River Monsters and Small Hope Fans, get ready!!!!!!!

Small Hope Bay Lodge will be on River Monsters on Thursday, May 5th. Make sure to watch as they search for what may or may not be lurking beneath the water of Andros Island.

It was a great time working with those guys -  a lot of fun and adventure. So make sure to check out the show. It's on Animal Planet for our US viewers and Discovery Channel for our UK viewers.

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Coral Nursery and Algae Removal Project

At Small Hope, we have been diving the Andros Barrier Reef for over 55 years. We have been enjoying this beautiful ecosystem and sharing it with all of our sub-aquatic enthusiasts. However, due various man-made and natural changes in this environment, our reefs are suffering.

Algae, in healthy quantities, is beneficial for the marine life. However, if it is not kept in check, it can suffocate a reef and its corals. In the 1970s there was a plague that affected the long-spined sea urchins, killing off a huge portion of them. The sea urchin eat the algae off the coral and help to maintain a healthy balance. With the loss of so many urchins the algae population was not kept in check and continued to grow, covering and suffocating many corals.

Here at Small Hope, we have escaped many of the ill effects that other Caribbean islands have suffered. We still enjoy a beautiful and healthy coral reef, with lots of variety of hard and soft corals, sponges and other sea life. But that doesn't mean we can't help make it even better!

We have recently been collaboration with the Bahamas National Trust and the Nature Conservancy in an effort to grow our corals and help remove some of the excess algae. Our dive staff has assisted in the creation of a coral nursery, growing one of the hard corals native to the area, Staghorn Coral. They have been learning how to care for these juvenile corals, transplant them to other parts of the reef, and learning how to help remove algae from areas where it is overgrown.

And now we are developing a program where our guests can join us in this effort as well. Stay tuned for details of how you can help assist our beautiful reef system when you come to dive with us! Pin It Now!

The Most Geological Diversity in Diving . . . and all within a 20 minute boat ride!

People always ask me where my favorite diving locations are. That's a tough question because there are so many factors involved - water visibility, water temperature, fish and sea life, the quality of the dive operation and dive staff, and the location itself (the local people, landscape, and food).

But to me Small Hope Bay Lodge has it all. There are 3 main reasons why I think this is my favorite diving location in the world:

1.  The most Geological Diversity within a 20 minute boat ride. This means we have the opportunity to dive sheer walls that start at about 70 ft and drop down 6000 ft in to the Tongue of the Ocean. We have wrecks, two of which (a barge, and a small airplane) were sunk specifically for Small Hope as dive sites. We have many coral gardens, at shallow, mid-level, and deeper sites. We have great caverns with little pocket rooms and swim throughs. And we have blue holes (both ocean and inland) for some of the coolest dives you will ever do in your life! And all of these sites (totaling somewhere between 60 and 100!!!) are within 20 minutes from our dock.
2. We are the only people diving this reef! This is the third largest barrier reef in the world. And there is no one else around. It is a rare day indeed when you spot another boat on the water and even more unusual to see other divers. This means we have the reef and dive sites all to ourselves. I have been on many dives in other locations when in the middle of a beautiful dive a swarm of 20+ divers descends on the reef, starts kicking up sand, etc. I have been on night dives in other countries where we had to wear a certain color glow stick on our tank to differentiate our group from the many others that were there too. Not here! Just our divers and no one else!
3. The best dive staff EVER. They are safe. They are professional. They are FUN! There is no minimum number of divers for us to go diving. If we only have one person who wants to dive - we're going diving. We also have the highest ratio of staff to guests in the water that I have ever seen. As a dive professional myself, this is key. 

 In addition to the above reasons, Small Hope also has gorgeous weather year-round. 21 cabins right on the beach. The kitchen staff prepares incredible food. The staff and Andros locals are some of the friendliest in the world. The water temperature and visibility are awesome! All these things make it a no brainer. I wanna dive at Small Hope Bay Lodge!

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Get to Know the Staff: Meet Dennis!

Introducing . . . . 

the amazing, Dennis!

Dennis has been around Small Hope for many years. He is known by all as a wonderful, kind, and fun-lovingly man. Most people know him as one of our fabulous Divemasters, but few know that when he started at Small Hope he started in the maintenance department and didn't even know how to swim! Well, those days are long gone. He is now practically a fish - first person in the water on a dive, and last person out of the water. He is also now a PADI Open Water Instructor and has taught probably hundreds of men, women and children how to dive.

