Our Specialty Dive - 2nd Level of the Blue Hole!

An amazing adventure. An unforgettable experience. 

At Small Hope we offer some truly unique diving experiences. From jaw-dropping walls, to inland blue holes. Check out our video of our dive at 2nd Level of the Blue Hole (a.k.a. King Kong's Blue Hole) for an amazing cavern experience with some beautiful rock formations. See our website for more details . . . 

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Jackie and Qi Qi Photography

Jackie's Photo Diary at Small Hope Bay Lodge

 Reef Shark

                                                                                                   Squirrel-fish           

  

                        Reef Shark

                                        Feature Dusters

            King Kong Blue Hole Silhouette

                             Brian and Teva

   School of Grunts and Sailor Choice   

                                                                Marion Dive SIte

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Glamping and Blue Hole Dives, Andros, Bahamas

Just back from one of the most fun weekends I can remember! This past weekend Small Hope Bay Lodge owner, Jeff Birch, took some staff to South Andros for the weekend to do some blue hole dives. It was a great opportunity for some of us to get a chance to see some of the amazing natural beauty of the area as well as dive some of the most amazing caves and caverns in the world.

We called our friends down at Tiamo, a resort on South Andros, who are closed for the season. They happily invited us to use their resort as our camp site while we were down there. Not your typical campsite - we had use of the pool, showers and more, not to mention our amazing welcome night with great wine and champagne.

Our first morning we took the boat to the small dock and headed south by car to Stargate, an incredibly beautiful and ornately decorated cave dive. This is, hands down, one of the coolest dive any of us have ever done - amazing stalactites and wall formations. We even saw a blind cave fish!

Next up was El Dorado, an awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, cave dive. El Dorado starts as you head into the mouth of the cave, visible from above water as well, through a tunnel filled with great wall formations and stalactites (quite a few blind cave fish too!). But then, you start to see light at the far end of this tunnel and you end up beneath a different lake, looking up through the green light.

We turned around and returned to our entry point. As this dive was only at a depth of 90' we had plenty of time to play around outside the mouth of the cave, checking out the debris, wall formations, and sediment. There was a vere eerie mist too!

After a very full (and cool) day of diving we all headed back to our campsite (and the infinity pool) at Tiamo. We rounded out a great day with some tasty tacos and, all exhausted and looking forward to our final dive the next day, went to bed very early.

On Sunday, after camp fire coffee and breakfast, we hopped in the boat once more and headed to the road and the last dive of the trip, Mohrdohr. This place is a bit further into the bush and we had to trek all the gear in. It is a beautiful walk though - views of 3 blue holes, tons of different butterflies, and at least 2 Great Lizard Cuckoos that stopped to check us out. The surface of this blue hole is almost as impressive as beneath the water . There is a land bridge that connects this blue hole with another so you can swim between the two. This dive, Mohrdohr, is technically a cavern dive as outside light is visible at all times. We had a depth of 110' here, but the most impressive part of this dive is coming out. It is a giant room, like a big cathedral, and when you turn around there is a huge column of light coming from the entrance, illuminating the sides and floor of the entire entrance. Breathtaking! 

Check out the video for Part 2 here!

After this, we hiked back out to the cars, then took the boat back to the camp site to pack all our stuff. We said goodbye to our friends at Tiamo and some of the boys headed back to Small Hope with most of the dive and camping gear on the boat, and the rest of us flew with Jeff, doing a couple fly-bys of the boat on the way.

All in all, an amazing weekend! Can't wait till the next time. Thanks boss! Pin It Now!

My favorite dive ( . . . so far) at Small Hope, Bahamas

With the third largest barrier reef in the world just minutes away from the Small Hope Bay Lodge dock, and being virtually the only dive operation on that reef, there are literally dozens of really, really great dives at my fingertips. I have been enjoying my time underwater at Small Hope for a little over two years now and have gotten to experience some truly amazing dives. I've done mind-blowing wall dives - the drop from the reef into the "Tongue of the Ocean", basically a 6,000 foot drop straight down, with little to no current, making some really awesome wall cruises. I've done coral garden and shark dives - one of my favorite sites, Brad's Mountain combines the two, beautiful coral growth with cracks and crevices, all flourishing with tons of different fish, and pretty much guaranteed sharks every time. I've been diving in the Blue Hole of Andros - both ocean and inland blue holes, I have gotten to experience the full cave dive of the Guardian, as well as the Ocean Blue Hole, an incredibly beautiful cavern dive.

