Sponsored Listings:
Anytime SVV and I arrive on a new island, the first thing we do to get the lay of the land is scope out the local dive scene. A friend who used to dive Grenada regularly had highly recommended Aquanauts, so on our third day kicking it on the island, we found ourselves up bleary-eyed just after dawn, heading down to True Blue Resort to arm ourselves in neoprene and submerge beneath the Caribbean’s glassy waters.
Aquanauts is extremely well-staffed—we met no fewer than 10 people working in various departments for the company—and has a nice operation going on with plenty of quality rental gear, always a must for us as we don’t own anything. The company also has a second location that operates out of Spice Island Resort on Grand Anse Beach, and it offers dives 365 days a year.
As we motored 15 minutes away from the resort, our dive masters briefed us on the site, the marine life we might see and the island’s volcanic origins.
Then, just as we arrived at our site, so did an ominous cloud, which opened up and started raining down on us. The captain switched his course and steered us another five minutes outside of the storm’s path before we dropped anchor and jumped in at a different site.
No matter if it’s one month or one year since my last dive, I still always get that initial sense of nervousness before I submerge. What if it’s cloudy and my claustrophobia creeps up on me and I can’t see and I get vertigo and I panic underwater? That all did happen to me, in Cabo, many years ago. It wasn’t fun, but I survived.
But there was no need to worry: Everything went fine, as always.
The first dive was great: The visibility wasn’t awesome with all the rain the island had recently had—given Grenada’s climate, it rains a lot for short periods of time daily, much like Florida I imagine—but we still had a good 30 feet of vis, and the reef was very healthy and teeming with small fish of all species.
Focusing on finding macro life and other camouflaged posers hiding beneath rocks, coral and other ocean bottom debris always helps to calm me if ever I get a bit anxious at 70 feet below.
We did our 50 minutes beneath the sea before slowly ascending and taking the mandatory three-minute safety stop at 15 feet to get our bearings. It was there we saw something flitting about on the horizon, a rarity for this shallow of water when the ocean’s bottom was a good 60 feet beneath us.
You guys, I almost flipped out when we saw what it was—not a shark, but a DOLPHIN! And not just one dolphin but a pair of them. Robin, one of the divemasters with Aquanauts, took off after them with his flippers propelling him toward them, his GoPro tracing their swimming patterns.
Meanwhile, they were leaving my line of sight faster than I could chase them, so I quickly surfaced, climbed into the dive boat, offloaded my bulky dive gear and grabbed my camera kit to film them from atop the ocean. They were everywhere! At least 20 dolphins, maybe more.
Combined, we got some pretty killer footage of one insanely awesome morning.
The captain started up the boat and we sped along for a good 20 minutes as more and more of the pod emerged to humor us and play in our wake.
We were so jubilant about frolicking with dolphins that I almost forgot how awesome the second dive was, too, until reviewing my photos.
Turtles, puffers, rays, lionfish—we saw a little of everything in Grenada.
We also saw lobsters galore, lobsters by the dozen, poking our prodding hands with their antennae and hoping they weren’t to be our next snack (don’t worry, guys, I don’t eat shellfish).
Grenada is definitely one of the most underrated dive paradises I’ve ever found. I’m hesitant to even share all this with you guys as part of me wants to keep this hidden gem to myself, while the other part of me wants everyone I know to experience the magic.
I’ve been diving for 10 years this summer, and this was by far the most extraordinary dive day of my life.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Aquanauts, for one epic experience in Grenada! One thing’s for sure: We’ll be back.
Our Gear
Though the clarity wasn’t awesome, I was excited to try out our new dive camera, the Canon G7X Mark II, that we got for Christmas. We spent weeks, if not months, researching the best option for us, as well as the underwater housing. In the end, we went with the Recsea housing, though the Ikelite kits were more affordable.
For those who want to try out gear before committing, we’ve been renting a lot of camera equipment—like my most recent obsession, the Canon 24-70mm lens—via Borrow Lenses before making any investment. You can also rent underwater camera gear for your next dive trip or buy used/pre-owned gear. And FYI, Borrow Lenses is offering 15% off rentals right now through April 3. Additionally, we also usually have a GoPro on hand as a backup, though I would never be comfortable making this my primary camera.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to products I purchased on my own.
PIN IT HERE
Source: camelsandchocolate.com