As you fly over the island, you will be struck by the color of the water, which ranges from light turquoise blue to the near black of the circular sink holes inland, and from the green of shallow grass beds dropping off to an indigo blue beyond the wall. The form of its reef is typically of the area: shallow reef, medium reef, deep reef and drop-offs.

The dive shops on Grand Bahama all operate along the same stretch of coastline. 50 permanent buoys mark the areas reserved for diving, which, because of their distance from the coast, can only be reached by boat. Most sites are between Xanadu Ledge to the west and Lucayan Waterways to the east. They can all be reached by boat in relatively short times, varying from 10 minutes to 1 hour.

Thanks to the Gulf Stream, the temperature of the water never falls below 68ºF, and it rises as high as 85 ºF from May to September. There are no particularly strong currents in the most popular dive sites, although divers should watch for medium strength currents, depending on the wind, the waves, and the tides.