Well, the coolest, most jaw-dropping, kick butt dive so far? 2nd Level of the Blue Hole (into Backside of the Blue Hole). This is one of the custom specialty dives Small Hope offers. We went to the Ocean Blue Hole and timed the dive perfectly with the tides (very important). This is a "live" blue hole, meaning fresh water is sucked through underground caves as the tide goes out. 

2nd Level - This is a deeper circuit around the blue hole dive than the typical blue hole dive we take most of our guests on (usually done at 100'). 2nd Level goes down to about 140' and also passes through a smaller "room", creating a cave-like atmosphere for the first part of the dive. At the beginning of the dive you pass over the rim of the hole and start descending in to the surrounding crevice. Down below, you see a triangular entry. This is the first "restriction" and even though it looks really little divers have no problem getting through. This takes you to the "room" which is quite dark and about 5' high, 8' wide and maybe 6' deep in size. At the back of the room there is a passage down and to the left which takes you through a tunnel that continues to widen until you can see the upper levels of the blue hole. Now it starts to become so incredibly gorgeous. Big skylights letting the turquoise blue stream down through massive boulders strategically placed. Great rock formations, including one we call E.T.'s head (because from the right angle, its shape is just like E.T.'s). And great dark chasms below, where the light will never reach. It is the most awe inspiring dive I've been on.

Backside of the Blue Hole - The Backside dive usually goes to about 70 feet deep and goes over the top of the sinkhole and out the back where all the ancient streams and riverbeds lie. We time the dive so the tides have pushed tons of fresh water through and formed a halocline where the fresh water below is green and significantly cooler, and the salt water above is blue and warm. If you catch the tides just right, the line between fresh and salt water will be so distinct, you could cut it with a knife. In addition to all this, sediment that gets pushed with the fresh water forms what we call "whale snot" and drapes over the coral and looks like Halloween cobweb decor. It also floats around making this dive completely other-worldly as well as a one-of-a-kind experience.

On this particular dive, we timed it just right and at the end of our circuit around the 2nd Level of the Blue Hole we came up in to the Backside of the Blue Hole and finished the dive cruising in and out of green and turquoise waters, playing with the "snot", spotted a reef shark, a giant Nassau grouper, an Atlantic spadefish. All in all, the best of both worlds - unbelievable deep cavern dive, followed by eeire and awesome backside dive. SO GREAT! I love my life! Pin It Now!

The Discovery of a New Dive Site

Al's Cooler

A New Dive Site for Small Hope Bay

A new dive site has been officially added to the Small Hope Bay Lodge site roster. A multilevel dive, this site takes divers South along a beautiful section of the wall then comes up to a large sand patch and some lovely plate coral. Both sharks and turtles have been spotted out over the wall but the real attraction at this site is the old 'fish pot' that is now and will forever be known as Al's Cooler. Here is a little history about the discovery and naming of our new site.... 

Al and Alison Scheflow have been coming to Small Hope Bay Lodge for many years. Ever since their first visit in the summer of 2003 they were hooked. Avid divers, they have been diving everywhere from the Florida Keys to Bonaire, but when they were looking for some more diversity and the opportunity to experience some different dives they decided to try the Bahamas. Andros Island, home to the third longest barrier reef and just minutes from the tongue of the ocean was the perfect choice. So they packed their bags and took the short flight over to the beautiful and secluded Small Hope Bay Lodge. 

The diving at SHBL is unlike the diving found in other places. Whether it is a cavern, a wreck, a wall or a blue hole you are never disappointed and as Al and Alison discovered there is always something new to see. This was particularly true on their latest visit to the lodge as they were given the opportunity to explore some never before seen areas of the reef with a few of the Small Hope divemasters.  

It was on one of these exploratory dives that they happened upon the new site. The plan was to anchor and travel along the wall until they found an interesting spot. It was clear however that where they anchored was just perfect. They cruised along marveling at the beauty of the wall and at the magnificence that is the tongue of the ocean. Few things are as spectacular as a 6000 foot drop to the bottom of the deep blue. As the divers came up over the top Al and Alison made the discovery of an old fish pot that had long since been forgotten. Everyone knew that they had found a wonderful site.

