There's great snorkeling off most of the beaches on New Providence, especially Love Beach. Most any of the hotels and resorts will rent or loan you snorkeling equipment.
There are more dive sites around New Providence than you can see in one visit, so we've included a few of our favorites. Shark Wall is the most intriguing, which is a diving excursion 16km (10 miles) off the coast; others include the Rose Island Reefs, the Southwest Reef, the Razorback, and Booby Rock Reef. All dive outfitters feature one or more of these sites.
Bahama Divers, East Bay Street (tel. 242/393-5644), has packages that range from a half-day of snorkeling at offshore reefs for $30 per person, to a half-day scuba trip with preliminary pool instruction for beginners, for $70 for two tanks or $45 for one tank; other equipment is an additional cost. Half-day excursions for certified divers to deeper outlying reefs, drop-offs, and blue holes can be arranged.
Participants receive free transportation from their hotel to the boats. Children must be 12 or older, and reservations are required, especially during the holiday season.
Hartley's Undersea Walk, East Bay Street (tel. 242/393-8234), offers an exciting and educational experience. They take you out from Nassau Harbour aboard the yacht Pied Piper. On the 3 1/2-hour cruise, you're submerged for about 20 minutes, descending through shallow water until you walk along the ocean bottom through a "garden" of tropical fish, sponges, and other undersea life. As you're guided through the underwater world, you'll wear a helmet that allows you to see and breathe with ease. Entire families can go on this safe adventure, which costs $150 (no reduced child's fare). You don't even have to be able to swim. Two trips run per day, at 9:30am and 1:30pm, Tuesday through Saturday. Arrive 30 minutes before departures, and make reservations 2 to 3 days in advance. There is free transportation to and from your hotel.
Stuart Cove's Dive Bahamas, Southwest Bay Street, South Ocean (P.O. Box CB13137, Nassau; tel. 800/879-9832 in the U.S. or 242/362-4171), is about 10 minutes from top dive sites, including the coral reefs, wrecks, and an underwater airplane structure used in filming James Bond thrillers. The Porpoise Pen Reefs, named for Flipper, and steep sea walls are also on the diving agenda. A two-tank dive in the morning costs $80, or an all-day program goes for $125. All prices for boat dives include tanks, weights, and belts. An open-water certification course starts at $695. Bring along two friends, and the price drops to $395 per person. Escorted boat snorkeling trips cost $40. A special feature is a series of shark-dive experiences priced from $125. In one outing, Caribbean reef sharks swim among the guests. In one dive, called "Shark Arena," divers kneel down while a dive master feeds the sharks off a long pole. Another experience, a "Shark Buoy" in 1,800m (6,000 ft.) of ocean, involves a dive among silky-skinned sharks at about 9m (30 ft.). They swim among the divers while the dive master feeds them. Another popular outing is the Shark Wall dive along a 24m (80-ft.) coral wall, with shark feedings at 15m (50 ft.).
The outfitter has generated much excitement with its introduction of yellow "submarines," actually jet bikes called Scenic Underwater Bubbles. An air-fed bubble covers your head as these self-contained and battery-powered jet bikes propel you through an underwater wonderland. The subs are popular with nondivers, and they're viewed as safe for kids as well (that is, those older than 12). An underwater armada is escorted along to view the reefs, all for a cost of $95. The whole experience, from pickup at your hotel or cruise ship to return, takes about 3 hours.