He is also our senior Nature Tour Guide and Audubon certified birding guide. He truly does it all here. So if you don't see him on the dive boat, maybe he will be mixing up your favorite cocktail, or pointing out  the elusive Bahama Oriole, or jumping with you in to Captain Bill's Blue Hole.


Fun Facts about Dennis:

# of Years at Small Hope: He celebrated 9 years at Small Hope in September of 2015

# of Kids: Four  (3 girls, and 1 boy)

Kids names: Denise, Denicia, Kendranique, and Xavier

Favorite Thing to do Outside of Work: Explore the nature trails of Andros.

Best Part about Working at Small Hope for him: Variety. You never know what the day will bring. Meeting new people, going on new adventures.

Favorite Food: Crab n' Dough

Favorite Color: Emerald Green




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The Incredible Blue Holes of Andros Island . . .

Rainbow Blue Hole

Andros Island, Bahamas is know for many things - great scuba diving, world-class bonefishing, tons of bird species, etc. One of the things we are also known for are the many blue holes we have here! We have both inland and ocean blue holes, and we have hundreds of them. Some are good for diving, including cave diving, some are great for swimming, and many are so tough to get to we'll probably never know very much about them.

Diving the Ocean Blue Hole

At Small Hope we offer many opportunities to see and experience the blue holes of Andros. We have our very popular dive at the Ocean Blue Hole, a.k.a. King Kong's Blue Hole. We offer several specialty dives to inland blue holes to do some cave diving, such as Stargate, or the Guardian. And we also offer our more terrestrial guests tours and trips to inland blue holes like Rainbow, Cousteau's and Captain Bill's Blue Hole.

So many ways to see these incredible geological creations . . . What's your favorite blue hole?
 

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Justin Trudeau, Small Hope's friend . . . oh, and the new Prime Minister of Canada!

We want to formally congratulate Justin Trudeau on his recent election as Prime Minister of Canada! He as his lovely wife Sophie, and their children stayed and dove with us in 2012. 

I recently overheard Jeff Birch (owner/manager of Small Hope) chatting at the bar the other day. He was talking about 2012, a year he got to dive with Pierre-Yves Cousteau (son of the famous Jacques Cousteau) and Justin Trudeau (son of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau). This was very significant for Jeff because both of those men's fathers dove with Jeff's own father, Dick Birch. It's a small world at Small Hope!

Jeff mentioned that there was a headline in the Globe and Mail, as well as major newspapers in Nassau, back in the 60's that read: "Where's Trudeau?!?". Well, we know where Pierre was. He was here at Small Hope with Dick Birch, Joe McGinnis, Bahamian Prime Minister Pindling, and other visiting friends. 

As Jeff is the youngest of the Birch kids he has relied on his older sister Margo's recollections of the visit. They both think Pierre came 4 times, a couple of which were with his wife, Margaret. Margo asserts (though who can know for sure) that Justin was probably conceived in Cabin 17. Jeff says that that would mean that "There is big hope for Small Hope!"

When Justin came with his family in 2012 Jeff says it was like meeting a long lost brother. They had a warm embrace, and he knows that, with his family, there was some soul searching for their future while here. Jeff having been born in Canada knows democracy is one of the greatest ways of governance. He says, "We hope that Justin and Sophie and their family are happy in the unselfish giving of their lives for their great country of Canada, and that Canadians are happy that one of their own can lead them to positive change in a complex world and continue to make my old homeland, Canada, a great nation." Jeff laughs and says, "Maybe Canada can catch up to his new home, the Bahamas."

I personally remember the Trudeau family's visit in 2012 because Justin built the coolest sandcastle I have ever seen on these beaches! See here for that cool story! 

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Our new and improved website . . . .

We have redone our website!

We have redesigned the look and feel of out website, making it more user friendly and more mobile friendly! We made sure we kept all the great information, but made everything more accessible, and streamlined.

Give it look - on all your devices - and let us know what you think!

www.smallhope.com

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Diving with sharks, on Andros, Bahamas

One of our favorite and most popular divers here at Small Hope is our shark dive. At a depth of 50 feet divers can watch Caribbean reef sharks swimming around, feeding on a slow-release "chumsicle". It is a great way for new and experienced divers to overcome any irrational fears they may have about these beautiful and graceful animals.

Check out this video of one of our shark dives!

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DEMA, Harry Potter and coming home . . .

