Bahamas Update - Week 8

The week started by the entire group finishing the PADI DEEP DIVING SPECIALITY on Monday going to a site called ‘3 Anchors’ at the tongue of the ocean, where we went down just past the edge of the tongue at 40 meters allowing us to look directly down into the complete darkness which was 6000ft down. An unforgettable experience. A few members of the group were lucky enough to see a 12ft Great Hammerhead Shark swim a few meters from them, whereas others were lucky to see a Sea Turtle swim past. The second final dive for the specialty was at a site called Coliseum where we went down to 30 meters. On Tuesday we finished off the final underwater fish tests and starting practice surveying, by the end of the day everyone had passed the fish test and had done a practice survey over a regular site we use called Ampi. We ended the day with a few drinks in celebration of Becky’s Birthday.

On Wednesday we had a free day for island exploration and another day to top up the tans. Thursday we were back in the water and continued with practice surveys at Ampi, allowing us to feel more comfortable with surveying. On Friday we got back in the water for a morning dive before the weather changed allowing us to do one final practice survey before we would start before on the following Monday. On Friday one of the volunteers Harvey left to carry on his travelling so 1 member down, a few in the group decided to head down to Queen’s Park for the regular Andros Nights where music and drinks and of course conch fritters were there in plenty!

On Saturday the group headed to a local swimming pool to continue with the RESCUE DIVER CERTIFICATION. After the group had finished we all headed up to Nicholls’s Town hitching a 70 mile round trip up the island, to a Music and Arts Festival being held for the day by the local community. The festival had for sale many of the local crafts found on the island and foods and music common in the Bahamas. We all head back down to Timmy’s Bar for the evening, where we proceeded to celebrate Oli’s Birthday which was the following day. On Sunday we had our usual free day where a few went off exploring down to Small Hope Bay Lodge and others relaxed by the beach and sea.

Highlights of the week included the amount of diving we got done managing 7 dives due to the excellent weather we were fortunate to have last week! The group all finished the Deep Diving Specialty and the fish tests. We managed to eat well due to the continual kind donation of food by a member of staff at AUTEC Naval Base and we were all ready for surveying in the following week.

By Will