Beginner Diving in the Bahamas

The Bahamas and its history have intrigued intrepid travellers for centuries. Often cited as being Christopher Columbus’ first landfall in the New World, the Bahamas has since become one of the world’s premier holiday destinations. Boasting more than 3,000 islands, cays and islets bathed in year-round sunshine, the Bahamas is also a divers’ paradise: sharks, shipwrecks and shallow seas allow for exciting and memorable dives for both the experienced diver and the beginner. Diving in the Bahamas allows you to swim with a shiver of sharks, explore film-set wrecks and spend a surface interval swimming with pigs...

The beginner diving in the Bahamas is some of the most thrilling in the world and allows you to pad out your logbook in the company of tiger sharks, hammerheads, dolphins and turtles. Our team of dive specialists loves island-hopping through the Bahamian archipelago, diving its shallow wrecks and reefs and lazing on its white-sand beaches. Allow us to tailor your perfect beginner diving itinerary to dive James Bond film sets and shallow shark-feed sites in crystal-clear, warm waters.

New Providence

New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas and is home to more than 70% of the island nation's population. It's also home to some of the best shallow wreck diving in the world. From the western tip of the island, beginners can dive with 'movie stars': the RAF Vulcan bomber wreck that featured alongside Sean Connery in Thunderball; the Tears of Allah shipwreck, which featured in the 1983 film Never Say Never Again; and the Cessna plane wreck that appeared in Jaws IV. The waters surrounding the island are also patrolled by large numbers of Caribbean reef sharks, and newer divers can also enjoy the company of up to 30 of these beautiful predators on a controlled shark feeding dive in calm conditions and clear waters.

Exumas

A short hop to the south of New Providence is the northern tip of a group of islands called the Exumas, regularly referred to as the most beautiful islands in the Bahamas. Within this chain of islands, Fowl Cay is an ideal base to discover the Exumas' best dive spots, and some of the best beginner diving in the Bahamas. Diving here gives you the opportunity to enjoy unique experiences, and a stay on Fowl Cay is no different. Neighbouring Big Major Cay is home to the famous swimming pigs at Pig Beach, and Sean Connery and friends schlepped their cameras to the Exumas to film further scenes at Thunderball Grotto.

Grand Bahama

Grand Bahama is the northernmost of the islands of the Bahamas and lies a little over 50 miles east of Miami. The island is famed for its clear waters and big sharks and is home to a beach unlike any other in the world. Tiger Beach lies eight metres below the surface and was named after its awe-inspiring resident tiger sharks. It offers a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience for divers of all levels as you stay on the shallow, sandy bottom as experienced shark feeders entice the tigers in for lunch. Whether you are experienced or a beginner, diving in the Bahamas can certainly get the heart racing, and Grand Bahama is no exception.