If you’re a wreck diving aficionado, you might wanna check out the newest ones off North Bimini in the Bahamas.
Neal Watson’s Bimini Scuba Center recently sank a barge, a tugboat, a landing craft and a boat that carried Cuban refugees. The four wrecks lie 85 feet/26 meters below the surface and make up what is now called “The Coach Sugar Memorial Dive Site,” named after Bimini’s beloved chief youth mentor, Grathen “Sugar” Robins.
Duncan Brake, underwater cameraman and former Bimini Biological Field Station Manager, says:
“These artificial reefs provide a great sanctuary for undersea critters, help establish coral growth and recruitment, as well as being an awesome playground for scuba divers and water enthusiasts.”
The vessels — donated by Resolve Marine, Key Construction and Shannon Bullard and The Rock Shed Crew — come with their own colorful histories. The Tug Manatee, built in 1944, was instrumental in the construction of Nassau’s mega resort Atlantis. Next, the Cuban Refugee Boat ran ashore on Cat Cay in 2015 with 19 Cuban refugees on board, who were said to have been found celebrating on the golf course thinking they had arrived in Miami. They were all sent back to Cuba.
Between the four companies, an estimated half-million dollars/447,000 Euros was donated in terms of cleaning crews, dive crews, dive equipment, monies and physical vessels.
Neal Watson’s Bimini Scuba Center, located at the Bimini Big Game Club Resort & Marina, currently offers trips to the new dive site on an on-demand basis. Dive trips can be booked a la carte or as part of a Dive + Hotel Package. For more information about their dive rates and/or package information, go to biminiscubacenter.com or call +1-800-867-4764.
