Coral Caverns
The wall along Andros is riddled with coral caverns. It is a thrilling environment to dive where certain fish and other marine animals can always be seen. The caverns also provide a stepping stone in preparation to diving the more intense cave systems in the blue holes on Andros.
In the coral caverns live fish like the glassy sweepers and the silverside minnows. Feeding on these schooling fish are the big groupers and jew fish that like the protection that the caverns offer.
The coral formations at these sites are fantastic with tunnels that open into big rooms with beautiful shafts of light that break through the ceiling like a cathedral. While being on the edge of the wall, its also possible to see larger pelagic fish that sometimes frequent the caverns to feed.
For those divers that wish to really cover some territory and learn about the different zones of the coral reef, these dives are fun and educational.
Alec's Caverns
- One or two people
- running time: 15 minutes
- maximum depth: 90 feet
- in water time: 40-60 minutes
- multi-level profile
Alec's Caverns is a labyrinth that runs through the wall at 70 to 90 feet deep. It is a nonstop journey through tunnels, caverns and dark rooms during which you will see schools of silver side minnows, glassy sweepers (which live in the darkness of the cave during the day) and a variety of other marine life along the way. When our in water time is up at the cavern depth, the anchor is pulled and we will drift as the wind pushes the boat.
Extremely pretty!
The Mounds
- One or two people
- running time: 60 minutes
- maximum depth: 60 feet
- in water time: 40-60 minutes
- multi-level profile
At The Mounds there are two coral mountains. The first rises from 70 feet to 30 feet. The second from 70 feet to 15 feet. We anchor on the north mound and swim over to the south mound (about 250 feet). As the south mound comes into view, it looks only like a big dull gray mass, yet on arrival, you'll see the whole mound come alive with marine life. This is truly a virgin spot. After exploring the top of this mound, we'll proceed down a chimney that will take us to the center of the mound which will lead us along a passage way filled with silver side minnows. This passage will take us out of the south mound, directing our swim back over to north mound where we will continue exploring more passages. This site is rarely visited and offers lots of invertebrate life and unspoiled coral.
