Images and text by Michael Stocks on the Shark Angels Bahamas Adventure March 3-11, 2023
I recently returned from a diving trip with the Shark Angels to Tiger Beach in the Bahamas, it was hands-down one of the best diving experiences I’ve ever had. And that was thanks in no small part to the Shark Angels themselves. I want to take you through how fantastic every detail of the trip was, from the boat & crew, the food, the diving, through to the group themselves.
I live in Utrecht, a mid-sized city about 30 minutes south of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, so it was no small task for me to reach the Bahamas. I had dreamed of diving Tiger Beach for years, but flights from Northern Europe to the Bahamas are long and expensive. I saw the Shark Angels Facebook page posted an article about a trip to Tiger Beach that departed from Florida, this changed everything for me since I could fly to Florida relatively inexpensively.
After arriving, severely jet lagged, at West Palm Beach, I headed to the dock at Riviera Beach, where the Dolphin Dream was waiting for me. I was the first to board and was greeted by Jake & David, two members of the crew that would be taking us to Tiger Beach. They were immediately welcoming and I knew already I was going to love the upcoming week.
The boat itself was perfect, it wasn’t flashy and modern by any standard, but every part of that boat oozed character and history, from the dive club stickers all over the walls, to the charging stations dotted around the saloon. It didn’t feel sterile (like many liveaboards I’ve done before), it felt lived in and loved.
As the boarding day progressed, I met Josh (the ship’s cook), and then Captain Scott. Also, both welcoming. Captain Scott has a sense of humor that can make anybody smile, he’s been doing this journey for years, and it really shows in his knowledge about the trip, and the kindness he shows towards his guests. Before I move onto my fellow divers, I can’t ignore Josh! What a fantastic cook we had on our trip, every breakfast, lunch, and dinner was a delight and I looked forward to it every day. He even had snacks out between every dive so we could get our energy back. It was a shame to hear that this was his second to last trip, he’s moving on to run his own tour operation in Alaska soon. I wish him the best.
Throughout the boarding day the other divers arrived, there were a mix of Shark Angels, and others new to the organisation, like myself. Everyone was incredibly friendly and we bonded over shared love of sharks. I have done liveaboards in the past where the group did not fit well, and this was definitely the opposite. Thanks to the ice breaking games, and the great food, drinks, & environment. By the end of the first night, everybody knew each other’s names and we’re looking forward to spending a whole week together.
Travelling on a trip organised by the Shark Angels really pulled everybody together in a way I can’t imagine would’ve happened if we were just a standard group of strangers on a liveaboard. They injected so many extra features into the trip! Cheryl added so much fun and education in the evenings with her trivia and presentations. I had a chance to exercise my knowledge about sharks (and win some cool prizes), and I also learnt so many new things too! Jamie was so full of energy and her love for shark conservation and awareness really came through. I’m so glad I joined the trip as part of a Shark Angels adventure, and I have already signed up to travel with them to the Maldives next year!
It was also great to be on a boat like this with experienced, and responsible divers. Everybody in the group paid attention to the dive briefings and was incredibly careful around the coral, and wildlife on dives. Jake and David even commented on how nice it was to have such a well-behaved group!
Now onto the main event, the diving! This is what I came for.
After a long overnight crossing we finally pulled into tiger beach the next morning, we set up our equipment and performed a checkout dive. Once this was over and a short surface-interval later. We geared up a second time to dive Tiger Beach for real!
Our first Tiger dive was prefaced by a pretty intense briefing! Jake and David spoke to the whole group about what to expect, and how to handle the tigers, some very good advice was given, about always making eye contact with the sharks (because they like to sneak up behind you!), and how to deflect them if they approached you. We were warned that at points there may be upwards of 6 tiger sharks in the water with us at any one point. Among countless other species of shark.
Once the briefing was over we geared up for our first real tiger dive. This was to be just a reef swim so we would get acclimatized to the number of sharks in the water. And oh boy! Were there a lot!
As I descended, I could see swimming around the reef upwards of 20 sharks. A mixture of Caribbean Reef Sharks, Lemon Sharks, and Nurse Sharks. They were all swimming so peacefully around and it automatically became one of the best dives of my life, and that was even before the tigers showed up!
I swam around the reef for a while until about 15 minutes into the dive a single tiger shark appeared. OMG, it was the moment I was waiting for years, and she was huge! She gracefully swam around the reef, scoping out the dive group. Every now and then she would swim between divers and we could get a super close up look at her. She was stunning.
As the days progressed, we started involving more tools to help us attract more sharks, bait boxes were hung over the side of the boat to pull the sharks in, and the dive crew would sometimes run feeding dives where they would distribute food to the tiger sharks. Every single dive was full of tigers, at one point we even had 8 tiger sharks in the water with us. Every day was incredible, and I can’t even begin to describe how it felt to be in the water with them. I have included some pictures in this post so you can see them for yourselves!
On our last day of Tiger Beach, before setting off to Bimini for the Hammerheads. I was returning from a dive and performing my safety stop under the boat. I had one hand on the bottom of the boat to keep me steady in the water, and I started hearing a creaking noise. I thought that it was just the sounds of the boat since I was so close, but it kept getting louder and louder. And then out of the corner of my eye I saw what it was coming from, DOLPHINS!
I have seen dolphins from boats before, but never in the wild, it was a completely unexpected surprise. They came past, played with some of the divers for a few minutes, and then swam away. I surfaced when I could, and the crew were already prepping to boat to seek out the dolphins, we were going to chase them down for a longer encounter. And that is exactly what we did!
Captain Scott found the dolphins in no time, and we all geared up for snorkeling. Once we arrived, we all jumped in immediately, and David took an underwater propeller so he could play with the dolphins. We must’ve been there for 30 minutes watching and playing with them. They were beautiful and it was a completely unexpected addition!
Still not bored of Tiger Beach, unfortunately it was time to move onto Bimini, which was another overnight crossing.
We went to Bimini for the Great Hammerheads, so I was super excited about this too.
The dives were different from the tiger dives. The Bimini days consisted of one of the dive masters sat on the sandy bottom, constantly shredding fresh fish. The Hammers are picky and will only come for freshly caught, freshly cut fish, so this is what we did! We waited and waited, my first dive was 70 minutes on the bottom, and no hammerhead showed. While the dive guides were shredding bait, they were constantly dog-piled by nurse sharks. There we’re about 15 at one time, swarming. An incredible sight, but I didn’t come here for nurse sharks!
Trust my luck, as soon as I surfaced and took my wetsuit off, everyone was shouting about the hammerhead. She was here!
I waited for my tank to fill and then immediately went back in. She was beautiful! Swimming gracefully around the bottom, coming in to collect food, and swimming oh-so close to us. I got some incredible pictures. They really are incredible, much bigger than the tiger sharks, and their dorsal fins are massive! I feel so blessed to have been able to see these majestic creatures in the wild.
Two days of Bimini and then we departed back for Florida, it was a sad return because we knew it was over. But we came away with unforgettable memories, and a group of great new friends. I will miss the boat, I will miss the crew, I will miss the food! But I’ll still have my memories.
Thank you, Shark Angels, for making this a reality. It was truly my dream come true. And It’s awesome to hear that you are going to be running this trip every year. I may just need to go again!