In my fortunate life I have good opportunities. And
visiting the Underwater Explorer Society in Port Lucaya
on Grand Bahama Island was one of those great pleasures
that I found in life. I went there hoping to get a
glimpse of the venue where the legends of diving will
meet in April of this year. A place where the legends
had met without ceremony repeatedly over the years.
At first glance you can sense the history of this great
place. It is modern, constantly rebuilding to
accommodate the new trends in travel. And to
say the new Pelican Bay Hotel is within walking distance
is like saying a breakfast nook is in a different room than a kitchen.
Everything is arranged for the comfort of the traveler. Never once did
we have to hail a cab to return us to the hotel.
If we lost our way in a rough night at the casino, a friendly staff
member would point in
the direction of our hotel and say, “There it is.” Our directions were
the same for some of the best area restaurants serving Italian, seafood,
or locale cuisine. The same for shopping, “There it is.”
We didn't lose
our way the first night at the After Dark Bar and Grill, a great dish of shrimp
scampi was past the compound and to the left.
At this point
you might have the urge to pull out your
cell phone and announce to the world where you are. We did some
homework on that and have some pointers.
But we went for the diving, so we had to remind ourselves. I love the
ocean, especially when I have the rule of 80s: 80 foot visibility in 80
degree water. While my friends back home were experiencing weather that
included snowflakes, we were on a boat heading to our first dive
location surrounded by blue-green water.
The color of the water was a reminder that
it was healthy and clear. Spending a bad day in a boat on the ocean
under these conditions was better than
spending a good day watching the Michigan Wolverines football team lose.
I’m a Buckeye fan and have fun razzing my sis-in-law.
Guests have access to Taino Beach, named
for the native Indians discovered by
Columbus. Linda, Gwen Wyble, Tom Wyble, and I
walk the
beach for a relaxing day.
You might catch the UNEXSO Dive Masters in one of
their meetings.
For some
great shrimp scampi check out Michael at the After Dark Bar and Grill
Count Basie Square is just outside the
UNEXSO complex. It wasn't quite a Junkanoo on the night we were there, but it
was fun.
Diving the Wrecks and the Reefs
Our first day of diving included a reef dive on the Plates and a dive on the Papa
Doc, named for the “President for Life”, Papa Doc Duvalier. The story I
heard was that the boat was filled with soldiers on a revolutionary
mission in the 70s to overthrow the dictator of Haiti when it sunk off
the coast of Grand Bahama Island.
Such are the stories and I didn’t know how much to believe. So when I
heard that Lion Fish were quickly becoming a delicacy on the island I
realized it was based on common sense. After all, the beautiful fish
were more common than I had ever seen and quickly becoming a nuisance.
But I had to question their use in the soup de jour or served with lemon
on a plate of rice. After all, their spines still provided a venomous
sting.
They were great for my amateur camera lens. They positioned themselves in
different poses and in different locations around Papa Doc. I couldn’t
help thinking the Ministry of Tourism arranged for the stories, and cued
the fish for their camera debut.
Throw in some colorful coral, parrotfish, stingrays, good dive buddies,
Tom’s rule of the 80s, and you have a successful dive. I quickly learned
that the UNEXSO dive masters try their best to ensure you see all there
is. They actually like the ocean and what it has to offer. After all, I
am accustomed to a boat dive where the dive master is there to push you
off the boat in the hope that you return. Our dive
master jumped in the water to dive with us and to point out marine life
we might have missed without him.
With the rule of 80s in place we took a giant stride off the stern and
into the abyss on day three of diving. At 90 feet we found the Sea Star,
a wreck sunk in 2002. The 180 foot metal hull provided plenty of
wildlife including the omnipresent Lion Fish.
They saved the best for last. The Chamber was our second
tank excursion, and what a dive it was. We picked up a
school of Caribbean Reef Shark soon after our plunge. I
took some video at a distance thinking that would be my
last. When we hit our max depth of 45 feet, they were
swarming with regularity. I had to remind myself that
these creatures were potentially dangerous animals,
treat them
with respect and the they were
The ever-present, and possibly Grand
Bahama Island delicacy, Lion Fish.
