving? Not to go in small areas, but for convenience.

Jay, I don't think there is a restriction on side mount since almost all the tanks in GBI are AL80s it would be logistically easier. I did notice that some of the line locations would be tough to go through without rolling to the side. Look at the video you will see one place where Christina is doing a little shuffle kick because the formations are very close. I plane to use sidemount the next time I go just because it will be easier to move the tanks and I won't have to carry a backplate.

Curt

Photos froma friend who visited. I like the first one as it shows a glow.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/mannydi...7594130005282/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mannydi...7594130005282/

Tom

Curt and Bahama Ben, thanks for all the info.

A group of us are talking about this s a great mexico alternative. Couple of questions:

a) How are they on solo diving?
b) How much guided diving is reasonable before you're safe on your own?

In general, is this a trip you need to plan as a group thing or do you think I could have fun doing it on my own?

PM Sent

These caves are extremely well decorated, but fairly low from floor to ce
illing compared to many caves in Mexico and Florida. As they are virtually 'no flow', a thick build-up of clay like sediment beautifies the floor. I would hate to see a day when more than 3 or 4 divers were diving at any one time in any one group. As there is currently no control at either entrance to Old Freetown, it's a call each cave diving group has to make for themselves. To minimise impact, preserve vis., and for safety, I strongly recommend small groups.
If anyone is interested I can compare your various fill station options, being as impartial as I can as an ex-employee of 2 of the dive centres on the island; I can point you in the direction of cheap, good, condos, and I'll be happpy to be of any other help.
I'd put this info up here, but I'd hate to infringe any forum rules.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bahamaben

If anyone is interested I can compare your various fill station options, being as impartial as I can as an ex-employee of 2 of the dive centres on the island; I can point you in the direction of cheap, good, condos, and I'll be happpy to be of any other help.
I'd put this info up here, but I'd hate to infringe any forum rules.

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It is ok to list them, but not ok to "rate" them :-)

If anyone wants to see the comparison, please PM Ben.