Grand Bahama Island is located about 55 miles east of the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami coastal area—a short 20 minute jet ride away. It is 96 miles long and 17 miles wide, with light rainfall and low humidity. Grand Bahama Island offers year-round pristine diving. Composed primarily of limestone, there are a plenitude of underground fresh water caves and several underground rivers, white sandy beaches, and magnificent coral reefs. Scenic rocky headlands shelter protected bays. The abundance of land-based brilliant tropical vegetation changes at the waterline to underwater, colorful sponges, coral, fans, and multicolored critters.

When not exploring the magical underwater world with UNEXSO, there are dozens of ways you can enjoy your surface intervals–shop in the world-class International Bazaar, windsurf, sail, jet ski, tennis, kayak, golf, gamble, dine, relax to good music, horseback ride along a deserted beach, and much more in your island paradise.

Diving! Divers and underwater photographers fin along in awe over Grand Bahamas' protected and lavish coral reefs with surge channels, coral heads, blue holes, caves, overhangs, crevices, ravines, arches, swim-throughs and caverns! Colorful and abundant variety of tropical fish, blatantly parading themselves in front of the dynamic, colorful coral, gorgonian, and sponge backdrop allure you ever onward through crystal clear water.

Get close up and personal with angel fish, blue chromis, trumpet fish, spotted eagle rays, stingrays, nurse sharks, turtles, Caribbean reef sharks, moray eels, and perhaps an occasional exotic visitor sailing along the Continental Shelf. They seductively beckon to you, competing to pose au naturel for you or your camera!

Protected by an active mooring program these sites are healthy and alive. See below for a description of each. For over 35 years UNEXSO has been a leading, positive influence in this area's reef ecology. Their dedicated efforts are obvious from the results.

The dive sites are all about a 15-minute boat ride away. These large, comfortable boats and short rides make it easy to make one dive per trip with no rushing to get back for a second 2-tank trip. Much lower stress levels all around—time to become more at one with the sea, sun, air, magical underwater environment and surrounding life forces.

Weather & Water Year round air temperature averages—70–80 deg.F. with lows ~60 deg.F. and highs ~90 deg.F. Water temperature ranges between 74 deg.F. to 86 deg. F. Visibility runs between 70 to 120 feet, and is usually around 90 feet.

Price Validity All Package Prices are subject to change without notice, unless Paid-In-Full. Changes may be required in the event of increases or decreases in the cost of services imposed by hotels, dive operators, air carriers (if included in package), or other contractors.

• Fishfarm—Located on the eastern end of the Bell Channel reef, this is a deeper of the shallow sites. There are always large schools of fish around the mooring line. Schools of yellowtail goatfish mixed with mahogany snappers, and varieties of grunts inhabit the area. Congregations of squirrel fish group themselves under elkhorn coral stands.
• Treasure Reef—This site received its name in the mid-sixties when four young men stumbled onto an old Spanish wreck that contained several thousand silver coins. These coins recovered from this area have been estimated to be worth about three million dollars. Today, schools of blue, striped, black and French grunts are prevalent. Wide, white sandy surge channels have formed between the overhangs of elkhorn, brain and star corals.
• Pillar Castle—Named for its large stands of pillar coral, one on a finger of reef just north of the main reef area, another, directly across from the mooring. The south end is hollow, forming a cavern that is usually filled with fish in the late summer—silversides, sometimes glass eyed sweepers or hatchetfish. Occasionally, it can be the lair of a large green moray eel.
• Roundabout—Formed by many varieties of coral, it is possible to swim completely around the reef, hence its name "Roundabout." Porcupine fish are often spotted lurking under the coral overhangs.
• Rainbow Reef—North of the mooring there is a broken bottom with two stands of pillar coral. Hovering over this area are schools of yellowtail goatfish, grunts and sergeant majors. There are mountainous star coral surrounded by a stand of elkhorn coral. Schools of silversides occupy the cave formed under the coral.
• Sea Hunt—Portions of the television series Sea Hunt were filmed here. West of the mooring, there is a large isolated star coral that hosts sea fans and other soft corals. Blue headed wrasse, blue and grey cromis, and sergeant majors swim above the coral head. You may see a dark male sergeant major guarding a patch of purple eggs. The eggs are either attached under the overhang or on the hard bottom below.
• Blackbeard's—As you go south on this site you will find high profile elkhorn coral, sea fans and soft gorgonians. Moving around these corals, you will see pairs of four-eyed and banded butterfly fish. Keep your eye out for spiny lobsters who may be hiding underneath the ledges during the day.
• Blackbeard's Castle—This mooring is set in 12–15 feet of water. Northeast of the mooring line is an enormous pillar coral. As you head south you will find high profile staghorn and elkhorn coral with doe-eyed grunts hiding in their branches. Look carefully and you can probably spot nocturnal squirrel fish hiding under the ledges.
• Blackbeard's Springs—This is a very pretty site on the eastern end of a large stretch of coral. At the mooring there is a blue hole that is about one foot in diameter. This hole will either be blowing or sucking depending on tidal movement. At the eastern end of the reef you can normally find large schools of grunts, snappers or perhaps some Bermuda chub.

