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Scuba Diving in Long Island Bahamas

Water temperature
21–31°C

Updated July 2026

Good to know

Good to Know

  • Long Island's diving is boat-based rather than liveaboard-based — Stella Maris (one of the oldest dive operations in the Bahamas) runs most trips from its marina, so plan around a resort/day-boat schedule rather than expecting a multi-day liveaboard.
  • Only a handful of shallow reefs near the island's northeast end are realistically dive-able straight from shore; the well-known named sites (Shark Reef, Barracuda Heads, Grouper Valley, the Comberbach wreck) are all short boat rides, while Conception Island and Rum Cay are longer day-trip boat journeys, not casual add-ons.
  • Dean's Blue Hole is a must-see but is not a straightforward recreational dive at depth — untrained divers should stick to the shallow rim/sandbar area; the true blue-hole descent is technical/freediving territory and has claimed lives in competition history.
  • December–April is the most reliable window for calm seas and best visibility for the boat crossings to Conception Island and Rum Cay; during hurricane season (June–November) these longer boat trips are more likely to be cancelled or rerouted.
  • Dive shop options on Long Island are limited compared to Nassau or Grand Bahama — this is not a hub with a dense cluster of competing named operators, so it's worth confirming a shop's current operating status and course offerings directly before planning a trip around getting certified here.
  • If certification cost and convenience matter most, Nassau (New Providence) has a much denser, more competitively priced dive-shop market; Long Island is better suited to divers already certified who want to dive its walls, wrecks, and blue hole.
  • The island's blue hole is world-famous in freediving circles, but confirm directly with any operator whether they actually run freediving courses versus scuba-only — this wasn't something we could fully verify.

Dive Sites And Conditions

Overall Access Model
Diving around Long Island is resort/day-boat based, not liveaboard-dependent. The long-running operator Stella Maris runs most trips from its marina, with the majority of named reef, wreck and wall sites reached by a short speedboat ride rather than a liveaboard itinerary.
Shore Vs Boat Access
A number of shallow reefs, mostly along the northeast end of Long Island, are genuinely reachable as easy from-shore dives. However, the majority of diving here is boat-based: most sites are a five-to-ten-minute boat ride from shore, while Conception Island and Rum Cay require a considerably longer boat transfer and are effectively day-trip destinations rather than shore or quick-boat dives.

Sites

  • Dean's Blue Hole
    Type
    blue hole / cavern
    Access
    Shore accessible — accessible by road with a parking area and a short walk to the beach; no boat needed
    Location
    In a protected bay about 3 miles west of Clarence Town, on Long Island's south end
    Best Season
    Accessible year-round; December through April generally offers the calmest conditions and best visibility
    Marine Life
    Reef fish near the rim including snapper, parrotfish and angelfish, plus coral heads, sea fans, sponges, rays and occasional turtles along the shallow edges
    Depth And Features
    The world's third-deepest known blue hole, with an estimated depth of roughly 202 m (663 ft); a narrow surface opening around 25–35 m wide that flares into a much larger underwater cavern. The rim drops off suddenly from a shallow sandbar into the abyss.
    Notes
    Recreational divers/snorkelers generally stay near the shallow rim and sandbar; descending into the true depths of the cavern is a technical/freediving pursuit and has been the site of freediving fatalities, so untrained divers should not attempt to descend the full shaft. It is also the annual venue for the Vertical Blue freediving competition.
  • Shark Reef
    Type
    reef (shark dive)
    Depth
    Around 30 ft
    Access
    Boat dive, short run from Stella Maris/northeast Long Island
    Best Season
    Year-round; winter/dry season (Dec–April) tends to bring calmer seas and clearer water for photography
    Marine Life
    Long Island's flagship shark-encounter site — reef sharks are the main draw
  • Barracuda Heads
    Type
    reef
    Access
    Boat dive, short run from Stella Maris/northeast Long Island
    Best Season
    Year-round
    Marine Life
    Noted for dense, rich populations of reef fish and barracuda
  • Blue Tang Reef
    Type
    reef
    Access
    Boat dive, short run from Stella Maris/northeast Long Island
    Best Season
    Year-round
    Marine Life
    Colorful coral and tropical reef fish including blue tang, with reef shark encounters reported in the general area
  • Grouper Valley
    Type
    reef — spur-and-groove coral formation
    Access
    Boat dive, short run from shore
    Best Season
    Year-round
    Marine Life
    Colorful shallow reef considered a good beginner introduction, with a notable chance of pelagic species passing through
  • M.V. Comberbach Wreck
    Type
    wreck
    Depth
    Around 90 ft
    Access
    Boat dive — within a roughly 30-minute boat ride from Stella Maris Marina, in the protected leeside of the island
    Features
    A steel freighter deliberately sunk decades ago and prepared for diving; features an intact wheelhouse and a forward hold containing a wrecked bus
    Best Season
    Year-round, though winter dry season offers better topside conditions for the boat transfer
  • Conception Island (Wall Dives)
    Type
    wall
    Depth
    Wall tops around 40–45 ft, dropping vertically to over 6,000 ft
    Access
    Day-boat only — Conception Island lies about 13 miles northeast of Long Island's north end and requires a longer boat trip, not a quick local dive; described by operators as some of the most beautiful and easiest wall diving in the Bahamas and the wider Caribbean
    Best Season
    Year-round, but calmer seas and better crossing conditions are more likely December–April
    Marine Life
    Sponges and soft corals along the wall (best appreciated with a dive light), lobsters and groupers in the reef flat
  • Rum Cay Dive Sites (Including HMS Conqueror Wreck)
    Type
    wreck and coral wall
    Depth
    HMS Conqueror wreck lies in about 30 ft (9 m) of water
    Access
    Day-boat only — Long Island is described as a launching point for trips to Rum Cay, which requires a longer boat journey than the local sites
    Features
    The wreck of HMS Conqueror, a 101-gun British Navy ship that sank off Rum Cay in 1861; the rotted hull still shows cannons, cannonballs, an engine and propeller shaft, now colonized by coral and fish life. Nearby coral walls host a colorful array of marine life.
    Best Season
    Year-round; December–April for calmer crossing conditions

