Dolphin and Shark dives at Grand Bahamas

 I was so looking forward to our annual Miss Scuba Ultimate Girls Getaway. This year was the year of changes for me. It made me dizzy. I needed some time to reorient my inner compass and figure out where I am heading.

Grand Bahama island is only a short flight away from the United States, but it is a different enough world to get away from reality. All twelve girls flu in to Freeport at different times. Some I knew from home, while others we first met the next morning at yoga practice by the pool in the harbor.

We breath in the crispiness of the early hour and filled our mind with the colors of the wakening sun. Something was empowering and strengthening about sharing yoga with ones girlfriends. Everybody checked their egos at the gate. We shared our energy.

I wore the same beat up top for practice I always seemed to pick out from my closet at home as well from dozens of newer workout clothes. The old, once dark blue faded to off-white and had several small holes on it. Yet it comforted me like no other piece of designer outfit ever did. We shared history. We sweat together in Indonesia, Europe and last year’s ultimate girls getaway in Mexico. I felt the same about my girlfriends whom I conquered many oceans with. Their presence calmed me. Over the years we shared laughs and tears. We swapped bathing suits and jeans. We enjoyed being pampered flying first class together and we got stranded in tucked away places where no one spoke English. We went through brake ups and make ups. We helped each-other move and paint. We walked dogs together in sweats and combed one another’s hair before slipping into glamorous dresses before award ceremonies. Our sisterhood can only be understood by women.

Day 1: Warming Up

Our first dive itself was very uneventful. I did not see much that excited me. I just returned from an amazing journey to Papua New Guinea the week before, where pigmy seahorses, ghost pipefish and other crazy colorful creatures posed for my camera. After a while I did not even look at the reef, started to study the enjoyment, curiosity and peace on my girlfriends' faces. When Eo saw a shark, she swam quickly (before she took any pictures of it) to get Mariann's attention, to share the treasure. Lisa was poking around looking for stuff, clicking her camera away. She took a picture of every girl and every critter. Julia sat back, floated slightly above our group and kept her eyes moving from one girl to another, like a worrisome hem; but than again. That is what she always does. Keeps us safe and out of trouble. Sally, our oldest diver (68) is the one with the most childish heart. She hovered around like a butterfly; she is curious to see everything and easy to please. She has the least dive experience amongst us. The happiness that the pair of butterfly fish swimming by caused her, was priceless. I was happy to share the ocean, another day and another dive with my girlfriends.

Day 2: Shark Diving

I love nothing more than sharks when it comes to marine life. Just the possibility of swimming with them excited me to the point where I did not need a wake-up call. I was ready to go as soon as the sun came up.

When I found out that not only can I watch them, but to partake in a shark feeder course, I was happier than any Christmas mornings.

Cristina Zenato is an Italian girl who self-taught herself about sharks and interacting with them. Today, she is one of the internationally respected, leading experts in tonic immobility (shark hypnosis).

To avoid task loading, I left my camera onboard the boat. Boy, was I happy…

After having done about 5000 dives in every possible condition (caves, ice, sharks, low-visibility lakes, in thunderstorms, mountains, treasure hunts), I felt pretty confident about the close proximity of these wild creatures.

Nothing prepared me to the adrenalin rush that filled my body and mind the moment twenty-some sharks with sharp teeth circled around us. It was unbelievable. That moment was exhilarating and scary at the same time. I would compare it to the feeling before jumping out of an airplane for the first time with a parachute.

The petting and kissing of the sharks was quite all right with me, but the moment we started feeding them and they smelled the blood, things changed. They swam faster, became a bit pushy and expected to get fish.  I’ve got bit four times as my technique was not as smooth as Cristina’s. She said not to pull my hand back, but when the sharks approached with open mouth to take the fish, I could not stop my instincts. The sharks got confused about the absence of their food, so bit the nearest thing hoping it was it. Well, it was my arm. Luckily, in a chain suit. It did not really hurt, neither did it give me bruises later.

The second dive I opted out from the feeding and took pictures instead. I felt way more comfortable and took some amazing shots.

Somebody once told me that life should not be measured by the breaths we take, but rather by the moments our breath is taken away. Surely, this shark diving experience was one of the most breath taking things I have ever done.

Day 3: Cavern Diving

It was a pretty hot day, so the coolness of the jungle and the caves was refreshing and welcome. We explored Ben’s Cavern and Mermaid’s Layers. Both were nicely decorated with stalactites and stalagmites.

My (by this time) girlfriend, Cristina is passionate about caves just as much as she is about sharks. Living on Grand Bahama seems to be the perfect life for her.

Our dive turned out extra special for her, because she discovered the remaining of a creature (I promised not to tell what it was) never before found in the caves of Grand Bahama.  

At the evening we chilled in the Dive Bar and looked over our photos and videos of the past days.

Day 4: Dolphin Experience

I’ve swam with dolphins before, but never scuba dove. In Cocos island I saw a few from up-close underwater, but didn’t really get a chance to play with them.

Two dolphins came out from the lagoon to the open ocean with their trainers. I jumped into the water the moment the boat engine stopped. I couldn’t wait for the others to get ready. I was super excited.

I spent about five minutes swimming with them before the others appeared. It seemed they longed for human attention, they wanted to interact with me. For minutes, there was nobody else in the water, just us.

Once everybody settled at the bottom, the trainers directed them to perform behaviors such as coming around for a pet and a kiss. I liked the “screwdriver” the most. I hovered with spread arms and the dolphin with her nose turned me around and around at an amazing speed.

My favorite part was swimming with them. I put my hand on one’s side and the dolphin adopted to my speed. We moved together as one. I was truly becoming one with Nature and blocking everybody else out of my world.

Day 5: Wreck and Reef Dives

After the previous days of adventures, today’s diving was somewhat uneventful. I mean, it was a cool wreck and all, but no jumping dolphins or speedy sharks.  

Day 6: Chilling and Exploring Grand Bahama

Day 7: Heading Home (I slept through most of it)

Being surrounded by these charismatic women while my dive vacation in the Bahamas had an energizing and a calming effect on me at the same time. After I returned home, the memory and lessons learned during our stay will be with me for a very long while.

This trip made some of my long time dreams come true. It is an absolute MUST DO.

Written by Szilvia Gogh