GB Dive Industry Restoration Underway

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Grand Bahama features shallow shipwrecks, reefs, and one of the world’s largest underwater cave systems for scuba divers to explore, many of which have been inaccessible since Dorian.

Now partners on Grand Bahama are mooring together to restore the dive industry.

Our Jean Joseph dives in.

Hurricane Dorian destroyed the extensive mooring system that not only guides boats through Grand Bahama’s waters, but helps ensure operators don’t harm the southern reefs.

The Ministry Of Tourism’s Nuvie Chotoosingh explains how a partnership with Grand Bahama Scuba will restore the system.

“The Ministry Of Tourism is very happy to be launching a our first three three phases of replacing the moorings around Grand Bahama island’s dive sites,” Chotoosingh said.

“During hurricane Dorian, the majority, at least many, of the moorings the dive operators use were destroyed or misplaced.”

To replace the moorings, a team of divers locates and retrieves sunken moorings. They then bring them to the surface using an inflatable float, before they are switched out.

The moorings are free to use by all, but it comes with a catch. Grand Bahama Scuba’s Fred Riger says the reefs are very delicate and activities like fishing could be harmful to that ecosystem.