While nearby Nassau is the most popular area for scuba diving in the Bahamas, this small group of islands due east boasts some of the region's richest reefs. You can expect kilometres of hard and soft coral clouded by schooling fish, and exciting wildlife like turtles and eagle rays on most dives. No matter where you're diving, keep one eye on the blue - larger shark species like tigers and hammerheads make surprise appearances at the reef's edge. Underwater photographers might also want to bring their macro lenses along, as cool critters including jawfish, seahorses, and solar-powered nudibranchs are sometimes spotted in the shallows.

Exumas' canyons, reefs and currents

Nearly every liveaboard in the Bahamas visits the Exumas, and countless divers make the trip from Nassau for a chance to explore the region's stunning canyons and coral reefs. This chain of islands is home to one of the Bahamas' most beloved sites - The Washing Machine, where adventurous divers can ride high-speed swirling currents as they drift over a plateau of corals. Other highlights include some of the Caribbean's most stunning reef formations at The Cathedral and plenty of powerful pelagics - with sharks cruising past on nearly every dive.

Eleuthera's diving highlights

Eleuthera diving is limited to exploring the island's protected west coast, as the east side is far too exposed. And even on the calmest of days, this region is known for its challenging conditions - with high-speed currents ideal for advanced drift divers. Visit sites like Current Cut for heart-pounding flyovers of the region's pristine coral - with no kicking required. Many of the walls around Eleuthera are also home to swim-throughs and caverns, some of which can be explored by qualified divers. Reef sharks show up on almost every dive here but are occasionally joined by larger and more uncommon species like tigers and hammerheads.

Sharks of Cat Island

Cat Island is famous for two things - its seemingly bottomless blue water sites and a seasonal aggregation of oceanic whitetip sharks. Only a few dive centres and liveaboards bring guests to this remote shark observation area, and the season is short - with sightings taking place from March through June and peaking during April and May. During these months, the sharks follow seasonal migrations of tuna, wahoo, and mahi-mahi from the open ocean toward the shoreline of this small cay. Because you might be drifting in a few hundred - or even a few thousand metres of water, perfect neutral buoyancy is absolutely mandatory for dives at Cat Island. You'll also be required to follow strict environmental protocols for the protection of sharks and divers alike.

Scuba diving San Salvador

The small island of San Salvador sits on its own isolated carbonate platform on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, around 80-kilometres east of Cat Island’s southern tip. The island is swept by the Antilles Current before it merges with the Gulf Stream, while its underwater topography consists of rocky, coral-clad outcroppings and vertical walls plunging to depths of more than 4,000-metres. These factors together make San Salvador Island a hotspot for natural shark encounters - particularly between the months of November and May – with Caribbean reef sharks making regular appearances, alongside chance encounters with oceanic whitetips and bull sharks. But, for many divers, the marquee attraction here is the high possibility of spotting hammerheads passing by in the blue.

0 dive resorts in Eleuthera, Exumas and Cat Island, Bahamas

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