• Pretender Wreck—This wreck is a 45' tugboat that lies upside-down between isolated coral heads. Bits and pieces of a small cabin cruiser are scattered on the bottom near the tug. Stingrays and garden eels are usually spotted on the sand.
• SPID City—SPID is an acronym for the Self-contained, Portable, Inflatable Dwelling that was once used for short term habitation experiments in the mid-to-late '70s. A twin engine Aztec aircraft, once used in the Sea Hunt series, is nestled on the sandy bottom. Large schools of blue parrot fish are often seen grazing on the bottom. As you head south, the coral will become solid with surge channels running through it. This site is very close to the location of UNEXSO's shark dive, so you may see one or two Caribbean reef sharks passing through.
• Angels' Camp—At the mooring pin you will find sections of high profile corals running from east to west. Running parallel to this first line, you will find another row of very pretty coral heads. Queen, grey and French angel fish are often encountered in the area.
• Papa Doc Wreck—A group of mercenaries headed to fight in the Haitian revolution to overthrow François "Papa Doc" Duvalier made it no further than this spot. Their 70-foot boat sunk in a storm in 1968. As recently as ten years ago, ammunition clips could still be found scattered among the coral heads. Two engine blocks and assorted sections of the old shrimper are still visible.
• Octopussy Garden—East of this mooring, there are large and very pretty isolated coral heads surrounded by sand. On the east side of the main reef, there is a blue hole under a dome of brain coral. This hole is home for lobsters and a green moray eel.
• Arrow Point—The coral heads at this site form a rough triangle, hence the name. You can see a bit of everything here; sandy bottom at the blue hole, scattered coral heads to the east and a more solid reef to the west and southwest. A blue hole, eel garden and stingrays are some of the highlights.
• Picasso's Gallery—Here you find a pretty string of coral heads on a sandy plateau that should be visited as pieces of art in a gallery. On one isolated head, there are star corals of three different colors. Take your time to examine the individual coral heads as you can often find arrow crabs or red banded coral shrimp in their nooks and crannies. Further south, the scattered coral heads become a more solid fringing reef.
• Ugly Duckling Wreck—The last addition to UNEXSO's artificial reef program is a 35-foot steel-hull sailboat named "Josephine." Surrounded by very pretty coral heads, the wreck has already attracted porkfish, schoolmaster snappers and a large mutton snapper.
• Reef Caribe—This site features three lines of isolated coral heads running parallel to one another. It is an excellent site for macro photography. Look carefully for tiny Christmas tree worms and feather dusters. The tops of the heads are covered with assorted gorgonia and sea fans. Hogfish seem to frequent the area as well as stingrays with their ever present jack escorts.
• East Reef Caribe—Northwest of the mooring is a coral head with a pinnacle-shaped star coral. At its base is a small blue hole that blows and sucks with high and low tides. Lobsters or spider crabs may be in the hole. Stingrays frequent a nearby large sandy area.
• Ben's Blue Hole—At this site is a horseshoe-shaped ledge with several coral heads growing on the lip. This ledge is a blue hole and part of a large fracture that runs east from the mooring line. By following the fracture over two coral heads, you will find another small blue hole behind the second coral head. Very often you will find jacks, schoolmasters, dog snappers, porkfish and schools of creole wrasse by these holes.
• Anchors Aweigh—A parallel string of scattered coral heads lies next to a line of solid coral. A blue hole marked by star coral is in one of the several surge channels. Cleaning stations, stingrays and grey and French angel fish are often spotted.
• Etheridge Wreck—Once a car ferry operating in the Carolinas, this vessel was featured in the movie Halloween. Sunk in early 1992 in an area of scattered coral heads, schools of silversides, shad, schoolmaster snappers and grouper make their home in and under the wreck.
• Rose Garden—This site features long lines of solid coral separated by surge channels. On the top of one row of coral is a blue hole that shoots straight up. Schools of white grunts, Bermuda chubs, and black trigger fish inhabit the area around the blue hole.
• West Ann's Paradise—Very similar to Rose Garden, but with a much higher reef profile, deep sandy surge channels mark the area. Looking closely at the coral rubble in the channels you might see several species of gobies, bridled, palled and goldspotted. Pairs of white spotted file fish are usually seen.
• Ann's Paradise—Ann was a school teacher who spent many weekends diving with UNEXSO. This site was Ann's favorite. It's a very pretty site with several large, tall coral pinnacles situated on the top of the coral ridges. Porkfish and yellowtail snappers are frequently seen.
• East Ann's Paradise—At this mooring you will find scattered coral heads with several small garden eel colonies in the sandy area between the heads. A fiberglass yacht, which was on its way to Abaco, sank here when it ran up on the shallow reef. The boat was then repositioned so that it now sits in the solid coral to the south of the mooring.

