Dolphin and Tiger Shark Expedition covers the best of the West End of Grand Bahama Island plus Bimini, which is famous for swimming and snorkelling with pods of Atlantic spotted and bottlenose dolphins. Expect to see lots of sharks including hammerheads, nurse sharks, lemon sharks, tiger sharks, and even bull sharks.
Date
Nov 2024 – Dates to be confirmed
Embarkation: Nov 2024
Disembarkation: Nov 2024
Duration:
8 days/7 nights – Dolphin and Shark (Tiger/Hammerhead) Expedition
Departs from West Palm Beach Florida (USA).
Package Cost:
$3800 USD per person (twin share)
Note: All costs are in American Dollars (USD) for this trip
Price Includes:
- 4 dives a day for those that are certified (tanks, weights/belts included)
- All meals – breakfast, lunch and dinner whilst on the vessel all prepared fresh.
- Snacks including fruit, nuts and sweets are always available. Refreshments such as water, juices, coffee and hot and cold tea and lemonade.
- Presentations on marine wildlife – dolphins and/or sharks
- Travel and explore with a marine biologist and educational expert
- Photography and editing advice provided.
- Friendly atmosphere
- Dive guides and shark handlers.
- Private vessel charter – just for our group!
- Park fees
Excludes:
- $150 US BCD and Regulator. Please advise on gear required.
- Alcohol or beverages (excluding beer)
- Airfares: International & Domestic
- Travel Insurance / DAN dive Insurance
- Crew and Guide gratuities
How to secure your spot:
To secure your place on this trip, you will need to pay a $700 USD deposit.
HSBC Bank
USD Bahamas Account
Amanda Delaforce
BSB: 342250
Swift Code: HKBAAU2S
Account Number: 426939900
Receiving bank address: Shop 1032, Westfield Hornsby,
236 Pacific Highway, Hornsby NSW 2077 Australia.
Group Size
This will be limited to 10 pax (excludes group/expedition leaders) for photographers/divers. Photography assistance will be available to help you get the most out of your trip. Please bring/or have a copy of your SCUBA diving card.
Note: divers must have advanced certification or have completed at least 30 dives for the shark dives.
Itinerary Summary
Day one:
Arrive at airport and be transferred to the vessel which will be your home for the next 7 nights. The M/V Dolphin Dream, (your home for the week) is located at the Riviera City Beach Marina. You must be on board the ship between 3-6PM.
Day two to seven:
Breakfast provided before we hit the water each day. Arrive in the Bahamas, clear customs around 9am. Arrive at first dive site around 1pm. First dive is a check-out dive and second dive is with the sharks.
We will be searching out at sea for the dolphins and sharks. This 8 night liveaboard adventure allows between 20-24 dives including several night dives (depending on conditions). In some areas, the diving is comparatively shallow and ‘open platform’ diving may be offered after the scheduled shark dives to allow guests to dive at their leisure up until sunset.
The diving day aboard the Dolphin Dream vessel has a typical schedule as follows:
- Full breakfast followed by a briefing and dive 1 and 2
- Lunch, relaxation period, briefing and dive 3
- Snack relaxation period, briefing and potential for dive 4 (this will be discussed as per conditions/site).
- Dinner
On day seven we depart the Bahamas at 5pm.
Day eight:
An early morning breakfast before being transferred back to the airport.
We arrive back in Florida, around 6AM. We have a US customs appointment at 8am. After we clear customs, we will return to our marina at 9:30AM.
If you are flying out of West Palm Beach International (PBI), you can make your return flights after 12 noon. If flying out of Miami, please make your return flights after 3pm.
Vessel – Dolphin Dream
- The “Dolphin Dream” has twin engines, twin generators, twin air compressors, fully air condition, safety chase boat, and all the other equipment to make your life on board comfortable and safe.
- There are five spacious cabins with full size upper and lower bunk beds and one large cabin with a double bed, for a maximum of 12 clients. The interior salon is located on the main deck making comfortable and safe from bad weather. The cabins are located aft of center line and down low, the most comfortable place in a boat. The salon has four benches and four chairs surrounding two tables for dining. The galley and salon are separated by a serving counter.
- There is a drink bar with a refrigerator, ice maker, coffee pots and a sink. There is room for cameras on shelves with electric and below the benches. There is a 27” TV, DVD, stereo, book and video library. Two spacious heads with showers, an outside shower and plenty of freshwater.
- The back deck has tables for cameras, fresh water rinse bin, and the stairs to the upper deck. The large built in platform has the scuba tanks and benches. The water is just a short distance for entrance and a ladder to climb out on. There are big flood lights that shine into the water for night swims or dives.
- The upper deck has the dingy (for rescues), gear storage boxes, a sundeck for sunbathing, and a covered deck to stay out of the sun with plenty of space for dolphin watching. The large bow fore deck has plenty of space for dolphin watching.
Diving with Sharks at Tiger beach
The small, shallow sand flat, an hour by boat from the West End of Grand Bahama Island, is the most reliable, consistent and, arguably, photographically pleasing spot to photograph these striped beauties on Earth.
