Grand Bahamas by Rocky

Dive trip - UNEXO - Grand Bahamas! A super cheap trip (less than $1K complete!)

This adventure started out as an opportunity and ended a real success.

This trip presented the opportunity to acquire my own personal gear. You know, when the going gets tough - the tough go shopping, or as my wife noted - retail therapy!

My local dive shop provided the package and it was great. You know the drill ... diveskin, BC, Regs, Computer etc. Great second stage - never got a dry mouth! No more rentals!!!!

What was interesting was my buddy’s plan ... the less known about the trip the better the adventure!

We used the Grand Bahamas deal and a half! Flew out of RDU and checked in @ 1:00AM for four nights and three days of diving (9-dives included in the package).

You should note ... there were a few hiccups but at the low price and in retrospect they were forgotten.

Thursday I rousted the team and found ourselves at the right place for the 8:00 dive (my 22nd dive) and we tooled out of Freeport to Octopussy's Garden (I think). Water temp 87, for a 73 ft, 43 minute excursion. Of course, I was happy to find the gear worked and we all milled around, saw a southern stingray, barracuda, nice coral heads, fair number of fish etc.

I should note, but maybe not .... oh well, ok... many of UNEXO dive staff hurt our eyes in a good way. Very nice, helpful, and not too bossy though they did crack the whip on errant morons.

We tooled back to port (the most tedious part of a UNEXO diving trip, in and out from port to dive site) and then back to Laura's Wreck (60ft - 53 minutes), though a new wreck, was really fun for us. Under the tug, we found a very large (I think) dog fish and a slightly smaller grouper. We tag teamed them by positioning me at midship keel and Jack at the stern. This was just two much fun, trapped, the fish (probably 3ft+) bounced back and forth between us.

A pretty good rain and rough sea canceled our third dive and we retreated to the "best beer" - you know the one.

Next day (again 8:00) we did Blair House, (59ft - 55 minutes) Nice dive, good coral, really large puffer fish, conch crabs, etc.

Our next dive was a revisit to Octopussy/Laura's (I failed to negotiate a site change) for a "macro look" around (62ft - 56 minutes). Nothing wrong with a close look, in fact I like it a lot because you can see how things work. I did spot an Octopus and because it was my first and it was sitting in a hole, on top of a conch shell I thought it was a muscle ... said to myself “wow is that really how big a conch is”? This was neat to get close to an octopus. The others got to check it out also.

Visibility had started out Thursday at around 50-60 ft and had diminished to around 35-50ft at this point. Strong ESE wind w/3-5ft seas but still manageable.

Next we did Ann's Paradise (70ft - 50 minutes) a nice series of coral heads and shoots. We had a good look around, saw a nice school of yellow fins, barracudas, crabs, shrimps etc.

Friday night we made what I guess is an obligatory visit to the casino. While I found no distractions from my beverage, the others had a lesson on the craps table - the house won!

Saturday, another roust them out, 7:00 start, we did Theo's Wreck (101ft - 32 minutes). This was fun, though the start was a ClusterF. At any rate, we had the best team, Tara, guided us through the hold before the others got off the line, she let us play with a sea cucumber and next vanished in a small hole. I followed her, as the rest did, through the engine room, which, as an exercise was great. We saw several formations of white sponges with some growing up - stalactite like (or is it stalagmite?). Our exit brought us to the prop of this 200+ft freighter where we re-grouped for our ascent and safety stop.

Our next site - Shark Junction / Pretender / SPID? (58ft - 56 minutes) was another nice, long, look around. First thing we saw were several sharks who were just curious. We found a really nice lobster and spent a fair amount of time checking it out. For the most part, other than getting lost (Jack surfaced to get the bearing) we just checked out lots of little stuff.

Our last dive (8 of 9 paid for) we did the Shark Feed (45ft - 51 minutes). Now this was just surreal. The drill is: they brief you, sign more waivers and drop you to the bottom with extra weight. I asked one of the dive masters which spot was best for the show and she said stick by. Well as we descended, I forgot which one I had chosen to stick by and found myself on the left end. The others were dead center of the 16 diver semi-circle.

The Shark Feeding began as a dive staffer arrived with stainless steal chain mail covering as much as could be covered. Right in front of us - maybe 3-6 feet, he began pulling frozen, 12" hearing from a special tube and offering it for general consumption. To be certain, we were not interested, but the 30+ Caribbean Reef Sharks were. I'd guess they ranged from 3ft to maybe 9-10ft. Along with the sharks were hundreds of assorted smaller reef fish, including a large southern stingray, a large 3ft grouper and a grizzled old jack.

The feeder walked around in front of us feeding and occasionally you could here the 'clink' of chain mail being nicked.

There was some much action in the water with fish swimming in a swirl that you could actually feel a current, like an occasional wind.

I had the best old time and found that as I squatted as low as possible (lower than the divers on either side) the sharks would come right at me and pass over my head. Even better, I found that if I did not exhale as they would approach, I could get more to pass by. Now, and to be certain, you should know that I was safe and I found enough time to inhale. I lost count of those close passes, and more than several times I felt the touch of a tail fin as they passed over!

The excitement (unplanned I'm sure) was when the feeder got his arm, up to his elbow, in the mouth of the largest female shark. She took the herring, hand and arm in one gulp! I was close and saw the immediacy "look" of the diver as he was slammed to the sea bed and proceeded to wrestle the shark to remove his arm. I thought for a moment, considering the power, that he could have lost his arm, not by being severed, but by being jerked out of his shoulder! Very exciting and otherworldly.

All in all, the trip was a success. While the accommodations were not great, they worked. The beach was nice and afforded the hoped for chance to read without burning.

I'd say the trip is worth these recommendations:

9 dives are tiring because of the constant site to port travel (but do-able)

Theo's and the Shark Feed are worth a repeat.

Should I go back, I'd arrange for the all day (8-6pm) West/North three tanker (which we did not do, but now know to extra worthy) and on day two - Theo's, a captains choice and the shark feed!

Unexso's staff are friendly and worth a tip.