This Amber Jack is cued for the camera.
And this Reef Shark is just checking me out.
This plaque appears on the Sea Star, sunk
in 90 feet of water.
This Stingray is looking mean and nasty.
as gentle as any other fish in the sea. In time our
enchantment wore off only because there was so much else to see. I caught video
of a 4-foot Amber Jack, following the magnificent fish with my lens and
propulsion of my fins.
I kept my camera on video and another Reef Shark turned
in my direction. With each kick there was more wildlife,
with each turn a new awe- inspiring scene. I flipped the
camera back to still images and picked up a large
stingray buried in the sand. In another turn I noticed
that our dive master Thomas was reaching under a large
rock. He pulled out what appeared to be a Yellow Line
Arrow Crab and proudly held it up for us to see. In
another turn a sea cucumber inched itself along the
floor. In the end I labeled it in my log as my best
dive, “Ever”.
I can also say that any dive I am able to share with my
wife and with good friends such as Tom Wyble of Portage
Quarry is a very freakin good dive. We dove with an
international mix including Switzerland and the United
Kingdom, each one I would consider a friend now. My wife
Linda takes Tom’s rule of the 80s seriously. She only
dives in those conditions.
Land Ho!
But we do share the land excursions together. Within the
hour after our shower we found out that Sands beer was
the choice drink on Grand Bahama Island. It was preferred over Kalik because Sands was brewed on the island. Although
Budweiser and Miller was advertised for the
tourists, we didn’t imbibe in either. We drank on the patio,
two-for-one beer, sharing dive stories and wondering how
many inches of snow actually would stick to the frozen
tundra back home.
We didn’t push our 24 hour limit to fly so our last full day
there Linda and I jumped on a boat and traveled to a
different island location where we would have a swim
with Dolphins, another activity offered by UNEXSO. This
was way cooler than I pre-imagined. They performed
acrobatics as if playing, and allowed us to swim with
them. We learned about these great mammals after our
swim, a fascinating back-scene look at the Dolphin
Experience.
We found Zorba’s for its Greek food and the After Deck
for a quiet little sit-down lunch. Sparky’s was reserved
for more nocturnal feeding and drinking.
Our
land guide couldn't have been much better. Paddy Wildgoose, "Miss
Paddy", was ever so happy to take us on our next adventure. So, our trip to
Simply Native Outback was superb and a trip I highly recommend.
Simply Native was a bit out of the way, but well worth the trip with
Miss Paddy behind the wheel. Her knowledge of the island and warm
conversation shortened the trip. If you go you will do well for yourself
to try the conch fritters or conch salad, just for starters on your main
course.
On
our last night we treated ourselves to Luciano’s, fine
Italian dining. It is located in the second story of a
building overlooking UNEXSO. Disregard the top
menu item of $130 for caviar and you can dine very
reasonably. Linda and I joined our new friends Rosanne Masone and Michael Kresky of New Jersey and Dave
Swindells, a dive visitor from the United Kingdom. At
Luciano's we got a little
silly from the wine, and we were delighted that the waiters
got silly with us.
Looking back it is a wonder how we packed so much into
four days. We even found some extra time to fit in a town square festival,
sipping two-for-one margaritas while catching the street
band. All this was available to us, mostly within view
of UNEXSO and Pelican Bay Hotel. With our initial visit,
I can now prepare and look forward to the Legends of
Diving event
the first week of April.
Article
and (most) photos
by Tom Briggle
(my arm
wasn't long enough
for the group shots)
Linda had a great time with the Dolphin Experience, one of the activities at UNEXSO.
We highly recommend Simply Native Outback. Here we are with Tom and Gwen Wyble, Linda, me, Rosanne Masone,
Michael Kresky, and Keith Cooper, marketing director of UNEXSO.
Keith Cooper display his excitement when talking about the Legends
visiting UNEXSO.
Enjoying Luciano's on our last night is
Michael Kresky, Rosanne Masone, myself, Linda, and
Dave Swindells.
Miss
Paddy introduces the chef and owner of Simply Native Outback.
Parting shot, myself and Tom Wyble. The matching colored shirts were
only a
coincidence, the hats were not.