Many of the tiger sharks at Tiger Beach have achieved a certain level of fame among divers. There is Hook with her tragic, yet photogenic, bent lower jaw, Emma with her old, wrinkly skin and sheer size, Princess with her generally gentle demeanour and many others.
There is really no reason to be “nervous” when diving at tiger beach. The sharks are not there to eat people, but we should have a healthy dose of respect for them – after all they are big predators – much bigger than us. There are a few rules to follow while on these dives: don’t touch them, don’t turn your back to an approaching shark and if a shark is coming up behind a fellow diver let them know, stay still and try not to stir up the sand, heavily overweight yourself and be steady on the sandy bottom (currents have been known to rage). The sharks are being fed pieces of fish that are usually white or silver in color so wear a dark wetsuit and gloves and keep your hands to yourself. Unless you really know what you are doing it’s a good idea to have something solid in your hand like a camera or PVC pipe to gently redirect a close, curious shark.
Getting There
The nearest airport is Palm Beach International (PBI), about 20 minutes from the boat. The biggest airport is Miami (MIA), about 2 hours from boat. Boarding time is 3pm to 7pm on the departure day, and the boat departs for the Bahamas at 10pm. On our return date, disembarkation is around 10:30am.
Tiger Beach
It is known as one of the best locations to dive with the tiger and lemon sharks which are encountered off the West End Grand Bahama Islands. With a white sand bottom and shallow depths (12-14m) this makes for a favourite spot for photographers and videographers. Sightings of great hammerhead and nurse sharks are common, with the occasional bull shark making an appearance.
Bimini for Dolphins and Hammerheads
This area is renowned for pods of wild Atlantic spotted and bottlenose dolphins, with the opportunity to swim or snorkel with these amazing creatures. Snorkeling with the dolphins is possible if they decide to stay around, it is a beautiful experience that you won’t forget.
About The Bahamas
- The Bahamas are a Caribbean country in the North Atlantic Ocean. The Bahamas are a chain of over 700 islands in the North Atlantic Ocean. About 30 of the islands are inhabited.
- The Bahamas are located on the North American continent. The islands are located to the northeast of Cuba and southeast of Florida/USA. The Bahamas islands are only 88 km/55 miles off the coast of Florida/USA.
- Nassau is the capital city of the Bahamas. About 280,000 people live there.
- The currency is the US Dollar (US).
- The last month of the autumn, November, is another warm month in Nassau, The Bahamas, with temperature in the range of an average low of 20.5°C (68.9°F) and an average high of 28°C (82.4°F).
- Visibility: Excellent, up to 400ft (120m).
- Depth Range: 9-98ft (3-30m), although much of the diving is around 20ft (6m).
Diving Difficulty: Suitable for all levels, including snorkelers.
Group Leaders
Amanda Delaforce and Kim Randall. Both with a wealth of travel and underwater experience. Kim is located in the States. Amanda is located in Australia. They met on a trip in the Maldives and have been passionate about diving, marine encounters and photography ever since. This is a new trip and they look forward to sharing this unforgettable experience with you. Please refer to the testimonials page for comments on other marine expedition trips.
Amanda is a marine biologist and wildlife ecologist having worked across both NSW and QLD Marine Parks (Australia) over the last 20 years. Amanda has previously been involved in various humpback whale research projects along the East Australian Coast including Eden, Port Stephens, Sunshine Coast and Hervey Bay.
Amanda has been taking guests diving and swimming with marine species including humpback whales, manta rays, whale sharks, dolphins and reef and oceanic sharks while also viewing amazing coral communities and fish in stunning and remote locations. Amanda can provide a wealth of information on the humpback and blue whales while out on the zodiac day expeditions. She holds her coxswains certificate and has been a divemaster for over 23 years.
She works closely with marine conservation and citizen science groups such as Manta Project Australia, Project Manta Maldives, Grey Nurse Shark Watch Australia and Whale Shark Researchers in the Maldives.
Amanda is a passionate underwater marine and wildlife photographer; countless dives and ocean encounters means she knows where to look for inspiration. She has a genuine love and admiration for animals she encounters which are reflected in the experiences she shares with others.
This is her first trip to this amazing location and has been a dream trip for many years. I hope you are as excited as she is to take you on this unforgettable journey. Follow her on Instagram, check out her photography and shop page on her website.
Kim Randall, a native Californian and an avid traveler, discovered her love of the ocean and marine life at an early age, by pleading with her parents to send her to a sailing and diving summer camp. It was here she became certified to scuba dive. While she was always active and into playing sports as a child and young adult, she developed knee issues which prevented her full involvement in them. Scuba diving and water related non weight bearing activities changed all of that!
Kim went on to pursue a career in education, and became a global educational technology consultant. She works with professional learning organizations including Designed for Learning, Discovery Education, Nearpod, and the Krause Center for Innovation, providing relevant and engaging training centered around effective use and pedagogy of educational technologies in the classroom.
