WorldDiving.info

by David Miner

The Cay Sal Bank is situated just 30 miles north of Cuba and 60 miles southeast of the Florida Keys, between Andros Island, the Bahamian Islands, and Cuba. It is a member of the Bahamas, but there are no facilities of any kind on any of the islands. The Cay Sal Bank is the most remote area of the Bahamas, which is why the Bahamian defense force doesn’t even patrol the area. It is left to the U.S. Coast Guard to patrol these waters for drug and smuggling operations.

The entire Cay Sal Bank is about 37 by 53 nautical miles and approximately 140 nautical miles in circumference forming a dramatic limestone plateau. There are about 100 small islands in total with eight of them being named. The eight named islands are Dog Rocks, Muertos Cays, Deadman Cays, Double Headed Shot Cays, Elbow Cay, Cay Sal, Anguilla Cay, and Daenas Cays.

Above photos: Steve Straatsma

At one time, the entire Bank towered some 300 feet above the surrounding waters. Millions of years of water and wind erosion weathered the limestone, creating enormous pits and a number island peaks. Today, the oceans have reclaimed the island’s steep banks, flooded the flat plateau, leaving only a few of its highest peaks jutting up from the bottom and bearing the brunt of the never ending wind and wave erosion.

As you can imagine, getting to the Cay Sal Bank can be a challenge due to the distance from the Florida Keys and the main Bahamian Islands, and also because trips to the bank can be a rough ride. The water between the Bahamas and the Cay Sal Bank are deep, thousands of feet deep, and when the oceans act up, they can act up big, throwing heavy 8 to 12 foots seas at you for mile after mile. But if you catch it on a calm day, the trip is spectacular and beautiful. Many fishermen from the Keys make Cay Sal a day trip, though it’s at least an overnight stay for slower cruisers. The best way to get there is on a live aboard, where you have the opportunity to dive many of the great areas around the Bank for several days.

With one of the highest concentrations of blue holes in the world, spectacular vertical walls, and intriguing coral reefs, Cay Sal Bank offers many fantastic diving opportunities. From the exotic and dramatic geological formations of the big blue holes where grey reef sharks frequent, to the shallower reefs surrounding every cay teaming with prolific schools of fish, corals, and invertebrates, Cay Sal offers fantastic diving for everyone.

The big and dramatic blue holes are one of the attractions of diving Cay Sal. Blues holes like Red’s Blue Hole, Black Hole, Rich’s Well, and Anguilla Hole are just a few of the big and deep blue holes. The blue holes are just that, holes in the ocean floor. The walls have pronounced lips and drop off sharply into deep blue voids. The blue holes typically begin in 30 to 60 feet of water, but the holes themselves can drop to hundreds of feet deep with diameters from 130 to 800 feet. Every blue hole offers something different from the geological past. Many have large grooves notched in their lips from ancient water runs that carved out these deep cuts. Others have massive overhangs that cut far back behind the holes’ lip, where giant, beautiful stalactites dangle.

Marine life is abundant in the blue holes and is mostly found around the upper ridges of the hole. An array of fish, corals, sponges, and sea life can be encountered and typically you can encounter Grey Reef sharks patrolling the upper sections of the holes for their next meal. Anquilla hole offers another unique experience where gigantic piles of dead conch shells, some up to 15 feet tall, go all the way around the hole. It appears that for over many thousands of years, conchs have been slipping over the edges of this hole, sinking to the bottom and finding a resting place on top of the others before them, where they die a slow death leaving there shell behind for other marine critters to call home.

There are also many great reef dives around the islands, which offer great second, third, or fourth dives and excellent night dives. Teaming with life, the reefs provide encounters with all types of fish, corals, sponges, and invertebrates. Every dive is different, meaning you never know what you might encounter.

The blue holes are the big attraction to diving the Cay Sal Bank, but with the abundance and variety of dives, Cay Sal diving is for everyone. To get there, check diving charters, Nekton Diving Cruises, Jim Abernethy’s Scuba Adventures, and Dolphin Dream for itineraries and costs or do a web search for Cay Sal Bank Diving Charters.