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!

Andros Island Blue Holes.....

Diving an Ocean Blue Hole

Blue Holes are unique geological formations created over thousands of years and multiple glacial and interglacial periods.

There are many types of Blue Holes, but they are essentially caves that formed in a air environment when sea levels were low as a result of  glacial retreat. When the ice retreated the caves flooded and this process of being dry and flooded was repeated several times over as the glaciers came and went.

In Land\Ocean Blue Hole Conch Sound Andros Island

As the caves tops grew thinner from erosion or experienced mechanical stress many of them collapsed leaving large holes often leading to hidden cave systems. These holes got the name Blue Holes due to the fact that the bottoms of the collapse is deeper than surrounding land and when viewed from the air appear rich blue in colour in the ocean, some are dark blue and even black in appearance inland. The inland Blue Holes collect a less dense freshwater lens on top of the ground seawater and are connected to the ocean Blue Holes by cracks and fissures typical of the limestone composition. Imagine a sponge.

Diving an Ocean Blue Hole

The tide moves seawater back and forth between the inland Blue holes and the ocean Blue holes via these cracks and fissures during the high and low cycles of the tide.

Often the Blue holes have strong inflow and out flows as water is exchanged. The cooler hypoxic/anoxic inland water (caused by oxygen dissolving into the limestone)flows out of the ocean Blue holes and this mixes with the warmer sea water. Where the two meet it creates a mixture of haloclines, chemoclines and thermoclines often referred to as a "density interface"

Each Blue Hole has its own personality and offer an opportunity for divers to experience a glimpse of the past geology and formations. Proper training is a must to dive these beautiful structures in safety. Even the cavern portions require experienced guides.

Check out the August edition of National Geographic Magazine for more great facts and pictures.

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One of a kind dive!

This morning SHBL’s divers left the dock early at 8AM to visit the Backside of the Ocean Blue Hole. The reason for the early morning was due to the changing of the tides in order to see the ancient underwater riverbed, the mixing zone, and the “Spider Webs”.
Due to the change of tides, divers witness an underwater riverbed and a mixing zone while diving the Backside of the Blue Hole. During outgoing tide, fresh water from the interior of Andros Island migrates to the Blue Hole through connection cracks and fissures as a result of the tidal lag or the freshwater hydraulic gradient, causing denser saltwater, forming two layers. During our rainy season the denser saltwater is cooler than the above salt water by as much as 5 degrees Celsius. This allows divers to visually see 2 levels of water and what appears to be an underwater river!
The third phenomenon is “Spider Webs” or what they have also been affectionately referred to as “Whale snot”. During low tide, the decaying vegetation, which was deposited in the Blue Hole thousands of years ago, breaks down into hydrogen sulfide which is eaten by small marine life. The digestion of the hydrogen sulfide creates spider-like webs of organic material which can range in size from a few inches long to well over 20ft. in length.
This is by far one of the most unique dives Small Hope has to offer,and is the only dive like this in the Bahamas! Many divers this morning commented, “They never experienced any dive like this before”. Follow this link to watch a video on the Backside of the Blue Hole and for more information on our Blue Holes and other dives offered at Small Hope click here. Pin It Now!