Tiger Beach/Bimini - January 2020

               It was somewhat of a long journey for me to get to Tiger Beach.  It was a place I would have never known existed had it not been for my fellow boatmates aboard the Belle Amie at Guadalupe Island in 2017, my maiden voyage into the addictive world of shark diving.  I was the newbie onboard during that expedition, surrounded by experienced divers from all over the United States who seemed to agree that if you wanted the ultimate shark diving experience …. you go to Tiger Beach!  While I will admit I was mildly intrigued, it wasn’t a location that I saw myself seeking out anytime soon.

Upon returning home from Guadalupe Island, I was in no hurry to dive again or seek out different shark species, despite learning about this place they all called “Tiger Beach”.  I was beyond satisfied with the unforgettable experience I had just had, so it took me a while to recover from that high and come back down to earth.  But it didn’t take very long before I thought to myself, “well, I have this open water scuba diving certification.  Maybe I should put it to use and find someplace easy to dive.”

Tiger Beach was not even a thought in my mind at that time.  My husband and I decided on Cozumel, Mexico where we could have a nice relaxing beach vacation where I could dive and we could both have fun together with land-based activities as well.  In addition to that, we also decided to do a Whale Shark snorkel together in nearby Isla Mujeres.  (But that trip is a story for another blog!)  In any case, I was getting my feet wet (literally!) more as a diver and the whale shark experience just increased my hunger for encountering more sharks.  And this Tiger Beach place in the Bahamas was still in the back of my mind.  So what did I do next?  I educated myself on tiger sharks.

Upon research and watching documentaries, I discovered that this species has a bad reputation with humans.  Great Whites have a bad track record with humans as well but I had no apprehension diving with them because we were safely in cages the entire time.  Tiger Beach, however, does not come with cages!  I’m not ashamed to admit that this intimidated me just a little.  I came to the realization that if I was going to commit to Tiger Beach, I would have to get more comfortable with being around more mild-mannered shark species outside of a cage first.  So I booked a trip to dive with Stuart Cove’s Dive Center in Nassau, Bahamas where I dove freely in the open ocean with nurse sharks and Caribbean Reef Sharks.  (A topic for yet another blog!)  I realized that the behavior of these species would be significantly different from that of tiger sharks but after diving cageless with them, I had officially been baited and hooked by the shark gods.  Upon returning home from this third shark experience I immediately contacted Eli Martinez of SDM Diving to reserve my spot for his Tiger Beach/Bimini expedition just 4 months later.  And now, finally, on to the Tiger Beach/Bimini trip!

 

Similar to Guadalupe Island, I boarded a liveaboard boat with a bunch of strangers who, by the end of the week, would be an extension of my ever-growing shark family.  We would share meals and swap stories about our personal shark experiences as well as those currently underway aboard the Dolphin Dream, headed by Captain Scott and his amazing crew.  Spending a week with the legendary Eli Martinez was an added bonus to this venture.  Listening to his stories and personal wildlife experiences with marine and terrestrial animals alike was truly inspiring.  I also enjoyed hearing about his behind-the-scenes experiences with the likes of Discovery’s Shark Week.

The briefing for the tiger dives was like none I have ever had before.  Ryan, one of our safety divers, had a sternness in his voice when he stated, “The tiger sharks will come very close to you during the feed.”  When Eli spoke, he remained calm in his explanations but was very clear about what we were to do when (not if) a tiger shark gets into our personal bubble.  “If you got a shark that’s really, really close, you need to put your hand on it and move your body away from the animal.  If you don’t have a camera, if you don’t have a stick, you’re gonna have to use your hand,” were his instructions as he demonstrated the maneuver.  Then he added, “The tigers are very, very well behaved but sometimes they do misbehave.  And we just want to make sure that we’re on top of that before anything bad ever really happens.”

Following that intense yet reassuring briefing, I giant strode my way to meet the big girls of tiger beach for the very first time.  It wasn’t just the tiger sharks I became acquainted with here but this was also the place where I met my first lemon and bull sharks.  Caribbean reef sharks and nurse sharks were present as well, but I had already met them previously in Nassau.  This Tiger Beach was a very sharky place, indeed!  (And that is what you get in the shark sanctuary that is The Bahamas).