A couple weeks ago I attended DEMA in Orlando, Florida. I went as a representative from Small Hope Bay Lodge to meet some dive groups and take two courses. Overall it was a good show. The courses I took, while long, were very informative and now I am ready to be a ScubaPro service tech for our regulators at the dock, and to do visual inspections on our scuba tanks! Mission accomplished!

I also ran into some old friends, like Jonathan Bird and Camerman Todd, from JonathanBird's Blue World. The show turned out being very fun. At the Bahamas booth we had a tiki bar and happy hour complete with games, prizes, and of course . . . Rum Punch!

Hogwarts!

 

Since I don't get to Orlando very often and happen to be a huge Harry Potter fan, I decided to check out the Wizarding World of Harry Potter inside Universal Studios. It was SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!! I had the best time (geeked out completely!). I went on the rides (one of them 3 times since it was so fun), had a beer at the Hog's Head Pub, lunch at the Three Broomsticks, and even bought a wand at Olivander's. 

For those non-Potter fans or readers, these things probably mean very little. But for me, it was a hoot. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys the books or movies, fun for all ages!

But by this time I had been in the big city (compared to Andros, Bahamas) for almost a whole week. That means traffic, cars everywhere, cable TV, air conditioned rooms, etc. I was really getting anxious to come home - Small Hope, Andros Island, Bahamas. 

I was ready for the only sounds outside my window to be swaying palms and lapping waves of the ocean; a place where I can see tons and tons of stars; and where everyone I talk to is a friend, even if I just met them. 

Landing in Andros

 Flying into Andros Town airport I thought how happy I am to be home! Pin It Now!

Summertime . . . and the living is easy at Small Hope, Andros, Bahamas

This is my FAVORITE time of year here at Small Hope Bay Lodge, Andros Island, Bahamas. The sun shines in the morning. The seas are like glass for the morning dives - so clear that from the boat, I can look down in to 30 feet of water and tell which corals and types of fish are down below. The afternoon brings incredible tropical showers then the day is beautiful and bright once more. And the glorious starry nights are made even more amazing by the lightning shows off on the horizon. The water is between 82 and 84 degrees, perfect for a swim, snorkel or dive, day or night. All in all - Perfect!

Photo by Petter Kaalstad

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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!

Legends of the seas, Mote and Small Hope Bay Lodge

                                                       We recently were honored here at Small Hope Bay Lodge with the arrival of Dr. Eugenie

Genie and Small Hope Asst. Mgr Mike Hornby

Clark, of the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida. Genie Clark is an amazing person with a history of marine research that rivals just about anyone you can think of. She is often referred to as the "Shark Lady" because of her extensive research on many shark species. 


Genie Clark and the Mote group came to Small Hope to study the local species of garden eels here in the Bahamas. Surprisingly, not much information has been gathered on these garden eels and the MOTE group came over a period of 21 days to discover what they could about behavior, territories and mating. 

While the first group was here, Small Hope Divemasters and MOTE researchers developed a "blind", a circular structure made from canvas and PVC with window holes cut at various heights. Research divers would go into the blind to make observations so the eels would not be distracted or disturbed by the presence of the divers. They also set grids made of

Photo by Jann Rosen-Queralt

chopsticks and cotton string at three different dive sites with big sandy areas, known to be garden eel hot spots. Each member of the research team was assigned their own sector within the grid and would observe the eel activity in that area for the duration of the dive, noting any and all activity.

 Check out the video here!

The second group arrived the day after the first group departed and the research and observations continued. Both groups also enjoyed their share of survey dives too, sans research. There were a couple shark dives, cavern dives, wrecks and walls. I got to accompany four divers from the first group on possibly the best dive I have been on since I arrived at Small Hope 2 years ago - 2nd Level of the Blue Hole!

Photo by Jann Rosen-Queralt

 As a member of the Small Hope staff, one of my favorite parts of the experience was listening to the various guests tell me how they first met and got involved with Genie's research. There was Tom and Patrice, two divers who Genie thought would suit each other very well and consequently set them up on a blind date. They stayed at Small Hope three extra days because they were celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary! Anne Doubilet, who has traveled with Genie to so many countries over so many years that she has lost count. Jann Rosen-Queralt, who, several years ago, was just learning to dive and wanted to see whale sharks, when she heard from a friend that Genie just so happened to be doing a trip to Mexico to check out the whale sharks. Mallori, a 15 year-old girl who, having done a couple of book reports on Genie's books, had developed a friendship with her and was subsequently invited on this trip. Everyone that I talked to was so enthralled with Eugenie Clark, enjoyed her presence and her research trips so much, and had learned so much from her, as much in diving as in life experiences. It was truly an honor to host this amazing woman. And to be a part of this important research trip.