Seasonal Conditions

Visibility
Bahamas-wide visibility is frequently excellent, commonly cited in the 80–100 ft range, with the clearest conditions typically in the winter/dry season when there is less plankton in the water
Hurricane Season
Official hurricane season runs June through November, with August and September carrying the highest storm risk; diving is still possible in this period but boat trips and itineraries can be disrupted by sea conditions and rain-related visibility drops, especially nearer shore
Peak Dive Season
December through April is generally considered the best window — stable weather, calmer seas, and the best visibility
Water Temperature
Roughly 88°F (31°C) in summer months, cooling to around 70–75°F (21–24°C) in the coldest winter months (Jan–March), meaning a wetsuit (3mm–5mm) is advisable outside of peak summer heat

Courses And Operators

Typical Cost

Status
unconfirmed
Note
No current, Long-Island-specific pricing for Open Water or other certification courses could be verified. Published PADI course pricing found in research applies to Nassau/New Providence operators (a different island), not Long Island, so it is not included here to avoid misattributing costs to the wrong location.

Operator Density

Detail
PADI's official dive-shop directory currently shows no listed PADI dive shop on Long Island, while PADI's own destination guide separately credits Stella Maris as one of the Bahamas' longest-running dive operations, suggesting either a lapse in current PADI affiliation/listing or a very limited, resort-attached operator base rather than multiple independent named dive shops.
Assessment
Very low — this is a sparsely-served dive market compared to hubs like Nassau or Grand Bahama.

Freediving Crossover

Detail
Long Island is home to the world's deepest known saltwater blue hole, a site with major global freediving significance. However, it could not be confirmed at the time of research whether the island's scuba-focused operators (e.g., Stella Maris) also run structured freediving certification courses, or whether freediving instruction here is offered by separate, seasonal, or event-specific operators rather than the general dive shops.
Assessment
genuine site-level crossover, but operator-level details unconfirmed

Certifying Bodies And Levels

Details
PADI's own destination page identifies Stella Maris as the island's flagship, long-running dive operation, implying PADI Open Water-level instruction has historically been available there.
Confirmed
PADI
Other Agencies
No evidence found of SSI, NAUI, SDI, or other agencies operating certification courses on Long Island specifically.
Levels Beyond Open Water
Not confirmed for Long Island specifically. No reliable current source could verify whether Advanced Open Water, Rescue, or Divemaster-level courses are actively offered here right now.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026

This section has no cited sources.

More About Long Island Bahamas

Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.