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Dive Fest Diaries – Day 3 (Watch Video)
Each year the magical, Caribbean island of Barbados holds a festival to celebrate scuba diving, free diving and marine conservation. This year, Nick and Caroline went along to see what it was all about…
Friday 6th July: Day 3
The third day of Dive Fest Barbados saw us diving with our old friends from Barbados Blue. A warm welcome from Andre, Christie and Keira at the dive shop was a great start to the day, catching up on all that we had been up to since we last saw them. Andre had a glint in his eye, which is not uncommon, but we knew he had something up his sleeve for the day’s diving. He had decided to take us out on our own boat, with just the three of us from Scubaverse, and he and Christie from Barbados Blue. “How do you fancy diving on a submarine?” says Andre.
It turns out that Atlantis Submarines Barbados run submarine tours off the reef and we had been given permission to dive alongside the sub as it hovered above the reef. We jumped at the chance, and as we dived down to greet it, we saw a group of local school children pressed up against the windows. They were being introduced to the wonderful underwater world that surrounds their island, and we were there to add to the fun. Nick and Andre went along each window, waving and bumping fists against the glass. It was smiles and laughter all round.
But our adventures were not over for the day. Between dives, Andre had been on the phone and radio while we basked in the sunshine. Suddenly there was a cheer from Andre – we had been given permission to “ride” the submarine to the bottom of the sea! Yes, you heard me right – it was going to come to the surface to take on a new group of guests. Then we were going to stand on the top, hold on, and ride it to a depth of around 20m. Never have we done anything quite as mad as this before; truly bonkers!!
We started with a serious briefing before we crossed to the Atlantis. It was an epic ride. As the sub started to descend we had to hold on to the railing tight, as the water rushed up past us. We were in an ocean of bubbles, holding on with one hand, trying to take photos with the other, along with equalizing! Soon we were able to let go of the railing and just hang out on the deck as the descent became easier once we were fully submerged. The bubbles died down and we could take some photos, finally swimming off the top and around to wave at and thank the captain, as well as entertaining the visitors inside the sub. You can watch the video below:
It was a dive we will talk about for a very long time to come! After a pause for breath we tied up the boat, and stopped for some lunch at The Beach House, with plenty of talk of what it was like to ride a submarine to the bottom of the ocean. Our post lunch dive was to go and see the coral nursery that the team from Barbados Blue have been nurturing and to see Andre and Christie (who is a coral biologist) transplant staghorn coral from the nursery to the reef.
To top off an amazing day – with it being a Friday – it was time to head to the famous Friday night “Fish Fry” at Oistins. Here huge crowds gather to enjoy the food, music and entertainment that kicks off every weekend in Barbados.
Want to join in on all the fun at Dive Fest Barbados 2019 – put the dates in your diary: 3rd to 7th July 2019
BVI Wreck Week allowed us to dive several of the wrecks the BVI has to offer, as well as sampling some of the best reef sites too. Our previous blog focused on the wreck of the RMS Rhone, so in this one we will try to give you a taste of the rest of the diving on offer.
And there is a great deal of wonderful diving to tell you about. Our first day of diving did not offer the best visibility due to heavy rain earlier in the week. However, we were taken to a rugged dive site that had Caribbean and Lemon Sharks swimming all around us. If we had been able to see the usual 20m+ I am sure we would have been able to talk of dozens of sharks on the site.
The BVI has plenty of artificial reefs, created from wrecks deliberately sunk. A couple of these are artistic creations from Beyond the Reef. The Willy T is a pirate themed party boat sunk in shallow water that now has skeletons of pirates duelling on the deck and going about their dastardly ways. It is a lot of fun and once you have had your fill, you can head up onto the shallow reef. Shark-plano is a series of three planes that were damaged in a hurricane, that have been turned into shark species and sunk. Both these sites are perfect for the diver that loves a bit of Instagram appeal!
Wreck Alley has a series of three boats sunk to create a super dive site perfectly aligned for a single dive where you can explore them all. Moray eels can be seen free swimming along the decks, huge stingrays back the sandy seabed their home. Turtles cruise past as you make your way around and then up onto the reef for your safety stop.
On every dive we did we saw sharks which absolutely delighted us. The local dive shops seem to be particularly engaged in conserving the reefs, taking part in coral reef restoration, lionfish hunting, cleanups and logging their sightings. We were filled with positivity at the end of each day.
We hope that we can return to do it all again at BVI Wreck Week 2024!
Watch out for our full feature on BVI Wreck Week in the next issue of Dive Travel Adventures coming out in July.
For more information about BVI Wreck Week 2024 visit their website here.
Nick and Caroline were hosted by BVI Wreck Week
The Moorings provided their yacht for the week
Host Dive Centres:
You cannot talk about BVI Wreck Week, or diving in the British Virgin Islands, without spending some time on the jewel in their crown of wreck diving – the RMS Rhone. So this blog is going to be dedicated to a wreck dive that we were happy to dive three times on our trip and would have been happy to dive every day!
The RMS Rhone was a UK Royal Mail Ship wrecked off the coast of Salt Island on 29 October 1867 in a deadly hurricane. Now it is the most popular dive site in the region. The dive briefings for the site are filled with stories of the fate of the ship and some eye-opening tales since.
The wreck and surrounding area become the British Virgin Island’s first national marine park in 1980. Many of the underwater segments of the 1977 thriller The Deep were filmed on the Rhone, requiring actors Jacqueline Bisset, Nick Nolte and Robert Shaw to learn how to scuba dive.
You’ll need at least two dives to fully experience the RMS Rhone. The ship split apart on sinking and the bow drifted just a little before sinking. The two halves are about 100 feet apart with the bow sitting in deeper water (around 25 meters / 80ft). So you are best to explore the bow fully on a single dive and then head to the stern on your second dive.
Whilst the history, artifacts and stories from the movies are absorbing, as soon as we got underwater to dive her, it was the incredible marine life that had us hooked. Two seahorses had made their home right at the bow of the wreck. Stingrays lay buried in the sandy sea bed. The structure is covered in colourful corals and sponges. Schools of fish occupy the overhangs and metal remains. We saw sharks on all three dives and were treated to a huge spotted eagle ray gliding over the wreck. Lobsters waved their antennae at us from every crevice. Life is everywhere you look on this dive.
The marine park status has certainly ensured that this is one of the best wrecks we have dived in the Caribbean. Whilst we did not get the chance to do this – we bet it would make an awesome night dive.
Check out our next blog to find out more about the diving and watch out for our full feature in the next edition of Dive Travel Adventures Magazine in July!
For more information about BVI Wreck Week 2024 visit their website here.
Nick and Caroline were hosted by BVI Wreck Week
The Moorings provided their yacht for the week
Host Dive Centres:
Seahorse National Park announced on Eleuthera in The Bahamas
PADI Club invites Ocean Lovers on exclusive dive trip to Bonaire this September
BVI Wreck Week – Diving (Part 3)
BVI Wreck Week – Diving the RMS Rhone (Part 2)
Top 5 Caribbean Wreck Diving Destinations
Barbados – The Shipwreck Capital of the Caribbean
Caribbean Conservation in Action: Tagging Turtles in the BVI
Caribbean Conservation in Action: Coral Conservation during Covid
Jeff chats to… Christopher Bartlett, MD of Indigo Safaris, about scuba diving in Dominica and Mexico (3 of 5)
Curaçao Dive Site of the Month – Smokeys (Watch Video)
Jeff chats to… Dr Katey Lesneski from Coral Vita, winners of the Earthshot Prize (Watch Video)
