Shark diving in the Bahamas is a once in a lifetime experience and offers some of the best scuba diving in the Caribbean. Swim with sharks in the Bahamas and get close to these magnificent creatures.
Written by Elise from What The Fab
One adventure travel experience that needs to be on your bucket list is diving with sharks in the Bahamas!
It’s hard to think of anything more exhilarating than being in the water with these graceful creatures, watching as they circle around and occasionally get just a little bit too close for comfort.
Read also: Best Trips for your Adventure Vacations.
The Bahamas have many sharks that call this area home, including tiger sharks, nurse sharks, lemon sharks, hammerheads, and even occasionally great whites.
However, the shark you’ll most likely see the most on an organized shark dive tour is the Caribbean reef shark.
There are several different ways to go shark diving in the Bahamas. You can do a snorkeling or scuba shark dive tour, where experienced guides will take thrill-seekers out to where they know wild sharks hang out.
Usually, for these types of adventure shark dive trips, the guides have a specific location in mind, and they will throw a box of fish chum into the water.
The sharks will smell the fish chum and will quickly start to circle it. However, because the fish are in the box, the sharks won’t be able to eat, which will avoid creating a feeding frenzy.
You’ll be given clear instructions on how to enter the water (always keep your fins on so your feet don’t look like tempting fish, and never thrash around in the water) and how long you can stay in the water.
By going on an adventure tour like this, you’ll get a close-up look at these magnificent and misunderstood creatures.
When choosing a dive tour company to go out shark diving with, be sure to do your research!
First of all, you’ll, of course, want to make sure the company has good reviews on sites like TripAdvisor (that means others have lived to tell the tale!).
Secondly, different dive tours might specialize in finding different types of sharks. You don’t want to go out thinking you’ll see some four-foot-long Caribbean reef sharks and then realize you’re actually going to be diving with 10-foot tiger sharks!
Another way to dive with sharks is to go on your own snorkel or scuba dive! In any good snorkeling area with a lot of reef and sea life, it’s very common to see different types of sharks in the Bahamas.
While it might be alarming at first to see these creatures out in the open water, they are usually just minding their own business and swim right on past you.
The best advice here is always to keep your head on a swivel—look not just around you but also behind you so that you’re always aware of your surroundings. You wouldn’t want to miss the excitement of seeing a shark!
A few tips for diving in the Bahamas in general: Diving is great in the Bahamas year-round.
July is usually the warmest time of year, but even from March to December, the average temperature is above 80 degrees F. January is the coldest month, with temperatures in the 70s (still nice!).
The Bahamas is known for its crystal clear water, with visibility for diving at usually 80 – 100 feet.
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Tim Kroeger, founder of Universal Traveller, leverages extensive experience in luxury travel and tourism to offer firsthand insights into emerging hospitality trends.
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