When she wasn’t consulting and working with educators, she was (and still is) found planning dive trips around the world. In 2009 she joined the team producing the tv series “Into the Drink”, a diving and travel show filming on location in incredible diving destinations around the world. Kim traveled with the crew and guests on many of the trips, supporting with underwater photography and guest relations. Her love of diving, marine life, underwater photography, and traveling across the globe continued to flourish with this incredible experience. It was through mutual friends filming on one of the boats, that Kim and Amanda became friends, dive buddies, and shared a passion for photography.
With her love of travel, trip planning and diving, she organically loved Google Earth & Maps when they launched in 2005 and became an avid user of both tools. Fast forward to 2018, She co-authored a book geared towards educators called Bring the World to Your Classroom: Using Google Geo Tools. Kim has been an elementary and middle school teacher as well as a technology integration specialist and holds a California Multiple Subject teaching credential. She is based in the San Francisco Bay Area but often found in her spare time traveling to new places near and far, scuba diving, and dabbling with topside and underwater photography. This is her first trip to Antarctica and the only remaining continent she hasn’t visited yet. Kim is so excited for this adventure. Follow her on Twitter, Instagram, check out her photography www.kimrandall.photography or contact her at designedfordiving@gmail.com.
Bookings, Payment, Cancellation Policy and Force Majeure in relation to the Tour
- Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd highly recommends you purchase travel and dive insurance as soon as possible after confirming your travel plans. We recommend Dive Assure or DAN for diving insurance. Dive Assure offers a Dive and Travel Insurance annual and short-term (per trip). You can purchase it here: https://app.diveassure.com/#/registration/main/process/0/int/0/18669/en-intl
- Evidence of adequate travel and dive insurance must be provided prior to departure.
- Bookings made more than 100 days out from the start of a trip require a deposit of $700.00 USD per passenger
- All deposits are non-refundable.
- Bookings made less than 100 days out from tour commencement require payment in full to secure your booking.
- Payment in full is required 100 days out from the start of the trip. We will email you a final payment reminders. No refunds will be given within 100 days of the start of any trip, under any circumstances.
- If you cancel your spot more than 100 days before the start of a trip, and we/you are able to resell/fill the spot, a trip credit for your remaining balance (minus a $300 USD service fee deducted) will be issued for use on another Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd trip within 2 years of the cancellation.
- If you cancel your spot less than 99 days prior to the start of a trip, no refund or credit will be issued for deposits that have been paid.
- If our In-Country Providers cancel or if aForce Majeure Event occurs, meaning any act of God, war, terrorism, fire, flood or any other extreme weather conditions, loss of power, epidemics or pandemics, industrial disputes, slow-downs or other strike activities, riots or civil disturbances, acts of government, semi government or other authorities, inability to obtain any necessary license or consent and delays caused by sub-contractors, suppliers or other third parties (including telecommunications carriers), material shortages or other disruption to the trip beyond our control, Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd shall not be held responsible for matters outside of our control or any failure to deliver the trip.
- The affiliated and established company’s such as ‘Dolphin Dream’, holds the relevant insurances and maintains responsibility for the dive and snorkel insurance policies and procedures. As such when in the water diving, snorkeling or swimming you are diving under the affiliated company’s policies and procedures and must adhere to either the Captain, Dive Instructor or Divemaster’s instructions.
- Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd takes no responsibility for loss, damage or injury arising from any shortfall, error or omission in the information passed to the customer during the course of the sale or subsequent delivery of the product. The company takes no responsibility nor can be held liable for loss, damage, or injury that occurs on a supplier’s or service provider’s premises or transport, or between two such premises.
- Participation in any of the Activities involves certain risks which may result in injury or death. This warning does not purport to describe or disclose all risks associated with participation of the Activities. There are a wide range of inherent risks when engaging in sports and particularly underwater sports; for example, with diving there is the risk of decompression sickness, embolism or other hyperbaric injury can occur that requires treatment in a recompression chamber. Open water scuba diving trips may be conducted at sites that are remote, either by time or distance, from emergency services or recompression facilities. Scuba diving, snorkeling and tours will involve uncontrolled encounters with wild animals which bears the risk of stings, bites, and at the extreme end, more serious injury and death. Participants should be responsible and aware of animal behaviors and their own interactions and engage in these activities entirely at their own risk.
- We will not be liable to you in respect of any personal injury (including without limitation serious injury or death) that you may suffer or sustain directly or indirectly as a result of attending the trip or participation in the Activities. Nor will we be liable to you in respect of any other losses arising as a result of any such personal injury (including without limitation loss of profit or earnings or other consequential losses). We will not be liable to you in respect of any of your personal property that is lost, stolen or damaged before, during or after a trip.
- Please ensure you understand our cancellation policy prior to providing any deposits and agree to the booking and trip. By placing a booking with Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd, this implies that you accept these booking terms and conditions and cancellation policy.
Trading as “Amanda Delaforce Travel and Photography Pty Ltd”
