Aqua Cat

Itinerary Overview

You will have a great time exploring the 365 mostly uninhabited islands of the Exumas with their many beautiful beaches. In addition to the incredible scuba diving and snorkeling, you can beach comb, kayak, explore the islands, or take advantage of all the great photo opportunities like feeding the iguanas on Allans Cay. While in Nassau and Paradise Island, you can enjoy shopping, casinos, and nightlife.

Dive Overview

The variety of dive sites in the Exuma Cays is truly unique and offer opportunities not available elsewhere and they can on be reached on a dive liveaboard. Each week we offer a great variety of diving including thrilling shark feeding dives, walls that begin as shallow as 40 and slope over the edge where large pelagics are frequently seen, exhilarating high speed drift dives through the cuts of the cays, blue holes which are banked by patch reefs with huge schools of fish as well as other wonderful sites. Scuba divers can enjoy up to 26 dives per week and will leave with a log book full of new memories and wonderful sightings. Many of our dive sites are in the Exumas Land & Sea Park which is protected so the marine life is both large and plentiful. This is truly the best of the Bahamas- diving the Exuma Cays with Aqua Cat Cruises!

Dive Sites

The Aqua Cat has moored over 250 sites throughout the Bahamas for all boaters to enjoy while preserving the reefs from anchor damage. They maintain these moorings and add more each year! Learn a little bit about some of the dives sites.

• Lost Blue Hole The rim of this large blue hole lies in 40 of water surrounded by coral heads, stingrays and many schools of fish. There is a lobster filled crevice at 80. In the sand surrounding the hole, divers will find many small fish such as banded jawfish, Seminole gobies and tobacco fish. There are usually 1 or 2 nurse sharks here and during the late spring/early summer, a large school of blacknose sharks inhabits the bottom of the 200 hole. This site is normally visited on the way to or from the Exumas. This is the location of the Caribbeans first lionfish sighting.
• Periwinkle Reef This is a shallow patch reef that is teaming with fish. The local Nassau operators feed fish here, so sergeant majors and angelfish will approach scuba divers looking for a handout.
• Amberjack Reef A 50 patch reef that has a prolific fish life. You will see reef sharks and up to 10 large grouper. This dive also has many interesting small critters such as pirate blennies and garden eels. Back on the hang bar scuba divers will be surrounded by a school of 100+ horse-eye jacks that hang out underneath the Aqua Cat.
• Austin Smith Wreck A 90 Bahamian Defense Force Cutter that sank in 1995 while being towed to San Salvador to be sunk there as a dive site. Their misfortune was our gain. This intact wreck lies in 60 of water.
• Cathedral This site is part of the Dog Rocks Reef. This reef starts at 35 and slopes off to 50 before dropping straight down into the Exuma Sound. The Cathedral is a large swim-thru where the light filters down from above reflecting off the thousands of silversides that occupy the swim-thru. This swim thru has many grouper and jacks that come to feed on the silversides. This is one of the crews favorite dives. If you like to identify fish, you will marvel at the large variety of fish. The wall has large stands of black coral and orange elephant ear and tube sponges. Pelagic, eagle rays and sharks are frequently seen off the wall.
• Jeep Reef This is one of the prettiest reefs you will ever see. The strong current that sweeps through
• this cut keeps the reefs corals very healthy. This dive can only be done at slack tide because of the strong currents. It is in the middle of the Exumas Land & Sea Park, so you will find a very healthy population of fish. This dive site gets its name from a coral encrusted jeep that sits near the mooring.
• Pillar Wall One of many excellent wall dives. It starts at 30 and slopes to 50 before dropping 5,000 to the bottom. There are many caves and crevices. There is a large colony of yellow-head jawfish in the rubble inside the reef.
• The Washing Machine The strong incoming tide of up to 6 mph takes scuba divers thru a narrow cut where water drops off a ledge and then makes a sharp bend to the left. This causes the water to swirl like the water in a washing machine. This swirling water will toss scuba divers head over heels. Scuba divers who wish to avoid being tossed around can stay to the right where you will have a smooth fast trip through the cut. After passing through the cut you will then glide over a large patch reef. Enjoy the ride!
• Whale Tail Wall A great wall just south of Wax Cut. Large parrotfish roam the sand inside the reef while sharks & eagle rays are frequently seen off the wall. We have had some very unusual sightings here like a Caribbean torpedo, one of only 4 sighting of this very rare ray.
• Hole in the Wall The walls in Southwest Eleuthera are some of the most abrupt & beautiful anywhere, literally going straight down. At this site, there is a hole just inside the edge of the wall that drops 15 with a swim-thru that heads west before popping out of the wall.
• Jakes Hole This tidal blue hole lies in 20 of water. The highlight of this dive is the vibrant corals surrounding the hole. Because it is very tidal, scuba divers arent permitted to enter the hole.
• Monolith Large mounds of coral rise out of the sand at the edge of the wall. They start at 100 and rise to 55. There is a colony of Garden Eels in the sand next to the mounds.

SAMPLE ITINERARY

Itineraries are weather dependent and tailored to best diving available each trip.

• Saturday:6:00pm board. Check in, dinner, unpack, orientation and safety briefing.
• Sunday:Depart before first light; offering 4 daytime dives and 1 night dive today.
• Monday through Wednesday:4 daytime dives and 1 night dive per day/night in the Exuma Cays and/or Eleuthera. Shore excursions are offered daily.
• Thursday:4 daytime dives Captains Dinner with photo and video presentations; awards presented during dessert.
• Friday:2 daytime dives.
• Return to Nassau 2:00-5:00pm depending on weather and travel distance.
• 6:00pm Farewell Cocktail Party.
• Port night in Nassau! Dinner on your own. The evening is yours to enjoy in Nassau.
• Saturday:Disembark vessel by 9:00am.

[See: Bahamas Dive Travel Guide]