• Theo's Wreck—Sunk by UNEXSO in 1982, Theo's was a 228-foot cement hauler. She lies on her port side at 100 feet, adjacent to the continental shelf. The dive includes two penetrations—the engine room and the cargo hold. A giant green moray plus a few spotted eels sometimes reside in the wreck.
• Jose's Wreck—Balanced between two separate coral heads, this 40-foot tugboat allows divers to swim under the hull. Lobsters and crabs can occasionally be seen hiding in the crevices between the wreck and the reef. In the winter, congregations of tiger groupers are in the vicinity.
• Moray Manor 1—Schools of grunts and yellowtail goatfish haunt the surge channel throughout the corals. A big black coral bush is on the deep side of the reef. In the spring, loggerhead turtles are often spotted here.
• Moray Manor 2—Once used as a dumping ground for truck tires, the oversized circles can still be seen in the surge channels. Occasionally, a large green moray eel is sighted.
• Edge of the Ledge—The mooring is set at 100' on a sandy bottom. To the south you will see the slope of the continental shelf that drops off dramatically. Following the ledge, you will see small scattered coral heads. Keep an eye out for hammerhead sharks, eagle and manta rays that may be cruising by the ledge.
• Caves 1—Sharks and spotted eagle rays are frequently seen here. There is a coral cavern that passes through the reef for about 100 feet. The cavern is inhabited by soldier and squirrel fish.
• Caves 2—It is possible to swim through this smaller circular cavern. In the summer it is filled with silversides. Schools of horse-eyed jacks hover above the reef and, occasionally, spotted eagle rays are seen here.
• Gale's Grotto—At the mooring you will find solid coral with surge channels that gradually slope off to a depth of 80–90 feet. This site is close to where UNEXSO does their shark feeding, so it is possible to see a shark or two swimming by.
• Littlehale's Lair—Named for the National Geographic photographer, Bates Littlehale, this site has two lairs (small caves) created by the coral growing over the surge channels. It is possible to swim through the most westerly of these two lairs. The area is loaded with white, French and blue striped grunts.
• Plate Reef—Many varieties of hard coral have formed here. Many plate coral overlap above the surge channels. The blue hole here is quite large and comes right out of the side of a high profile coral. Mahogany and yellowtail snappers, goatfish, and French grunts are usually seen.
• Pygmy Caves—The high profile corals here form small caves. One would have to be as small as a pygmy to swim through them! Quite often, lobsters or spotted morays are hiding in these small crevices. Here you will also see lapping plates of hard coral. Frequently, schools of spadefish float near the surface.
• Lady of Lucaya—Next to the mooring is a large swim-through which is sometimes filled with silversides, especially during the summer months. Just east of the mooring on the other side of the opening is a winged statue that guards the entrance of the swim-through.
• Lucayan Ridge—There is a ridge of coral that runs east to west with the medium reef on one side, the deep reef on the other. The ridge is riddled with blue holes; two are quite large. Lots of fish, as they like to hang out at the openings of blue holes.
• Blair House 1—Plate and deep water staghorn coral adorn the area. There are numerable swim-throughs at this site that can be full of silversides during the summer months. Dramatic deep channels house blue tangs, eels and schools of grunts.
• Blair House 2—The most eastern of UNEXSO's scheduled dive sites, you will find an outstanding diversity of hard and soft corals here. Very close to the mooring you will find a small swim-through. Big-eyed squirrel fish, French angelfish and glassy-eyed snappers populate the region.