Tag Archives: wildlife

Snorkeling in Thunderball Grotto

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By Kevin

While in the Staniel Cay area we twice went snorkeling at Thunderball Grotto. The grotto was made famous when it was used as a location set in the James Bond film, “Thunderball,” with Sean Connery (the best Bond until Daniel Craig came along, of course).

The grotto itself is a short dinghy ride from the Staniel Cay Yacht Club docks or from Big Majors Spot. There is even a small mooring ball at the entrance.

Fortunately, the underwater cave was accessible to us without swimming underwater as both times we were there during the lower tides of the day. Otherwise, to get inside the grotto we would have had to swim about 15 yards underwater.

Snorkeling at Warderick Wells

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By Kevin

About ten years ago a cruising sailboat sunk while on its mooring ball at Warderick Wells. The story I heard was that the couple living on the boat left their generator running while they went to dinner on another nearby boat. A fire broke out while the generator was running unattended and they lost the boat. Here is a picture of that boat still sitting in 30 feet of water.  

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One thing I’ve noticed through the snorkeling that we are doing is that underwater life will claim anything that sinks to the ocean floor. Whether it is a boat, a 50 gallon drum, or anything else, once it has been sitting on the bottom for a few months, nature takes up roost and plants and fish begin to occupy the new artificial reef.

Warderick has some of the best snorkeling we’ve experienced. The fact that it is a zero-tolerance protected area shows in the number of different wildlife species that are present. And the sheer quantity.

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Allens Cay Lobstering

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By Kevin

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Patrick and Gilles are two French Canadians we met in Allens Cay. Patrick is also on a one year sailing trip with his wife and two children. Gilles is retired and has made numerous trips down from Quebec to The Bahamas and he is an experienced lobster hunter.

Fortunately, they took me under their wings and showed me how to find and catch the plentiful Bahamian lobsters. They hide in rocky areas, usually within little cutouts or holes in the rocks, ten or twenty feet deep. Or, even much deeper but that is about the limit of what you can dive down to in snorkel gear.