SAN SALVADOR
Located 200 miles southeast of New Providence, San Salvador is said to have been the original landfall of Christopher Columbus in 1492. In 1986, however, a National Geographic article put his landfall 60 miles to the southeast ay Samana Cay. Controversy raged for years, but today the consensus among scholars is that San Salvador is still the most likely island, and that Columbus landed at Long Bay on the sheltered western side, where a large stone cross now stands, site of local celebration on the anniversary each year.
Later, Captain John Watling, a notorious English pirate, used the island as a base. From the 17th century onwards the island became known as Watling’s Island, until the Bahamian legislature changed the name back to San Salvador in 1926.
The island is 12 miles long by 5 miles wide and can be circumnavigated on a single road. The few settlements and individual houses are located along this road, circling the island and its swampy interior. The main township is Cockburn Town, south of the airport, where most of the local services can be found, as ell as a small museum.
DIVING AND SNORKELLING
Famous fro it’s crystal clear and flat calm waters, San Salvador is known as the top wall diving destination in the Bahamas. The walls are for the most part pristine and vertical in
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
