Trip date: March 2023
A Brief Modern History of Bimini
Located 50 miles off the coast of Florida, approximately located as marked on the map. The Bimini islands total 9 square miles with a population under 2,000 as of the 2010 census. A popular destination for anglers, snorkelers, divers, and for nightlife.
Prominent historical relevance including Martin Luther King Jr. composing a portion of his Nobel Prize acceptance speech in Bimini, Ponce de León was drawn to the Islands in search of the Fountain of Youth, and a place that Ernest Hemingway called home for a period of time.
The Ferry & Customs
After spending 36 hours in Fort Lauderdale, FL (working remotely for my day job and acclimating before a busy weekend of dives) I caught an early morning Lyft to Port Everglades Terminal 21 to check in for the Balearia Caribbean Ferry. With the Warrior Weekend Package Ferry reservation was included for the weekend. It was approximately a 2-hour ride on the double decker boat. With concession, bar, and Duty-Free Shop. Upon check-in if you didn’t have a printed boarding pass, you got your pass printed as you crossover into the waiting area. Luggage is opened and checked prior to boarding. I did travel with a roller bag and was able to store it on the boat without having to check anything (which saved a lot of time and stress on the backend).
Upon arrival in Bimini and de-boating passengers waited for shuttles to transport everyone to the mainland to catch transport. First stop is the tiny little customs building where passengers can get their passports stamped and luggage cleared as necessary.
Neal Watson Bimini Scuba Center (located within Bimini Big Game Resort) provided a list of all taxi drives on the island. Everyone was waiting for the arrival of the ships and was super helpful in getting passengers where they needed to be. A quick little jaunt down the island and we arrived.
Heading home, you’ll re-pass through the customs building and yourself and luggage will be sent through an x-ray + medal detector before you reboard the Ferry. Pro-tip bring a pen, for the customs form you will need to complete on your way back stateside. Once we arrive back in Florida, expect a delay passing through US Customs and Boarder Control. We spent about 2 hours in that line.
Neal Watson Dive Shop: Weekend Warrior Package
I booked the weekend through Neal Watson Bimini Dive Center located on North Bimini inside the Bimini Big Game Resort. The Weekend Warrior package includes: Roundtrip Ferry, 2-Night Stay at BBG, and 6 dives. For a nominal upgrade fee you can upgrade your dive package to include the Great Hammerhead dive. The Hammerhead dives run November – April with limited-availability. Absolutely must do for shark lovers.
Upon de-boating, I grabbed a cab with a father-daughter duo (who became my dive buddies for the weekend) who were also on their way to BBG for Warrior Weekend. First stop was the front office to check into my room. Dropped off my bags and headed over to the Dive Center, to find out we were leaving for our first two dives in 1-hour. If you are taking the ferry, they said a super quick turn between check-in and your Friday dives are typical. Quick gear up and we were off!
Dives
Dive 1: Reef sharks
This has been my favorite dive ever logged, ever.
Dive Stats & Highlights:
- Dive time: 40 mins
- Max depth: 26 ft
- Air/Water temp: 76F / 76F
- Black Tip & Caribbean Reef Sharks
Dive 2: SS Sapona wreck
Dive Stats & Highlights:
- Dive time: 30 mins
- Max depth: 20 ft
- Air/Water temp: 76F / 76F
- Was low-tide which meant a large portion of the wreck protruded out of the water. There were multiple dive boats, snorkelers, and swimmers around the wreck. Our dive master Nathan took us inside the wreck which was open and spacious.
Fire Coral! We were warned during our dive briefing not to touch the orange fire coral on the wreck. Unfortunately, I did scrape my knee on the way out of the wreck. The fire coral sting burnt slightly. We treated with Neosporin 3x per day until the burn healed.
Left: Fire coral burn immediately after; Right: two weeks post-trip
Dive 3 & 4: Hammerheads
Dive Stats & Highlights:
- Two hour running dive; one or two tanks based on each individual diver and air usage. Dive was overweighted (Minimum weight 25lbs per diver). Static dive, kneeling around feed cage and shark feeder.
- Dive time: 80 mins, tank 1 / 40 mins, tank 2
- Max depth: 25 ft
- Air/Water temp: 75F / ?F
- Nurse sharks: hung around the entire dive. Direction: if they get into your personal space, place tip of your pvc pipe on the shark and push him away.
- Hammerheads: Huge, amazing, shy. Use PVC pipe to create a vertical barrier should you end up in their blind spot.
- Tiger Shark: Once Harley Quinn the juvenile Tiger arrived on our dive, all attention goes to her. Keep at least full length of PVC between you and tigers.
Dive 5: Cherisse Wreck
Dive Stats & Highlights:
- Dive time: 25 mins
- Max depth: 60 ft
- Air/Water temp: 77F / ?F
- Only dive with mandatory decompression stop, we did have an anchor line.
- This recently sunken wreck was a mail cargo that caught fire.
Dive 6: The Strip
Dive Stats & Highlights:
- Dive time: 35 mins
- Max depth: 40 ft
- Air/Water temp: 77F / 76F
- “The Strip” named after the “Vegas Strip” because of all the activity. We got super lucy to spot: Lobsters, Ray, Real Life Flounder (from the Little Mermaid)!, green Moray Eel.
5 things I wish I had packed for my dive weekend:
- Long sleeve dry fit / sun shirt + bucket hat: By Sunday I was so sunburnt I broke down and bought myself something with sleeves to protect my skin from the sun.
- Boat snacks: nothing like a post-dive or in-between dive snack to keep up the energy! There is a convenient store on the resort where I snagged Kind Bars each morning for the boat.
- More Sunscreen! The sun was super intense, even with wetsuit all day Saturday, I wish I had brough more variety of sunscreen for myself.
- Dive booties: The dive shop didn’t have booties for rent. Although I only wore a wetsuit for the Hammerheads dive, I like the additional foot protection.
- Water safe bag: I had a small pack for the boat which got wet on a handful of dives – a waterproof bag for the boat would have been much utilized.
4 things I didn’t need to pack
- Solis HotSpot: The resort had reliable enough wifi that I didn’t need to use my hotspot while on the island.
- Raincoat: A little to warm for a stuffy raincoat. Better suited for a thin material with sleeves (see 5 things I wish I had packed).
- Tennis shoes/socks: I found myself too tired post diving to want or need to hit the gym or go for a run. I would have been happy with a selection of sandals.
- Tanning swimsuits: With the amount of time spent on the water, I didn’t need any additional sun time. Practical swimsuits only.
Food Highlights
Breakfast was out of this world. The heart healthy omelet with potatoes and a side of Bimini toast absolutely stole the show. Honorable mentions: Kalik – local juice + beer beverage & my first time trying conche.
Bimini Big Game Resort: The Room & Amenities
Cost Breakdown
Flight ORD > FLL: $86
Motel 6 (2 night stay, Wed-Fri): $293.78
Warrior Weekend Package (including: roundtrip Ferry, Bimini Big Game Resort 2 nights stay, 6 dives plus rental gear – $132): $1,447
Hotel Dello (2 night stay, Sun-Tues): $372.67
Flight FLL > DAL: $186
Food & Drinks (7 days): $307.96
Other (Bimini Long Sleeve T-Shirt, Lyft/Uber): $74.45
TOTAL: $2,767.86
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