Grenada

Freedive Grenada

Lexi Fisher ditches her regulator and scuba cylinder to venture below the surface on a single breath and explore the reefs and wrecks of Grenada with nothing more than mask, snorkel and fins

Photographs by Lexi Fisher, Christine Finney/Ecodive, Keone Drew and Arthur Daniel

My first breaths underwater were here in

Grenada, in the shallows off the beach in Prickly Bay with a scuba cylinder and regulator my Dad had gotten from a friend. I remember the sound the most, the deep gurgle of bubbles rushing past my tiny ten-year-old ears. A little ironic that now, over 20 years and a scuba instructor certification later, most of my time underwater is spent holding my breath.

With wrecks, shallow fringing reefs, and dramatic dropoffs easily accessible via a short boat ride from the capital of St George, coupled with the balmy ocean temperatures typical of the Caribbean (a steady 27 to 30 degrees Celsius throughout the year), it’s easy to see why Grenada has long been a scuba diving destination. Between the main island of Grenada and it’s two sister isles, Carriacou and Petite Martinique, there are about 50 dive sites ranging from beginner to advanced, wreck to drift.

It wasn’t until I had done scuba instructor training and spent a bit of time teaching scuba in all the recreational ways that my interests began to wander. It didn’t take me long to discover freediving and the personal challenge and fulfillment that it brings.

Maybe it’s the fact that your time beneath the surface is limited by how long you can hold your breath, garnering more appreciation for every moment, but somehow the colours seem brighter, the patterns of light formed by the waters refraction dance more vividly.

My story is in no way unique, and many freedivers’ first introduction to the underwater world was with a tank on their back. They ditch the tank for many reasons; the quiet serenity, the unique interactions with wildlife it affords, the freedom of less equipment, and the personal challenge of apnea are among the most cited. Like in many parts of the world, freediving in Grenada is steadily growing and gaining popularity. PADI’s wide reach and their integration of the Freediver programme has been a major help, as up until a few years ago the only certification courses were scarcely available in the southern Caribbean. The closest training centre was Blue Element in Dominica, which is still operational and hosts an annual international competition.

Dive shops in Grenada are beginning to catch on. EcoDive, where I took my first freedive courses, is a long-established dive shop that now offers the PADI Freediver courses up to the Advanced level. They are taught by the shop’s owner Christine Finney, who was also kind enough to provide photographs for this article. Many other shops will organize excursions for groups of freedivers, including Incognito Adventures, a PADI-registered dive shop and day charter business that specializes in fully-catered sailing and diving tours of Grenada and Carriacou, captained and crewed by dive professionals. If you’re planning to visit or considering a trip to Grenada, here’s a glimpse of what to expect from some of my favorite local dive sites;

Grand Anse Pyramids (3m - 8m)

Grand Anse beach is a sweeping two-mile stretch of soft white sand and the island’s main beach destination. Home to a number of dive shops, the grassy bottom of the gentlysloping bay is worth exploring any day; from octopus in sandy burrows to flying gurnards and golden-spotted eels, snorkellers are often delighted by the marine life that can be found amongst the unassuming seagrass beds.

At the far south end of the beach, about 100 metres offshore, a single red buoy marks the location of the Grand Anse Artificial Reef Project (GAARP), which consists of concrete block pyramids in about 5m of water. This artificial reef ecosystem was started in 2013 by the nearby local dive shop, Dive Grenada. With the help of volunteers and donors, they have designed, built and installed 40 pyramids to date. A recent three-month survey counted 30 species of fish and 11 different coral species. Many of the older pyramids are almost completely covered in hard and soft corals, with the holes in the concrete blocks providing cozy homes for lobster and octopus. Schools of French grunts dart between the protection of the towers and fireworms slowly make their way across the tops of blocks.

