COLOMBUS ISLAND DIVING AT THE BAHAMAS

Among the 3000 islands and islets of the Bahamas archipelago, we are heading for the one that is most to the east: San Salvador, alias Colombus island, that the great navigator would have seen the first at the end of his long journey. . And if the tiny island has an airport, it still retained the charm of its virginity.

THE CLUB MED ISLAND

The XL Airways flight flies over the emerald coast of the island of San Salvador, passes just above the Club Med Diving by Seafari diving catamaran and lands 40 minutes ahead of schedule. It is through these kind of small signs that we understand that this week is likely to be placed under good auspices! A little over 500 years after Christopher Columbus, who was the first to set foot on this Island in 1492, you are now stepping onto the tarmac at San Salvador International Airport ... Five minutes after disembarking, passport stamped, Club Med's sesame is quickly slipped to your wrist and barely on the bus you have already arrived! At the entrance of the village, in the great tradition of the Club, you are adored like a rock star. Barq, the village chief, gives you a warm handshake while proclaiming a loud "Welcome home!" ". Ok I'm fine with this ! My new home is colorful, hot and humid, in short tropical. After a quick refreshment, while waiting for the luggage, I reach my room by crossing the lush gardens of Club Med: a colonial-style bungalow with a large bedroom with a King Size bed and above all "Ocean view"

DISCOVERING THE DIVING CENTER

It's a bit dazed by the heat and jet lag that I go to the dive center for a first contact. I am welcomed by Jean-Paul Morales, the director of the center SEAFARIBahamas, who after having checked my certifications and had the usual landfills in the PADI zone filled in, suggested that I take a tour of the diving center: rinsing tanks, wet area for drying equipment with personal lockers (locked), space to equip itself, classrooms, stock of material (Scubapro), two enormous Mako compressors, yet another recent one for Nitrox. Moored at the end of the wooden pontoon, one of the two diving catamarans, the Torpedo Ray, a magnificent catamaran that will be our diving support for this week, equipped with more than 100 aluminum blocks that remain on board. I can't wait to try it all! Appointment is made for the next day 8h.

IN FORMULA TWO TANKS DIVE

After a restful night, breakfast at 7 am. I invite myself to a table of Quebecers wearing diving T-shirts. They explain to me the course of a typical day for divers: departure at 15 am for a " two tanks dive ”, return around 12 noon for“ lunch ”, then free time in the afternoon to enjoy the activities and other sports at Club Med: windsurfing, boating, water skiing and other sports lessons, distilled throughout the day by GOs all speaking several languages ​​(including the French of course). Direction the dive center, I collect my equipment, slip it into a mesh-bag and join the pontoon where the Torpedo Ray awaits us. Jean Paul and his team are already there to welcome customers and brief them: “ thank you for taking the blocks with a red cap for your first dive, blocks with blue cap will be for the second dive. Once your dive is over, do not put the caps on the blocks, so we know which blocks are empty ».

THE ROLLS OF THE DIVING BOAT

The Torpedo Ray is a bit like the Rolls of the diving boat: 17 meters long and 8 meters wide, designed for 40 divers (but in the week we will never be more than 15 divers), in other words, that I have plenty of room to spread out. With its 2 x 375 hp, the boat cuts through the waves with ease with just a few vibrations. Max, one of the American Divemasters, shows me my block, closest to one of the two launching platforms. The Torpedo Ray releases its moorings, it's time for a quick briefing on the boat's operating instructions: toilets, shower, weights, drinks and food, rinsing tank for cameras ...

SHADES OF BLUE DIRECTION

Let's go, direction "Shades of blue" to the far south of the island. It's once at sea that you fully appreciate the beauty of the place: Club Med is located in Bonefish Bay, a dream beach more than a kilometer long bordered by a turquoise sea. , intense white sand and colored pellets from the bungalows complete the picture. The Torpedo Ray slices through the turquoise blue of the Caribbean Sea, the flying fish scamper around the bow without asking for their rest. Once in the area, the boat moored to a buoy, because here, preservation of the environment requires, all the diving spots are equipped with a fixed anchorage. The briefing is led by Max, in English and translated into French for those whom Shakespeare's language would put off: maximum depth, maximum time, general topography of the site with supporting map, call and formation of teams. We dive according to PADI standards, so no stop, just the 3 minutes of the safety stop.

Jean-Paul MORALES: Head of the Center SeafariColumbus

CANYONS, CLEAR SAND AND TOMBANTS

A giant leap, here I am in the water: 24 ° C on the computer and at "glance" 35 to 40 meters of visibility, not bad for a month of January! Immersion on a sandy bottom then immediately first beautiful encounter, a huge barracuda, a loner with teeth sticking out of the mouth, while staring at the divers to dissuade them from approaching… and it works! We go our way to rush into a small canyon with a sandy bottom which descends towards the drop off and there, suddenly, panoramic opening on the big blue. A drop off that will take your breath away! Descent into the blue, along a wall of red gorgonians, the first sponges are emerging: giant barrel sponges, yellow tube sponges, fluorescent tubular sponges so large that a diver could slip in. It feels like the Weinberg of the Tropical Seas but in 3D version! One last glance in the deep blue to try and see a fin, nothing, come on, it's time to go back up. For a first dive, it's promising ...

