It was difficult to get out of bed with the soft pillows cradling my head, but the sun beckoned me to get dressed and begin my day. We started with a breakfast in the Port Lucaya marketplace at Zorba’s consisting of coconut French toast and a Bahamian breakfast.
We then went on the hunt for a good dive package. We walked over to the well-known Unexso dive shop to inquire of their offerings, but they only had a single dive available. We searched further and found Caribbean Divers, who had a two dive trip scheduled for the afternoon. Perfect.
The owner, Presley, a friendly diving veteran of 30 years picked us up in his van from the Grand Lucayan. Their operation and boat was located behind the Bell Channel Inn. We got our equipment from a small shack and tested it, before boarding a small dive boat with 3 other divers.
A ten minute ride later we arrived at the first dive site named Tunnel West. Before we even entered the water, we could see the fish and sharks swimming below. The visibility was incredible.
We plopped into the water and descended to a 65 ft deep seascape of sand and reef walls. Jerry, our leader, took us with schools of yellowtail snapper on a beautiful tour through the reef valleys and tunnels. In the cavernous areas where there was little current, the fish were completely still and seemed to be frozen in place!
Our second dive was at Shark Junction, where we witnessed shark feeding near a shipwreck. A diver in a full chainmail suit fed around 10 hungry sharks encircling him. I took some pictures while the sharks swam around us. These reef sharks are not dangerous per se, but an accidental bite from a hungry 8 ft shark would not be pleasant.
When we surfaced a storm was in full force, so we hurried on the boat and back to the marina. The lightning was intense.
As it was rainy we headed back to the hotel to relax indoors with a nice warm cup of coffee.
Our stomachs were grumbling as we hadn’t eaten lunch, so when the rain passed we headed to Dive In Restaurant and Bar for dinner.
We went back to the marketplace square to have some drinks and soak in the atmosphere.
Rum Runners was our chosen watering hole where we met a group of Sri Lankan containership sailors. We surprised them by talking about our recent trip to Sri Lanka.
The night progressed with group dancing to classics like the Macarena, the electric slide and some new songs that the young ones were familiar with. I smiled as I watched a Congo line form composed of tourists, locals, and immigrants, laughing and dancing the night away.
We decided to head to the Treasure Bay Casino at the Grand Lucayan to try our luck. Though the gaming floor was small, there were several table games available. We played Blackjack and once we were comfortable with our generous donation, bid farewell to our diligent dealer.
This concluded our second day in the Bahamas.
On day 3, we will explore the Grand Lucayan property and the Lucayan National Park!