Bahamas-Blackbeard Liveaboard

Additional Information

Join Dive Utah for a week in the Bahamas on the Blackbeards live-aboard sailboat.  We’ll explore the remote islands of the Exumas and especially the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, the most pristine area in all the Bahamas.  Most cruises include a shark feeding dive where you can get up close and personal with several different species of shark.  Photographers will find the under water life in the Exumas to be some of the prolific and varied of any coral reef in the world.  Blackbeard has two 65′ sailboats that can hold up to 23 divers and 5 or so staff.  They depart from Nassau and explore the islands to the east, a few hours away.

These sailboats are the perfect way to see the beauty of Bahamas diving and still saving a few dollars on the way.  This is the best value trip you will find.  Having said that-realize you have a bunk with a curtain, not a full blown cabin, right?  Shared bathroom, of course!  Salt water showers, you bet!  Lots of diving at a great price, guarantied!   Meals are served in the galley/gathering area and typically eaten on deck.  You do not have a ton of private space but you will make some great friends and memories over the course of the week.

Our Bahamas trip is the perfect opportunity to complete your  Night, Deep, Underwater Photography or Navigation certifications, all of which can count toward your Master Scuba Diver rating.

What about sharks?

OH YEAH!!  We get to dive with sharks!!  Cruises plan for a shark dive (conditions permitting).  Imagine a dozen or more Caribbean reef sharks cruising around right over your head!  Once the feed is over, we find shark teeth in the sand.  This is will be the dive you won’t forget!  Here is how it works-we tie up at the site and BOOM the sharks start to show up…they hear the boat motor and there is a little Pavlovian response, they know what’s up.  And yes-you can look down and see sharks swimming around under the boat.  And yes-you need to jump in the water with sharks swimming around.  It’s a rush!!  Once everyone is in the water the dive guides lead us to the sand at around 40′ and we create a wide circle around a mooring anchor.  Then another dive guide jumps in with a large frozen ball of fish scraps.  They freeze it around a large metal rod with an eyelet on each end so it can be hooked to a rope from the anchor at the bottom to a flat at the surface.  Thus it is suspended in mid water about 20 ‘ away from us.   And the fun starts!  Over the next 30 minutes or so, sharks will swim in and gnaw on the chum-sickle.  Bits of fish will break off and be swallowed up by other sharks or the tons of other fish that gather in.  As they swim in and out they come right over our heads, sorry kids-we can’t get any closer than this.  As the chum thaws, it will start to break apart until, in one final frenzy of sharks, fish and frozen bits, it EXPLODES and gets devoured in a second!!!  And that’s it, the sharks know when the food is gone and they pretty much melt into the blue.  Then we get to search for shark teeth in the sand around the anchor.

$1095* includes 7 days and 6 nights on Blackbeards with all meals, lodging and diving.  Price does not include airfare, transfers, gear rental (except tanks/weights) tips or port tax and park fees of $205.

*This is the cash/check discount price.  Regular price add 3%.  Price is subject to change.  Deposits may be Non-Refundable and Cancellation Charges may apply.