North Eleuthera Scuba Diving Conditions and Forecast: April 2016

A flying gurnard photographed during a March dive trip. PHOTO CREDIT: George Gross.
A flying gurnard photographed during a March dive trip. PHOTO CREDIT: George Gross.

[dropcap]G[/dropcap]reetings from the beautiful place called Harbour Island!

Unseasonably cooler weather and water temperatures have been around for February and March which has us all puzzled. So we are optimistic that the normal conditions for April will prevail. Water temperatures should range from 75 to 79 degrees requiring your choice of a shorty or full wetsuit, while air temperatures should range from 76 to 90 degrees. Bringing a waterproof windbreaker is never a bad idea.

North Eleuthera has some premier dive sites ranging from the more exotic fast speed drift diving near Current Island to the Arimoroa shipwreck, a 260-foot freighter that sits in 30 feet of water with tons of fish life, to Plateau (near the Glass Window Bridge), which features rolling mounds of coral stacked up to 60 feet high.

Large animals to look for are turtles (hawksbill, green and loggerhead), dolphin (bottlenose), sharks (nurse, Caribbean reef, blacktip, lemon, great hammerhead and more), barracuda, tarpon, and eagle rays. Smaller animals on most dives and snorkel trips are eels, lobster, squid, octopus and stingrays.

If interested, the most popular way to get ‘under’ the ocean by scuba diving is the Discover Scuba diving courses, which get you on a shallow dive with an instructor in less than two hours of instruction and pool time.

Also popular is the Open Water certification course that by taking the online (e-learning) course you can simply do four dives while on holiday (called Open Water Referral Program) and you have your ticket to dive around the world.

Why North Eleuthera, including Harbour Island and Spanish Wells? Bars, restaurants, top hotels, local cuisine, music and pink sand beaches!

See you on the Ocean.