[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he warm calm days of August offer pristine conditions for exploring the varied reefs, walls, and wrecks of the Bimini chain. Some of the calmest seas of the year offer easy rides to even far sites this month, with visibility averaging over 100-foot or more on the west side of the island. Some of the inshore sites, such as the Sapona, should be visited on an ebbing or high tide due to the run off from our frequent afternoon showers this month. The downright balmy water temperatures are ranging from 82-84° F.
The clear and refreshing water is the perfect contrast to August heat. We are loving some of the shallow southern drifts this month like Tuna Alley and Victory Reef. Ranging in its shallowest depths from 35- to 45-feet, they offer ample bottom time to escape as much of the mid days heat as possible. Drifting them allows us to use even less air and maximize our bottom time, often exceeding 60 minutes. Huge loggerhead turtles and reef sharks are cruising these sites on almost every dive. With mating season still in effect for the turtles around Bimini, if you stay calm and approach slowly, you can expect plenty of interactive behavior from these huge reptiles.
The currents have been quite unpredictable lately, due to the swinging of the Gulf Stream. The benefit does seem to be influxes of migratory schools of fish and solitary predators. Huge schools of enormous yellow jacks and horse-eye jacks have been swarming around our deeper wrecks. While tiger and hammerhead sharks are being spotted at many of our wall dives. The Caribbean reef sharks and blacknose at Triangle Rocks are a little fewer in number this time of year, but still very interactive. Bull Run still continues to provide thrilling behavior and diversity of sharks and rays.
One of the best activities to fight of the afternoon heat is a Wild Dolphin Safari. Their numbers almost seem to be swelling, and the encounters lengthening with the days. Mixed pods of Atlantic spotted and bottlenose dolphins are my favorite gem to find this month. There is always interesting exchanges between these two species, whether the two different dolphin types are getting along or not! So get your boat in the water, and get to Bimini this month!