Dive Sites: Smuggler’s Plane, Ray’s Reef, Cut Through City, Split Coral Head, Primo Wall, Morgan’s Point, Jack’s Hole, Cut ‘n Run, Cobia Cage, Tunnel Rock, Monolith, Hole in the Wall, Cave Rock

Saturday:

We received guests at 4pm. We had the guests set up their gear and we showed them their staterooms. Safety briefing started at 5 pm, then, dinner was served at around 7pm. The captain started the main engines, and we started crossing to Exuma, our first stop of the week.

Sunday:

We were anchored close to our first dive site, the Smuggler’s Plane Wreck- a shallow wreck with loads of macro life. There, we saw red tipped sea goddess attached to one of the soft black corals. A lot of Feather Duster Worms attached to the plane itself, and banded coral shrimps just under the plane wing. The we went straight to Ray’s Reef. We saw a big channel crab, a huge barracuda, tiger shrimps, and parrotfish. Chef Empress prepared us a hearty butternut squash soup to start our lunch. Then a combination of grilled chicken and sauteed shrimp as our main dish. We started moving again, and this time, we crossing to Eleuthera for our next dive. We reached cut thru city in Eleuthera just before sundown. Capt. Romel briefed us about the site, and he also covered the night dive briefing. We jumped in, sun is still up, then, as we started descending and moving to our dive plan, light started to fade, and in no time, darkness took over. It was a great experience doing this twilight dive! And we saw lettuce slug, lionfish, parrotfish, and a huge lobster! Blackjack hunting for fish using our dive lights! And by the mooring, we saw scorpionfish. On our way back to the boat doing our safety stop, there was a school of juvey squid, swimming right under the boat! We had a great day diving, and dinner was served after our dive adventure!

Monday:

The day started with continental breakfast before the first dive at Split Coral Head at 7:00 am. All the guests jumped in hoping to see some reef sharks, they weren’t disappointed. To celebrate a diving milestone one of the guests decided to do the dive in their birthday suit, the sharks didn’t seem that impressed.

 A cooked breakfast awaited the divers return before jumping back in at the new dive site of Primo Wall. Stingrays, garden eels, angel fish, barracuda, spotted eel and even a lettuce slug greeted the guest.

Empress impressed dishing out ceasar salad, shrimp/chicken kebabs, pasta salad and chicken and vegetable soup for lunch.

 After a chill on the sun deck the third dive of the day was at Morgan’s Point where stingrays, lionfish, conch and fire worms made an appearance.

 The last two dives of the day were at Jakes Hole and due to the offshore wind direction, the boat was positioned directly above the hole. The guests loved their two dives here with groupers, crabs, lobster, eels, nurse sharks seen on both with an octopus turning up on the night dive.

 Dinner consisted of surf and turf, ribs and salmon with a delicious carrot cake for desert.

 With bellies full and a full day of diving behind them the guests went to bed happy.

Tuesday:

Another early dive after their continental breakfast awaited the guests at Cut N Run. After their early morning workout, the guests were grateful for a delicious cooked breakfast on their return.

 Cut Thru City was the next dive with the guests able to experience this site in daylight now. Groupers, Horse eye jacks, moray eels, triggerfish, queen angel and the well camouflaged lizard fish greeted the divers.

 A Bahamian lunch of conch chowder, cracked conch with fries and homemade bread was prepared by Empress which was happily devoured.

 After lunch the guests dropped in at Cobia Cage where everyone got to see hogfish and arrow crabs up close.

 The last two dives of the day were at Tunnel Rock where during the late afternoon dive some of the guests gracefully navigated the tunnel before emerging on the conservation garden growing new coral. A couple of stingrays and reef sharks kept everyone company. During the night dive massive sea cucumbers made an appearance.

 Dinner was delicious Cornish hens, seared tuna, mac and cheese followed by guava duff.

 With all the guests content and happy an early night was had by all.

Wednesday:

We were greeted by some overcast weather on our first dive after the continental breakfast. At the wall dive site Monolith, spotted and garden eels and shy lobsters awaited us. After a filling breakfast of omelets and grits, we jumped in at Hole in the Wall to see reef sharks, parrotfish and rays, happily gliding over the reef. Even though the weather was not ideal and challenging conditions delayed some dives, spirits were high with music playing on deck with crew and guests showing off their dance moves while having a good laugh.

At Split Coral Head, we were greeted by reef sharks, eagerly awaiting our chum pyramid rigged from the bow. Below some divers also spotted an octopus and some parrot fish at the corals. The mid-afternoon snack was some hot, cheesy monkey pizza bread. For our twilight dive and night dive, we went to Cave Rock where we saw plentiful different Jacks swimming under the boat as well as lionfish, lobster, lettuce slug and cute juvenile trunkfish. The different swim throughs held a surprise around every corner like arrow crabs and sea pearls. Some were even lucky enough to spot an octopus. It was also a good opportunity to practice buoyancy and look for small creatures in the cervices. After drying off, Chef Empress warmed us up with coconut chicken curry with yellow rice. After an adventurous day filled with sharks, strong winds and good company, everyone soon went to bed, ready for another day of diving!

Thursday:

We start our day at Cut N Run where we get a chance to see a plane wreck and an old anchor that is completely encrusted with coral also on the dive we see stingrays, horse eyed jacks, and butterflyfish. Also, a reef shark passed by us on our way back to the boat, and barracuda while we are doing our stop. We motored over to Krakens Lair. This site is healthy and vibrant, and shallow.  Channel Clinging crabs, Nassau grouper, Spanish lobsters, golden tail moray, and yellowtail snapper everywhere! Drumfish, coral shrimp, lettuce slug, and triggerfish, are there, to greet us, too! Then, the weather picked up. We can’t proceed to do more diving, and we had to find a shelter. Captain Romel, decided to turn the boat around and entered Cape Eleuthera marina for shelter. We stayed there overnight, and left, early morning.

Friday:

We crossed back to Exuma and we prepared for the washing machine drift dive. We jumped off the moving boat into the waters below and were immediately swept up by the current. As we tumbled and spun and soared through the dive it was almost like being a kid again! After that, we headed close to Nassau and jumped on The Lost Blue Hole on our last dive. Stingrays and a big school of lionfish were surrounding the corals. It was a great last dive, and it made up for some dives that we missed. Then we head back top Marina and we enjoyed the last day with cocktail party on sundeck!