Publish Date: Monday, January 5, 2009
Opening to cave looking out from inside
Location: Staniel Cay, Exumas Bahamas
Coordinates: 24° 11.039′ N 76° 24.473′ W
Today we all went snorkeling at Thunderball Grotto. Yes, this is the location where they filmed the 1965 James Bond movie Thunderball. None of us have ever been snorkeling in a cave before—it was awesome! Of course, I wonder if part of the excitement is caused by being so nervous about it in the first place.
Cave opening underwater
At low slack tide, the entrance to the grotto is just visible enough so you can snorkel straight in. We all thought this would be wise, as none of us were particularly excited about free diving into a cave our first time. Even at low slack, my whole body felt tense and nervous. Dave was the brave one, and went in first to check it out for Ayla and I. After he gave us the OK sign we headed in. What a rush! This cavern actually has holes which peek out the top of the cay, so sunlight can spill in and illuminate the water. Most of the sea life is by the entrance to the cave, with
Looking straight up to holes in ceiling of cave
the interior waters being more sparsely populated and the bottom primarily sand (which makes sense when you think about it since there isn’t much light inside).
We were only in the cavern for 20 minutes or so, but it will be an adventure long remembered.