Veronica L (10m – 12m)

Veronica L, a cargo ship from Trinidad and Tobago, originally sank in 1993 just off the coast of Grenada’s capitol city, St George’s. When construction on the cruise ship terminal began, she was moved closer to Grand Anse bay, and now sits upright in about 12m of water. Set against the backdrop of Grand Anse’s two miles of white sand beach to the south and the colourful buildings of downtown St George’s sprawled up the hillside to the north, she is a pleasure to explore. At 40 metres long, an open cargo hold and swimthrough under a mostly-intact crane structure make for an exciting dive. Schools of sergeant majors, Creole wrasse, and brown chromis often dance near the surface as blue runners dart between the coral-encrusted structures further down. Sergeant majors cascade into the open cargo hold as you duck dive below the surface, and light from the surface illuminates the bright orange corals that are scattered across the hull like confetti. Sometimes, a resident green moray eel can be found curled up between the beams of the crane, which lays horizontally across the deck.

Grenada’s reefs are in a healthy condition Exploring the Molinaire Sculpture Park

Staghorn corals

Molinaire Sculpture Park (4m – 15m )

Just 4 km north of St George’s is the MolinièreBeauséjour Marine Protected Area, home to the world’s first underwater sculpture park. Originally installed in 2006, over 75 concrete sculptures sit in the reef-lined sand channels of a shallow, protected bay. Many are human figures, the most iconic being Vicissitudes, a circle of 28 children holding hands. Cast from local children from different backgrounds, the sculpture is intended to represent strength, resilience and unity. One of the more-recent additions to the park is the Nutmeg Princess, a character from a popular children’s folk tale. She reaches for the surface with a handful of nutmegs, one of the island’s main exports.

Sand chute through the reef

Spotted eagle ray

Swimming down to peer under the gunnels sometimes reveals a lobster hideaway

Freediving over the Grenada reefs

Over the years the sculptures have created the base of an artificial reef and taken on a life of their own, with sponges and hard corals sprouting from the concrete bodies like colourful alien appendages. Zig-zag your way up and down the sand channels and over the shallow reef, or the depth chasers can swim a little further out, where the gentlysloping reef drops off to a sandy bottom at about 15m. Lizardfish rest peacefully on the hard corals of the shelf, camouflaged just enough to scare you as they dart away when you get too close. Trumpetfish hang vertically among the soft corals of the sandy bottom. Closer to the northern point, enormous boulders create a dramatic seascape and mark the transition to Dragon Bay.

Dragon Bay (5m – 20m)

Around the northern headland of Molinaire Point is Dragon Bay, where a wide sandy beach traces the outline of the bay, backed by sea grape and beach almond trees. One of the more-popular reef dives, the shallow southern coast, where soft corals sit atop the reef in about 3m, drops off onto a sandy bottom where garden eels retreat in their sandy dens as you approach. Visibility improves as you head out into the middle of the bay, where patches of sand and seagrass slowly transition into a vibrant reef, and mounds of hard and soft corals adorn the bottom.

In the middle of the bay, almost directly between the headlands in about 5m of water, lays the wreck of a small fishing boat. Completely overturned in a large round patch of sand, the smooth domed hull sits like a giant symmetrical rock. Swimming down to peer under the gunnels sometimes reveals a lobster hideaway. Swarths of finger corals lead you a little further out to sea, where the gently sloping reef drops off. As the current picks up it and carries you along the edge, some days faster than others, when you can drop down to admire iridescent azure vase sponges, almost glowing in their blue cerulean luminescence, as butterfly fish flutter between soft gorgonians. The current here will often take you past Molinaire point, giving you the opportunity to swim in to see the statues, then back along the rocky coastline to Dragon Bay.

Black Bay (3m – 10m)

Travelling further north still, a small point between Calypso Island and Black Bay Point juts out from an uninhabited coastline. The reef that fans out from the point is spectacular; volcanic rock, full of cracks and crevices, creates overhangs and hideways for an array of creatures. Like conductors’ wands, the tentacles of Caribbean spiny lobsters peek out from under rocks, waving with curiosity at passersby. Lionfish, unperturbed by your presence, sit quietly in wait for their next meal. Nurse sharks lay resting on the sandy bottom in the shadow of large overhangs. In the shallowest parts of the reef, swaths of sea fans undulate in the gentle surge. Large porous boulders are scattered across the sand, their tops adorned with hard and soft corals, while the dazzling blue spots of juvenile yellowtail damselfish flash between the bright orange tips of fire corals. Time here stands still, as it often does for those who know the magic of freediving. Like a portal into another world, slipping beneath the waves holds almost endless possibility - what will you find below the surface on a single breath? n

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