While the visibility was not optimal (reaching about 15 feet max) meeting my very first tiger shark was still unforgettable.  I do not recall particular characteristics of individuals but Jitterbug and Dirty Girl were two of the 3 or 4 tigers that were present.  And Ryan and Eli weren’t joking.  These tigers most certainly DID get into my personal bubble!  I recall one moment in particular when Jitterbug slowly approached me, making eye contact directly with me, curious about who I was and what I was doing in her dominion.  Rather than push this big girl down and away, I simply swam aside, allowing her to pass.

The seas and distant weather patterns did not allow for optimal conditions.  Therefore, Eli did not do any feeding with these tigers on this particular dive but instead just allowed us to hang around with them for the duration of the fifty-five minutes we were submerged.  As a first-timer at Tiger Beach, this was still a real treat for me.  Upon surfacing we were in for a big surprise though.  The sea had become so choppy that I found myself being pulled up and down 10 to 15 feet as I held the downline, trying to complete my 3-minute safety stop.  Obviously, this was not going to work, so I was unable to hold the line.  Once I had broken the surface and tried to swim the short distance to the boat, I was fighting a surge so strong that my energy was quickly depleting and I was becoming exhausted.  Ryan had to jump in without scuba to reel me in to the ladder, help me off with my fins, and assist me onto the boat.  I am forever grateful for his assistance that day because that was undoubtedly one of the scariest moments of my diving life (and possibly my entire life).  To this day it still ranks as one of the most frightening dive experiences I’ve ever had.  The tiger sharks prowling beneath me were the least of my concerns in that moment.  But despite feeling like I was on the verge of death, that did not derail me from jumping back in the water again the very next day.

I have never done a night dive before but that was about to change here at Tiger Beach.  Initiation by fire, as I like to call it!  Just shy of six o’clock in the evening, we were all on the back deck of the Dolphin Dream, gearing up and waiting to watch the sun plunge behind the horizon and create the burst of green light as we’ve all seen in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie.  Unfortunately, it did not happen, but diving in pitch black with tiger sharks more than made up for it!  Illuminating the blackness with nothing more than the powerful lumens of our dive lights, I watched in awe as these bold tigers appeared out of nowhere and approached Eli.  Adorned with his signature backwards baseball cap underwater, he flipped them in all different directions as they chomped down their massive jaws repeatedly.  He knew these tigers well and they danced a dance that appeared to have been done before.  What a thrill!

Due to the unrelenting poor conditions, the crew made the call to leave Tiger Beach after the first few days and venture to Bimini, home of the Great Hammerhead sharks.  While all the others onboard were more experienced divers than I, some of whom had been to Tiger Beach multiple times, this was a disappointment.  For me, I was still enthralled by the tiger action bestowed upon me during the few days we spent there.

Bimini is another special place and I was glad to have had the opportunity to be there.  The first dive here featured four gigantic Great Hammerhead sharks.  Despite my observation of their shy behavior, they made several close passes within inches of me.  One in particular I remember was named Medusa.  Her first dorsal fin was split in the middle.  How it became like that, nobody knew.  I will never forget her because Jose, one of my fellow divers on this expedition from Vancouver, snapped a perfect photo of me with Medusa.  He was gracious enough to share it with me and it currently hangs on my wall at home.  Great Hammerheads are truly special.  Their cephalofoil heads are an evolutionary work of art, their “sideways” swimming pattern is unique, and making eye contact with such a creature is like nothing else in this world.  It’s the closest I’ll probably ever get to what feels like an extra-terrestrial experience.

While the hammers were clearly the stars of the show, multiple nurse sharks lounged at Eli’s feet in hopes of catching a scrap of fish from the bait box.  Bull sharks were also patrolling the area, seemingly jealous of the Great Hammerheads as they kept their distance in their presence, circling us throughout every dive just at the edge of visibility.  When the hammers eventually vacated the area, the 3 or 4 bulls became bolder, more aggressive, and clearly territorial.  They came in closer and even followed some of us up to the boat during ascent, making for some interesting and less than comfortable safety stops!

I logged eleven dives during this six day expedition and spent ample amounts of time with six different species of sharks.  The tigers were intimidatingly curious and rambunctious, the bulls were territorial, the nurse sharks were lazy and relaxed, and the great hammerheads were shy but with a regal air about them.  When I travel solo on such an expedition, I’m never truly alone.  Those onboard share a fiery passion for this wild type of adventure as much as I do, so it’s super easy to click with such individuals and live like a closeknit family for a week.  And even though we connect and bond through words and spoken language above the surface, the bonds created below are just as meaningful.