Thank you Mote, and thanks Genie!!!!

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Feild trip to Abaco

Last week our fearless leader, Jeff Birch, and Divemaster Fede went to see an old Small Hope friend Brian Kakuk. Brian lives on Abaco and is a world-renowned cave diver and explorer. Brian was coming to Small Hope for a week to do some diving in some of Andros' blue holes and also to have a romantic getaway with his lovely wife Michelle. 

So Fede and Jeff decided to fly Jeff's plane to Abaco and pick Brian up. But while they were there . . . the Abacos of the Bahamas are known for having some of the most beautiful and extensive blue hole cave dives in the world. And neither Jeff or Fede would ever pass up the opportunity for a REALLY cool dive! So the three guys got their equipment and headed to Dan's Cave.

Here is Fede's video of the day . . .

Also check out Brian Kakuk's website for more information about cave diving in the Bahamas! Pin It Now!

Christmas at Small Hope Bay Lodge

Small Hope Bay Lodge is now preparing for our New Year's Eve party and celebrating going in to our 53rd year!!! Can you believe it? 53 years is an incredible feat and we plan on commemorating it with a great party.

We just wrapped up a fantastic Christmas, filled with old and new friends and family. We got to enjoy some exceptionally sunny and warm days and spent the time diving Over the Wall AND a Shark Dive. Other guests took a field trip to Captain Bill's Blue Hole, played some beach football and relaxed on some of our coziest beach hammocks. What could be better than that?

Here is little video of how we spent our Christmas . . . 

And our wonderful Shark Dive . . . 

This will be our last blog of 2012. We send all of you our warmest wishes for the new year. Love from all of us at Small Hope and enjoy your New Year celebration!


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Hawksbill Turtles in the Bahamas

A Great sighting at Small Hope Bay Lodge

The divers at Small Hope Bay Lodge, after a few days of higher then normal winds, woke up Thursday morning to a perfectly calm sea and they knew it was going to be a great day. Giant staircase, a wall dive, was on the docket for the morning. This dive would take the group over the edge to 120 feet to cruise along a beautiful section of the wall, and then bring them back up to the top of the wall at approx 65 feet to hang out exploring the corals for the remainder of the dive.

The dive started off great, after getting down to their maximum depth of 120 feet a couple Caribbean Reef Sharks cruised by to say good morning. Everyone felt great after seeing the sharks and they would have been more then satisfied with that. Little did they know however that another surprise was waiting for them at the top of the wall.

Once they all made it back to 65 feet an extremely curious Hawksbill Turtle was there to greet them. This turtle was not phased at all by the divers and came very close to say hello and give everyone an opportunity to take some great pictures, and in the case of divemaster Dennis some wicked video footage!

Divers Paul and Axel admire the beautiful Hawksbill Turtle

The Hawksbill Turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata is classified as critically endangered on the IUNC (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Redlist of Threatened Species. They are migratory marine reptiles that are found in tropical and subtropical waters. Hawksbill sea turtles, like other marine turtles, have a flattened body shape, a protective carapace or shell and flipper-like arms, adapted for swimming in the open ocean. They are however easily distinguishable from other sea turtles as they have a sharp, curving beak. 

There are many challenges facing this beautiful species, some of which include;

Direct take: both eggs and adults for food, adults for the tortoiseshell trade

Fishing Impacts: accidental capture and entanglement in nets and long lines

Beach Front Development: alters or destroys nesting beach habitat

Pollution: Injestible platics in the ocean are a huge threat. The turtles will either mistake the plastic for food and injest the harmful trash or young turtles will find themselves entangled in the plastic and unable to get out, they will continue to grow around the obstuction causing restrictions and mutations to their shell.    

Hawksbills are also threatened by the loss of coral reef communities which act as their feeding sites.  Ocean conservation has never been more important then it is today. Our oceans are threatened by pollution, climate change, exploitation and development. If we want to continue to have amazing sightings like the one our divers had at Small Hope Bay Lodge  we need to do our part to protect our oceans and coral reef systems. 

Find out how you can help!  

Visit these sites and do your part to protect our seas and those that inhabit them! 

National Geographic 

The Daily Green 

Save The Sea 

Marine Bio 

 

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