MAXIMUM COMFORT UNDER WATER AND ON BOARD

We will soon be back under the boat for our 3-minute stopover: two pendulums with horizontal bar are submerged on each side of the boat with a safety block, everything is definitely done for your comfort, some even sitting on the pendulum ... diver limit lazy! When you get back on the boat, you are greeted by a buffet: fresh fruit, ham, cheese, cakes… We are indeed at Club Med!

THE MAGIC BLUE OF THE BAHAMAS

During all the dives of the week, it will almost always be the same configuration: departure in the morning for two consecutive dives, anchorage on a shallow bottom then direction the rock barrier to access the drop off and what a drop off: wow! The kind of magical blue thing, such a dense color, unreal clarity and hot water, a blow to open your mouth and lose your regulator! Cable Crossing, Telephone pole, Cathedral, Grouper Gully, La crevasse, Dr Johns ... all these spots reflect the incredible biological diversity of this Bahamian island: groupers, blue surgeons, triggerfish, stingrays, turtles, snappers, fish chests, a good meter long porcupine fish, moray eels, reef sharks that come to tease you on the landing, lion fish (which proliferate at the expense of other species!) ...

AND THE VISIT OF A HAMMER

My bestiary was missing the one without which diving in the Bahamas would not be perfect: the hammerhead shark. It was while looking at one of the smallest marine animals in the Bahamas, a garden eel of a few centimeters, that I saw it. With my head stuck in the sand trying to observe this tiny creature, I stand up: 15 meters from us, a hammerhead shark gleefully reaching 3 meters and a half comes straight at us. Nonchalantly, he ignores us superbly while moving his head to the rhythm of his tail flapping. Exceptional spectacle of raw power: what if this was the holy grail of the diver in the Bahamas?

By Alexander Shark

And Denis, you hid from us that you were also an actor ...

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

 
The diving center
The Club Med Diving Center by Seafariis located within Club Med Columbus Isle in the Bahamas. The structure can accommodate up to 80 divers at the same time thanks to a particularly vast infrastructure and two diving catamarans each accommodating 40 divers. The team is made up of 11 Divemasters and Instructors speaking French, English, German and Spanish. PADI training all levels. Rental of equipment, APN, computer. Nitrox. Annual closure 01/09 to 15/10.

The dives
More than thirty sites listed, all with fixed anchorage. Navigation time from 15 minutes to 75 minutes maximum. Two dive boats: the Torpedo Ray (54 feet) and the Eagle Ray (52 feet). Recent SCUBAPRO diving equipment. One night dive per week. First dive and lessons from the pontoon or the swimming pool. Diplomas accepted PADI, CMAS, FFESSM, SSI, NAUI Cloakroom with key lockers, rinsing tanks, shower, toilets, classrooms. Prices (Winter 2013): 1 scuba dive: $ 85/12 dives $ 595 (equipment included). 10% discount if fully equipped diver. Dive computer rental $ 18 / day or $ 70 / week 2 Mako compressors (120 M3 / h and 40 M3 / h) + 1 Nitrox M3 compressor

Security:
A hyperbaric doctor is always present, often at sea on one of the boats and available at the end of the day for specific consultations for divers. Hyperbaric chamber bi-square of the center, revised every year.

 
Accommodation :
Club Med de Colombus Isle has 236 rooms in one-story bungalows, built in colorful colonial architecture. The Club Med package includes: Accommodation according to the level of comfort chosen. Sport with group lessons for all levels (Cardio splash, cardio-tennis, power walking, yoga, pilates, basketball, beach volleyball, football, kayaking, weight room) group lessons in initiation (Aquadynamic, windsurfing, diving free, Sailing), swimming pool, pétanque, lounge and festive evenings, table tennis. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Bar & Snacking at will all day. 7-day package without transport from € 760 including all taxes *. 7-day package with transport from 1690 € incl. Taxes * (return flight and transfers. Flights on XL Airways. 9:20 am flight from Paris). * price per person in €, from 12 years old, occupancy by 2, club room.

Customs' formalities
Valid passport 6 months after the required return date. No visa requested for French nationals.
Time difference
- 4 hours in summer / 5 hours in winter

Currency
Currency: A Bahamian dollar is equal to one US Dollar. Accepted methods of payment: Visa, Amex Club Med, Amex, Mastercard, Travelers checks in US Dollars, CAN Dollars. Cash (in local currency). Cheques are not accepted. Change possible at the reception: US Dollar and Euros (preferably bring US dollars). No possibility to withdraw cash at the Village or on the island.

Climate: 
The weather is often beautiful in the Bahamas. From December to April, it can sometimes get a little chilly to spend your full days on the beach. Cool nights from January to April. The hottest period is between May and the end of September. During this period, the rains fall at the end of the day or at night. The climate is then hot and humid. Hurricanes are rife in September or October but sometimes as early as August. Water temperature: during the winter months, the water is 22/24 ° C. During the summer the sea can reach 29 ° C in August.

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