But what to call it? Many different names were tossed about, however after some consideration the name that seemed most fitting was Al's Cooler. 

To understand how the site got its name "Al's Cooler" it is important to know a little more about the Scheflow's and their time at SHBL. As members of the Small Hope family Al and Alison have implemented their own Small Hope traditions whenever they come. Al, a serious advocate for drinking only seriously cold beer not only created the Small Hope Beer Koozie but also the tradition of serving beer out of a cooler of ice at the bar.

 "Straight from the cooler to the koozie and the beer stays colder longer".

So when Al discovered the old fish pot on the mystery dive he said it was like finding himself an underwater cooler. Divemaster Dennis joked that he could have cold beer...even on a dive! Believe it or not that is just what he did. To christen the new sight Al and Alison brought down a few beer bottles to put in the "cooler" and even cracked one open and took a sip before tossing it in. Everyone had a great time finding, naming and making the new site official. 

Small Hope would like to send out a BIG thank you to divemasters Dennis, Sam and Laura and especially Al and Alison Scheflow for all the their help with the new site. Last week the first official group tried out the site and all the divers agree it is a beautiful place! 

Check out The Christening of Al's Cooler here and watch how Al and Alison pay tribute to the new site! 

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Dolphin Dive

Amazing dive at Small Hope! Just days after having four dolphins play with the boat on its way out for our morning dives our guests were treated to a rare sight. Four dolphins came to greet them as they started their descent at the ocean Blue Hole. What a morning!

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Stargate!!!

We have had several divers doing some Specialty dives lately. Last week one of our guests, along with Jeff and Divemaster Fede took the short flight down to one of our most spectacular dive sites . . . Stargate. Stargate is an inland blue hole only accessible by plane. The dive is 120 feet deep and is one of the most incredible dives you will ever do!

 

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The Week of the Hammerhead!

The Week of the Hammerhead!

The start of the new year came, hopefully (!), with a taste of things to come......three separate hammerhead sightings in one week! The first of these was at King Kong's Ocean Blue hole - a great dive in its own right but throw the silhouette of a 10ft hammerhead cruising 20 feet above you into the mix and you've got something really spectacular! A real treat for our divers, Josh, Brent, Derek, Chris and Veronique! When it comes to capturing this elusive shark on camera, Small Hope has, in the past, found themselves a little jinxed (forgotten lens cap, low battery, simple shock and awe resulting in forgetting to raise camera - not mentioning any names), but this time Dennis rose to the challenge (check out the YouTube video).

The second sighting of the week, came from one of our interns, Max. While following up behind the other divers, dive master Max glimpsed the unmistakable hammerhead shape disappear back into the blue. No video evidence for this one, but we're not one to doubt our trusty interns!!

The final sighting came yet again from Dennis. While half the group were starting to ascend after a wonderful dive at Whip Wire Wall, Dennis and his buddy, Allen, had an up close encounter with another 10ft hammerhead! After yelling as loud as they could to get the rest of the group's attention (a difficult task through your reg underwater), they followed the animal a little ways out from the wall........a brief cruise along the top of the wall and the magnificent beast vanished into the blue!

All in all, a fantastic week for diving here at Small Hope, and a great reminder to hang around Dennis ('Lucky Friend of the Hammerhead') on as many wall dives as possible!!!

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Small Hope Dive Master

Dennis- from Andros Island

Dennis is from North Andros. He married a Bahamian lady from Love Hill and now has three children & one on the way.

Dennis has been working at Small Hope for 5 years. Dennis has a passion for diving.  He completed all of his dive training at the lodge.  Instructors on site helped Dennis accomplish his dive master level.  He is looking forward to becoming an Instructor

Joe- from England

Joe had spent his summers learning to sail in the North Sea. He worked in many resorts in the Mediterranean teaching guest how to sail & windsurf.  Soon after, Joe found his true passion for diving & did his Open Water Course at Gildenburgh UK. He then went on to do his Dive Masters in Egypt & eventually became an Instructor.

Joe has worked in England, Dubai & Australia

Antonio- from Mexico

Antonio started diving as a child with his dad.   Antonio completed his Open Water Course in Veracruz, Mexico. He has been diving in and around Mexico ever since. He went on to complete his Diver master and Instructor at Bahias de Huatulco Mexico.

Backing up the main crew on the dock is new intern Kate, Renauldo, Randy and as always Jeff and Mike are always around........ 

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