MARSH
HARBOUR
My first stop in the Abacos during
my "Bahamas Odyssey" was to Marsh Harbour on
the island of Great Abaco. The local magazine
Abaco Life describes Marsh Harbour as "Abaco's
largest city" a commercial hub with banks,
supermarkets, dozens of shops, stores, travel
agents, bakeries, restaurants, marinas and
every service you'll ever need. But there are
few street signs, no house numbers, and only
one traffic light!" Stuart Cove flew me from
Nassau to Marsh Harbour in his twin-engine
Beechcraft (private airplanes are a very popular
and efficient means of inter-island transit
in the Bahamas). There to meet us at the airport
was Keith Rogers, owner of Dive Abaco.
Keith drove me a few minutes into town, and immediately
I could see what he meant in the Dive Abaco brochure
copy that reads "Marsh Harbour, although the
third largest city in the Bahamas, is a small
quiet community with only one traffic light!
(It seems this one traffic light is a significant
source of pride for Great Abaconians) Virtually
everything is within walking distance! Leave
your fancy duds at home — dress is casual — even
in the finest restaurants". Indeed, dress was
casual and the atmosphere friendly as we stopped
in for a beer at the Conch Inn, just a few steps
away from the Dive Abaco shop and dive boat dock.
Obviously everyone in the business community
knows everyone else, so with Keith making the
introductions we downed a few Kaliks with a local
banker and hotelier. Then, located just a few
more steps across the street, I checked into
a very pleasant inn called The Lofty Fig.
Keith offers a few different dive/lodging packages,
but this quaint villa offered the convenience
of proximity, as well as the comfort of air-conditioning,
television, and a kitchenette perfect for wake-me-up
coffee and breakfast in the morning.
Dive Abaco - Keith is a friendly and very knowledgeable dive
operator who takes extreme pride in showing his guests the best of the
local dive opportunities. Dive Abaco specializes in small groups of divers,
with a high level of personal attention to guided dives and instruction.
The dive boats include a 28-foot Delta V-hull for no more than 10 passengers,
and a 30-foot Island Hopper able to accommodate up to 16 passengers.
Both boats are comfortably equipped with tank ranks, dive platforms with
extended ladders, VHF radio, and diver safety considerations like DAN
oxygen kits. The dive shop is conveniently situated in the Conch Inn/Moorings
marina and offers a small retail area with an excellent selection of
souvenir T-shirts and a modest supply of dive accessories. In addition,
there is the behind-the-scenes hardware that make a dive shop successful,
including a pair of Bauer air compressors (10 CFM and 19 CFM).
Dive Abaco specializes in referral certifications, open water certifications,
and specialty instruction, but clearly the prime emphasis is on
dive tours. Diving is what Keith Rogers is all about, and he obviously
enjoys escorting his guests to his very favorite dive sites. He
is a totally hands-on operator who offers his guests an ongoing
buoyancy control workshop in a very soft, unobtrusive manner. Underwater,
he is either showing off the best of the dive sites or recording
the scene on high high-tech digital camcorder.
Most of the diving is relatively shallow and quite hassle-free
along the world's third largest barrier reef. Much of the reef
formation is massive colonies of mountainous star coral, often
riddled with very impressive caverns and swim-throughs, but there
are also pristine elkhorn forests and isolated hard corals of
all description. The extraordinary water clarity and the fact
that so much of the reef rises to within a few feet of the surface
makes this an ideal destination for both scuba divers and snorkelers.
Our diving was done within the protected waters of the Fowl
Cays Undersea Preserve, and the first site we visited was
known as the Edge. A giant stride off the swim-platform
dropped us in just 15 feet of water, but a short swim to seaward
and we were descending a mini-wall that dropped us to 55 feet.
Here is a prime cruising ground for pelagics such as Caribbean
reef shark, eagle ray, and turtles. We saw a couple of sharks
and several southern stingray, but our best shark sighting
came later this day on a site simply called the Shark Dive.
Here, along a sand bottom in 50 feet of water, Keith has begun
an impressive shark feed. Typically 6 to 12 Caribbean reef sharks
show up, attracted to a small chumsickle (a frozen aggregate
of fish heads and miscellaneous detritus from local anglers)
tethered to the bottom. The divers usually kneel in a semi-circle
along the bottom, but are free to swim around if they prefer.
The underwater photographers and videographers especially seem
to enjoy the low-key approach of this shark feed and the close
access they are permitted.
We did yet another dive this morning to a site known simply as Barracuda.
The depth was only about 18 feet, and the coral was not as dense
or impressive as at some of the other sites, but there was one
of the tamest, most friendly barracudas I have ever had the pleasure
of photographing þ anywhere. I suppose he has a name, but
I didn't catch it. What I did catch was the chance to shoot roll
after roll of close in-my-face portraits of this remarkable critter.
Obviously someone has been feeding this fish, but we didn't. And
as a result, there was no silt in the water from bait yet the fish
allowed extreme proximity. I was filling the frame with my full-frame
fisheye lenses with a 4-foot fish from just inches away. Actually
this fish is great fun. Hopefully the no hook and line rules of
the Fowl Cays Undersea Preserve will allow this fascinating marine
life encounter to continue.
At Wayne's World we found a particularly photogenic
high profile pinnacle rising from the seafloor at 70 feet to
just 15 feet below the surface. VERY impressive. Oddly, there
was no tunnel or swim-through here, but most of the other large
coral heads of this nature are positively percolated with them.
Typical marine life includes friendly grouper, barracuda, ocean
triggerfish, parrotfish, and schools of Bermuda chub.
At Towers we found the swim-throughs that Great Abaco
is so well known for. Nearby was a massive elkhorn colony exceptionally
well preserved and photogenic. In a time where so many elkhorn
gardens throughout the Caribbean have been devastated by recent
hurricanes, it was a special joy to behold such an intact concentration.
Cathedral is another site notable for its massive central
room within the coral complex, complete with delicate sunbeams
piercing the reef above and dancing along the seafloor. When the
seasonal aggregates of glass minnows clog these swim-throughs,
and the grouper and jacks arrive in hordes to prey on the silversides,
these sites are truly incredible.
Never were there more than a half-dozen divers on our boats
at Dive Abaco, and I must say Keith was the consummate host.
He was quick to point out that small groups and high personal
service is his ideal, and he certainly delivered. We were never
rushed to complete a dive, and when we got back on the boat Keith
was every bit as pumped up by what we saw as we were. I wondered
at the time whether I could be as excited about diving everyday
as Keith Rogers obviously is. Probably not. But he is, and it
makes for a very special experience for his guests.
Next stop on "Stephen Frink's Bahamas Odyssey" lies just a
short water taxi ride away, to Green Turtle Cay and Brendal's
Dive Center. Stay tuned.
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