Bimini

An island that I have wanted to visit for YEARS. Why? Hammerheads.

Great Hammerheads congregate here every winter (Dec – Feb) and you can dive up close with them. My dream. My favourite shark.

Getting to Bimini was a challenge. You can get a ferry from Florida (there was a direct ferry from Miami until recently, now it departs from Fort Lauderdale). Or you can fly. In a tiny plane.

As I was short on time, didn’t fancy the drive up to Fort Lauderdale and had too much luggage (dive equipment), flying out of Miami seaplane base was easier. But expensive. I even ended up with a totally private plane! Amazing!

I stayed in a bungalow, on the beach. Next to a Caribbean beach shack cafe.

The first day of diving was disappointing. The visibility was so bad. They took us down in groups anyway, we got to stay for around half an hour per group. Not ideal when you’ve spent over $300 for a dive!

The visibility was bad, so I couldn’t see far in front of me. Suddenly a massive eye was right next to me, on the end of its huge hammer, followed by a massive body. They were huge. Much bigger than a typical reef shark, or even a scalloped hammerhead. So cool.

Luckily my second day was much, much better. The visibility had miraculously cleared out, leaving clear blue waters. And all the hammerheads. Nurse sharks. And a few bull sharks!