STUART COVE'S DIVE SOUTH OCEAN
I have dived with Stuart and Michelle Cove for many years, even well before they went into business at their present location at the Clarion South Ocean Golf, Beach and Dive Resort. They have become something of a secret weapon for any pro shooter who needs to make the underwater shot happen, whether for stills or cinema. Over the years they have made countless shots happen for me, for projects including dive equipment catalogs and magazine articles. Sometimes I'll go without a specific project, just because I'm certain the resulting stock photos will be productive, but just as significantly, I know I'll have fun.
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Stuart broke into the film production business years ago as a shark wrangler and diving coordinator on a number of major Hollywood films, a specialty niche that continues to grow. With production credits on movies including Splash, Cocoon, Flipper, and James Bond epics like Thunderball and Never Say Never Again, Stuart Cove's Dive Bahamas now has such a loyal following in the film production community that they average a couple of shoots every month. But, even knowing that, I was surprised at all the projects that were happening simultaneously when I arrived in July.
It
all began with a phone call to Stuart as soon as I cleared customs in
Nassau. "Hey mon ... you reach?" he asked. (This is Bahamas-speak for
"Hi ... good to hear from you. Glad to hear you've arrived"). Pleasantries
out of the way, Stuart was efficient and to-the-point as always. "I
need you at the dock as soon as possible because you're going out to
rendezvous with Pete Romano on a Power Rangers shoot".
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The script called for a dream sequence where one of the Power Rangers falls in love with a mermaid, and Pete was there with his 35mm movie camera to make this dream happen, at least on film. Although it was a little surreal being underwater in the Bahamas with a mock-mermaid just four hours after leaving the Miami airport, it was a fun afternoon behind-the-scenes on a big film shoot while Pete and I traded war stories.
Back at
the dock I met another old friend and veteran shooter, Bob Talbot. Bob
was on location to begin work on "Ocean Man", a new Imax film featuring
world champion free divers Pippin and Humberto. His crew had come to Southwest
New Providence because of the vertical depths along the Tongue of the
Ocean (at 6,000 feet it is deep enough to challenge any free diver) and
also because of the sharks, shipwrecks, clear water, and of course the
production infrastructure provided by Stuart Cove's.
As if these two projects in-house weren't enough, there was also a
BBC crew was also on location to shoot a natural history production
about sharks. Normally this would be a full plate for any dive operation,
but Stuart and Michelle have developed sufficient depth of infrastructure
in terms of boats and to allow the production work to happen without
disrupting daily dive operations.
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0 Daily dive operations here include a fleet of boats of course, but also a fleet of vans to escort guests from a variety of hotels and guesthouses around the island. Stuart Cove's offers guests a number of packages, including accommodations at their home base the Clarion South Ocean Golf, Beach, and Dive Resort as well as a variety of hotels and condominiums centrally located in town. Complimentary transfers are provided from all hotels in Nassau and Paradise Island.
The dive center is themed as an old Bahamian fishing village, a reminder
of the time it served as a set for the Flipper movie. The Cove's
have since enlarged and expanded the facility to include ample dockage,
a sportswear and scuba boutique, classrooms, guest gear storage, and
of course the compressors and other paraphernalia (including enriched
air Nitrox) necessary to make it all run seamlessly. Whenever I'm on
location at Stuart Cove's Dive Bahamas I find their Fin Photo Center
to be of special help. Run by resident photo pro Pam Christman, Fin
Photo offers camera rentals, E-6 film processing, Cibachrome printing,
sophisticated video editing, and a new digital still photography department.
I essentially had two projects in mind when I visited New Providence
this time. Sharks of course, for this one of the best places in the
world to get consistently close shots of a high-voltage Caribbean reef
shark feed, but also snorkeling along the shallow coral reefs of Goulding
Cay and Southwest Reef.
I knew I'd be doing a few shark dives the next day with Dive, Dive, Dive, so I asked Stuart if we could try something a little different, maybe combine my desire to get some new snorkel shots with a shark feed. Yeah ... how 'bout a shark feed on snorkel? Stuart had told me how the sharks at a site called Shark Wall came to the surface when the dive boats drop anchor, so I wondered what would happen if we fed them at the surface. Stuart didn't know for sure, but he's always game to give it a try.
Once we anchored, sure enough the distinctive dorsal fins of a dozen
Caribbean reef sharks split the slick calm surface. I thought this was
a perfect opportunity to get some topside shots, so with polarizer and
wide angle lens attached I asked Stuart to entice the sharks ever nearer
the back of the boat. A few productive rolls on this set-up and it was
time to jump in the water.
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Actually, the sharks were pretty indifferent to us at the beginning, even on snorkel. Clearly they were here for the bait, and once more the popular myth of shark as evil man-eating predator was dispelled. I was able to get some nice shots of the snorkelers in the distance with the sharks close to my dome port. Given the perspective enhancement of the wide-angle lens, these sharks loomed large and impressive. Snorkeling with sharks was something new and way fun, but the Stuart Cove conundrum is that there are too many competing photo-ops and we had to power through to the next one. However, clearly this is something I'd like to try again next time I visit.
Our next underwater adventure was to document a new attraction at Stuart Cove's Dive Bahamas; an unusual device called a S.U.B. (for Scenic Underwater Bubble). There are 12 of these units presently at Stuart Cove's. Essentially they are underwater scooters, propelled by batteries, complete with a domed helmet with a constant flow of compressed air to displace the salt water. Riders need not be certified divers; in fact they don't even have to know how to swim. All they have to do is be able to get their face wet for a moment in order to get inside the helmet, and have enough of a sense of adventure to want to gain an intimate glimpse of the underwater world.
A dedicated boat, complete with small crane, lifts these S.U.B.s in and out of the water and a small coral amphitheater at Goulding Cay has been chosen for the tour site. The large Plexiglas dome is designed to give S.U.B. riders an unobstructed view of the coral reef, but it also allowed me to see the expressions of pure wonderment and pleasure on the face of these novice undersea explorers. For the most part, these were people who would never in life try a resort course, much less become a certified scuba diver. The technology of safely sharing the underwater world with them was quite fascinating to watch.
While at Goulding Cay we had the opportunity to add one more shot
to the New Providence portfolio, snorkeling above an elkhorn reef. Stuart
and Michelle graciously agreed to model, bringing along a friend's young
child to share the experience. We found the perfect stand of elkhorn,
near enough the surface so even the little boy could easily enjoy the
view. Once again I was reminded New Providence is a terrific place for
families as well as dedicated divers, with diverse attractions above
and below.
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Stuart
Cove's Dive South Ocean
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| Phone | 800-646-3333 |
| Fax | 954-524-5925 |
| info@stuartcove.com | |
| Web site | http://www.stuartcove.com/rsd |