LONG ISLAND GROUP
Located southeast of the Exumas chain, Long Island is reputed to have been the third island discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus, who is said to have described it as the most beautiful island he had ever seen. The explorer is commemorated by a cross on the headland at Columbus Point, the northern tip of the island.
Long Island is 66 miles long, with 35 small communities linked by the newly paved Queen’s Highway, which runs its full length. The island has rolling hills that drop down to crashing surf on the exposed eastern side, while in the west it slopes down gradually to a massive shallow sandy bank which stretches over to the Exumas. In Clarence Town in the south, Father Jerome built a beautiful Moorish style church on the hill. Arawak and Lucayan Indian artifacts can be seen around Deadman’s Cay, while, in the south of the island, ancient salt pans can also be found.
The other islands normally included within the Long Island Group are Rum Cay and the uninhabited Conception Island, both northeast of the main island. Originally called Santa Maria de la Conception by Christopher Columbus, Rum Cay owes its present name to the rum running years of the early 1900s. Located 20 miles east of Columbus Point on Long Island, the island is around 10 miles long and has a population of around 100, all centered on the main town of Port Nelson in the south. Northwest of Rum Cay is uninhabited Conception Island, lying almost in the centre of a deep water trench with Long Island on one side, Cat Island to the north and San Salvador to the east. Now declared a National Nature Reserve, Conception Island is home to many different species of endemic and migratory birds, as well as nesting green and hawksbill turtles.
DIVING & SNORKELING
Much of the diving on Long Island is done along the northern stretch of the island along the shallow reefs which connect westwards to the Exumas. It is here that Stella Maris first started feeding sharks on a regular basis over 30 years ago. Other notable sites include Dean’s Blue Hole and the Big Green Hole at Lochaber, south of Clarence Town, both on the Atlantic side of the island. Rum Cay has suffered badly from periodic hurricanes on its inner southern shore, but, to the northwest of the island, Pinder’s Reef has some excellent snorkeling. The waters north of Flamingo Bay are tinged green from fresh water outfalls, where huge grouper creep up on unsuspecting snorkelers and frighten the life out of them. Along the main road north on Rum Cay a couple of blue holes can be found, but little or no exploration has been done in them.
Dear Dive Center Owners, Resorts Owners & Visitors,
Thank you for visiting this web site.
We are depending on feed back from all of you. We are especially looking for “famous dive sites” descriptions. Have a look at http://www.scubalinksbahamas.com/Islands-Grand-Bahama.html and click on any of the “favorite dive sites” to get an idea of our format. Any submissions will be given full credit with links to your web site / email. If you have any photos from the dive sites we would love to publish them as well.
All the best,
Ray Lightbourne
Scuba Links Bahamas
