April is another wonderful month to explore the reefs, walls, and wrecks of Bimini’s underwater landscape. One of the greatest thing about the arrival of spring is the winter weather trends begin to change. The water starts to warm in April, not enough to leave your wet suit home, but it’s a start. The temperatures will gradually rise from mid to low 70s to mid to high 70s before the month is over. The cold fronts that bring strong north and west winds are replaced by springtime southeast gusts, being much easier to handle with Bimini providing a lee for easterly winds. The water, as always, stays its beautiful shades of blue and visibility remains amazing.
April often brings large numbers of eagle rays to Bimini. These huge rays can have giant wingspans of up to six feet across, maybe more. You can even see them “jumping” out of the water often in the channel between North and South Bimini. They leap out of the water for two reasons, to dislodge parasites, or to evade a pesky predator. Given their often enormous size, one must assume the predator around here has to be one of our numerous species of shark. Bull sharks and hammerheads are still around in April to see, although the hammerheads begin to thin in the spring, and begin migrating north. Caribbean reef sharks abound in great numbers still, and sites like Bull Run and Triangle Rocks offer guests chances to see them up close and personal.
The calming of the seas and weather patterns for spring also mean we have more and more days to be on the water, and to head to some sites further away from Bimini. If you get the chance to do some sites like Krispy Kream, Victory Reef, or Pig Reef all near South Cat Cay, don’t miss the boat. These reefs really are some of the best walls and examples of healthy reef anywhere in the Caribbean. Guests are constantly amazed by the quality, health, and beauty of our southern reefs in Bimini. There truly are world-class experience, encounters, and wildlife in Bimini if you are willing to do some exploring!