Rocking and Diving at Small Hope Bay Lodge

We were lucky to have an entertaining visitor last week at Small Hope Bay Lodge. Jeff Hix, frontman of Atlanta-based Jeff Hix and the Heretics, came down with his friend, Michael Jones, to get certified to scuba dive during the day and to entertain the guests at night.

Jeff and Mike joined Divemasters Ashley, Amanda and Dennis (plus some talented guests like Barbara and Key) in jamming after dinner. Jeff also did some reef diving and trekked into the interior of the island for a dive at the Stalactite Blue Hole.

Here is what Jeff had to say about Small Hope.

Here is a video of one of the jam sessions.

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Fred Calhoun Remembers Small Hope Bay Lodge

Fred Calhoun, captain of the Easy Diver, filmmaker and author, has been coming to Small Hope Bay Lodge for its diving for 40 years. This is part one of his memoirs about what Small Hope was like in the beginning.

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Family Vacations Through The Generations

Jack Jones and a friend brought their families to Small Hope Bay Lodge when their sons were just boys. Now Reed and Mike are all grown up and they still come to Small Hope Bay Lodge every year for a weekend or so of bonding, playing music and of course, great Bahamas diving!

This year, Jack, Mike and Reed were joined by Jeff, Key Sr. and Key Jr. Jeff got his Open Water Certification and both Keys completed the Discover Scuba Diving Course and went for a dive on the Andros Barrier Reef.

Once the boats were put away, the guitars came out and the boys joined the Small Hope band in entertaining all of the guests late into the night!

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John and Kay Visit Again

John and Kay have been guests and family at Small Hope Bay Lodge for years. John is an avid bonefisher and spends most of his days wandering the flats in search of the "gray ghosts" on the many flats around Andros Island. While John spends his days fishing, Kay comes out on the boat and does some fantastic Bahamas diving.

They head out in the morning to one of our many nature trails to do some birdwatching before splitting up to their separate activities for the day. They reunite again at cocktail hour for drinks and delicious conch fritters.

John and Kay are also great patrons of Rex and Sarah, who are sporting awesome personalized collars that were gifts!

Hear what John and Kay had to say about Small Hope Bay Lodge and watch John wander the flats in these videos!

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The Calhoun Crew Returns

Dr. Don Butterfield came to Small Hope Bay Lodge for the first time in 1965 on a sailboat and has been returning for 45 years, bringing with him divers, photographers, videographers and friends. Since he introduced Fred Calhoun to the Lodge, Fred has been making films here and diving here for over 40 years.

This year the Calhoun crew consisted of Dr. Don, Fred, Cris, Peter, Ken and newcomer, Janet, who was snapping away with her underwater photography set-up.

We were able to sit down with Fred, Peter, Dr. Don and Ken to get their takes on Small Hope over the years.

Small Hope Bay Lodge is in its fiftieth year of operation on the Andros Barrier Reef, where the great Bahamas diving inspired loyalty from a multitude of experienced divers worldwide!

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Professional Relaxation

If you work hard, you play hard and that is what the six ladies from California did when they came to SHBL. Kate and Le have been coming to Small Hope for years and enjoy spending time in their life together diving with us and this time, they brought four of their friends along. All of the women are doctors and nurses and they took time out of their busy schedules to dive, hot tub and go on eco tours here on Andros Island.

One of their hot tub excursions resulted in the formation of the the multi-national North American Dive Association or NADA. This fun loving dive group had the whole Lodge in stitches (todo por NADA) all week long!

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Jeff Birch Welcomes Everyone To Small Hope Bay Lodge

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From Farming To Fish

Ryan and Holly, of Vermont, came to SHBL on their honeymoon. They left their goats, chickens and miniature donkeys behind in Vermont and spent the week relaxing on the beach and learning how to scuba dive. After their initial lesson in our inland blue hole, the honeymooners went diving every chance they got -- even going out to Brad's Mountain and diving with the sharks! They also spent some time relaxing and snorkeling on Goat Cay and had many long, romantic walks on the beach.

Everyone at SHBL wishes them the best of luck on their new life together!

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50 Years All Around

Jo Ann came to visit Small Hope again this week and this is a woman who knows about longevity. She has been married to her husband for over 50 years! She took a break from the love of her life to spend some quality time underwater at SHBL. Jo Ann learned to dive in 1999 and loves coming to Small Hope because she can come here as a single diver and be taken care of. As Jo Ann liked to say, she come to "eat, sleep, and dive." She could do all three in style here on the bay! Pin It Now!

International Flair at SHBL

Our first guest of the 50th Season at Small Hope Bay Lodge was Janine Rietdorf. Janine joined us all the way from Germany and Small Hope was one of the first stops on her three month whirlwind tour of the world. She used the relaxing atmosphere to recharge her batteries and prepare for all of her other stops in the US, South America and Australia. Janine took bike rides, went snorkeling and learned how to dive in one of our inland blue holes.

We also had a visitor from Norway, Jo. Jo stopped in for a couple of days to refresh himself after a conference in Florida. He spent time biking around the island, relaxing on the beach and did a refresher scuba diving course.

We had great fun with our international friends and hope to see them again soon!

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Skeebo Goes Fishing

Skeebo was back fishing for a week in October with Steve and Mike from California.

They fished for 6 whole days in the Joulters and West Coast. The air temp was 90 degrees and sunny. They caught some 7-8 pound bonefish.

"You better believe it!"

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