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Scuba Diving in Andros Town
A small settlement on the central east coast of Andros, the largest and least-developed Bahamian island, set between the 124-mile Andros Barrier Reef and the deep Tongue of the Ocean. Andros is the blue-hole capital of the Bahamas, with reef walls minutes offshore and flooded inland caves to explore.
Why here
Andros is the great wild diving frontier of the Bahamas. Along its eastern shore runs the Andros Barrier Reef, at 124 miles the third-largest barrier reef in the world, and just beyond it the seabed falls away into the Tongue of the Ocean, a two-kilometre-deep trench, so a single boat ride can take you from shallow coral gardens to the lip of a vast blue drop-off. Andros is also the blue-hole capital of the country, riddled with flooded limestone caves both inland and offshore, and diving them is unlike anything on the reef. All of this sits off the biggest, emptiest island in the Bahamas, where the diving is uncrowded and the reef is healthy. The island's dive tradition runs deep: the lodge that opened here in 1960 was one of the first all-inclusive dive resorts in the Caribbean, and it still runs boats to more than sixty sites along the wall and into the blue holes, between bonefishing flats and mangrove creeks.
Best months
Diving is good all year, with warm water and visibility best in the calmer, drier months from about March to September. Reef and wall dives are short boat rides from shore, while ocean blue holes and the deeper wall of the Tongue of the Ocean suit more experienced divers and can involve current and depth. Inland blue holes are sheltered freshwater-to-salt cave environments dived with a guide. The island is exposed to winter fronts, which can shift trips to sheltered sites for a day or two.
Getting there & around
Andros is reached by a short flight from Nassau to one of its airstrips, with Andros Town on the central east coast the base for reef and blue-hole diving. Because the island is large and thinly populated, most divers stay at a dive lodge that bundles boats, dives and meals rather than piecing together operators, and dive packages book directly with the lodge. Bring certification cards, and arrange guided blue-hole dives in advance, as they run to a schedule around reef trips.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (1)
Small Hope Bay Lodge
OutfitterSmall Hope Bay Lodge is a family-run dive resort on the east coast of Andros, founded in 1960 by Dick Birch and still owned and run by his son Jeff Birch, making it one of the original all-inclusive dive resorts in the Caribbean. It sits right on the beach beside the 124-mile Andros Barrier Reef and runs boats to more than sixty dive sites along the wall and into the island's inland and ocean blue holes. The Birch family also founded the Androsia batik workshop on Andros in 1973.