Wrecks & Sharks – a fantastic finale to our time in The Bahamas
Our final day of diving had arrived, and while we were sad about this, we knew we had an amazing set of dives ahead of us. We were heading out with Stuart Cove’s Dive Bahamas to dive the wreck of the Sea Trader and then to do a shark dive (also on a wreck). The diving around Nassau offers plenty on wrecks, but the Sea Trader is one of the most impressive. Then to finish off with the signature shark dive was to be a real treat.
The Sea Trader has moved over the years and the last hurricane has shoved it so that now the bow hangs over the edge of the wall. It makes her an impressive sight, as she is a big oil tanker that was deliberately sunk by the team from Stuart Cove’s to make an artificial reef, just 5 minutes boat ride from the dive centre. Marine life has now made this structure their home and we were greeted by a large school of batfish as soon as we swam onto the deck.
For those feeling adventurous, this wreck is perfect for penetration and you can visit the engine room safely and with ease. We stayed on the outside for this dive and there was certainly plenty to explore. You can start this dive, at the bow, at about 30m in depth and then slowly rise up to the wheelhouse and up to the very top of the structure for your safety stop, it is perfectly situated. Fingers crossed the next tropical storm does not push it over the edge of the wall!
Our second dive of the day was to be another wreck, the Ray of Hope. This wreck is famous for just one thing – sharks. Stuart Cove’s Dive Bahamas have been doing a shark feed dive here for many years and so a group of sharks can be found in the area, day or night, all year round. We had shark expert, Andrea, on board with us and along with Nacho, they were going to feed the sharks pieces of fish as we watched from the bow of the wreck.
We descended first and got ourselves into position, hanging on the bow of the wreck in a semi-circle, looking in on the wreck. Once we were all sorted, Andrea brought down the bait box. He looked like a sharky pied-piper, with around 20 sharks following behind him as he came towards us. It was very exciting. The sharks then swam in circles around the bow of the wreck, waiting for their chance to grab a piece of food from the feeder.
The sharks get very close and so the dive offers some great photo and video opportunities. Grab a spot in the middle and you will get more of the action, grab a spot at the end of the line, and you can get more shots with clean blue water behind the sharks, rather than lots of bubbles. It is up to you!
Watch our video of the shark dive, shot with a Paralenz Dive Camera below:
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All image, video & text by Frogfish Photography.
