Devotion 2 Ocean Scuba Centre - Grenada, West Indies

Introduction

Here in Grenada we boast a wide variety of dive sites accommodating both beginners and Advanced divers. Whether you are a diving enthusiast who can’t get enough, or a complete novice, we have it all!

Reefs to suit all levels ranging form 10m/30ft to awe inspiring 30m/99ft.
Wrecks are in abundance ranging from 12m/40ft to 40m/130ft.

D2O Scuba is proud to be the only dive centre in Grenada with its own house reef. This is perfect to get you back into the swing of things after a period of diving inactivity and this reef is where we conduct our discover scuba diving resort course. This gentle reef begins in a shallow sand patch at 3m/10ft and gently slopes to a max depth of 12/40ft.

At D2O, all dives are lead by qualified PADI Instructors or Dive Masters.

 

Caribbean

Bianca C Depth Range 30-40 Metres / 99-132ft

The Bianca ‘C’ – Famously known as The Titanic of the Caribbean. This 180m/600ft long Italian Cruise Liner was active from 1949-1961. For the latter part of her life she was owned by Costa Line Italy. On October 27th 1961, whilst on anchor outside St. Georges harbour, she caught fire from an explosion in the engine room. This explosion killed two members of crew which were to be the only fatalities. The Bianca ‘C’ started to sink, miraculously all passengers were spared as local fishing vessels came to assist in rescue efforts. A nearby British War ship came to the assistance, attached lines and attempted to tow her into deeper water on the Atlantic side of the Island. The effort failed and the warship released her lines one mile offshore, near point salines. Here she lies today in her watery grave in 52m/170ft covered in black coral trees and sponges, and patrolled by barracuda, rays, and occasional black tip, and bull sharks.

Boss Reef  Depth Range 12-20 Metres / 40-66ft

Boss Reef is the mother reef in Grenada, stretching around 5.5 miles/8.8Km from the mouth of St. George’s harbour to almost point salines. This fringing reef system is home to numerous sea creatures and critters from giant green moray eels to arrow crabs to nudibranch. As boss reef is so long it is often dived in different places upper, middle and lower. Either way, whichever part of Boss reef you dive on will be a fantastic dive, full of marine life.

Kahonnee Depth Range 12-18 Metres / 40-60ft

Kahonee is another stretch of the mother reef, typically a shallower site with plenty of marine life from Christmas tree worms, to turtles! Brilliant sponges litter this reef, undulating coral that slopes down to sandy fingers where you can find lobster, purple spotted moray eels, nurse sharks, and much more. Perhaps this explains why Kahonee is a favorite amongst the D2O dive leaders. See the above photo of the small hawksbill turtle named “squirt” by D2O dive crew who is often found on this site. This is a must see site for all reef lovers.

Northern Exposure Depth range 12-25Metres / 40-80ft

Northern Exposure is an extensive shallow coral reef, fantastic for a gentle dive with plenty to see. Snapper, rock hind, purple Creole wrasse, lobster, banded jaw fish and many more. An abundance of plate coral gives shelter to many sea creatures. Fire-worms and Christmas tree worms can be spotted if you pay close attention to the plate coral and sponges.

Purple Rain Depth Range 12-28 Metres / 40-90ft

This dive site was given its name because of the abundance of purple Creole wrasse that school overhead darting simultaneously in a synchronized pattern giving an effect of a purple tropical shower of rain. This is one of D2O’s favorite sites for drift dives, with green and hawksbill turtle, southern stingray, lobster, sharks, and seahorses all potential sightings. Plate, black, fan and whip coral are amongst some of the fantastic coral life on purple rain. Soft coral; purple and orange vase sponges mixed with gorgonians and an abundance of critters and creatures makes purple rain a diverse dive site appealing to all divers.

Quarter Wreck Depth Range 12-18 Metres / 40-60ft

As the name suggest, this site is a quarter of a wreck. This former cargo vessel was being moved, and in the process broke apart and sank in scattered pieces off quarantine point. Fortunately, the stern section sank in shallow water, and now is home to some exquisite marine life and lies upon a colourful coral bed. Plate corals provide shelter for the occasional nurse sharks, whilst the wreck itself often houses a giant green moray eel. Peep into crevices to find shy lobster, and graseby hiding themselves. Parrot fish, pipe fish, southern stingray, and garden eels can also be seen on this gentle reef.

Shakem Depth range 18-30 Metres / 60-100ft

The Shakem sank on the 30th May 2001 after a troubled journey from Trinidad. This 55m/180ft long German cargo vessel was carrying cement between Trinidad and Grenada, the cargo shifted, overbalancing the vessel a mile off St. George’s harbour, where she sank in 30m/100ft of water. She now lays bolt upright on her keel and is still very well intact and full of life. Swim-through's into the hallways, crew quarters, crane control room, and galleys makes this a favorite amongst our wreck lovers. Barracuda patrol her and black coral grows all over, with a beautiful pair of French Angel fish and an occasional shark lying underneath the ship.

Veronica L Depth Range 10 -15 Metres / 33- 50ft

The Veronica ‘L’ is a cargo vessel which was formerly located outside the town of St. Georges. She sunk on her mooring and was dived upon here for a few years. Upon announcement of the building of the new cruise ship terminal in 2002, it was decided that the Veronica ‘L’ should be moved rather than break the vessel. A dive team moved her from her original location to her new ground where she has already become encrusted in soft sponges of orange, pink and green. She is also home to some beautiful frogfish, but you need to know where to look!!

Whibbles Depth Range 18-30 Metres / 60-100ft

Whibbles reef is the perfect deep reef, either as a dive site by itself or as an extension of bottom time after Bianca ‘C’. Whibbles is home to some beautiful marine life, such as sting and eagle rays, turtle, lobster, moray eels, and big blue runner, bar and horse eye jacks. Amongst a forest of gorgonians, barrel sponge, brain and plate coral. Watch out for Lobster hiding in the reef, as well as rays, laying camouflaged in the sandy pathways or gliding through the deep blue off the shelf of the reef.

Windmill Shallows: Depth range 18-28Metres / 60ft-90ft

With no windmills, and depths around 25m/83ft it’s hard to know just how this site gets its name. None-the-less a fantastic deep reef covered in brain coral and home to large grouper. This reef also offers a skeleton of a wrecked catamaran AKA: “Rhum Runner” which lies off the reef in a deep sand patch around 30m/99ft, which adds an interesting addition to the reef. The wreck itself is patrolled by great barracuda, and large southern stingrays are often seen camouflaged in the sandy bed.

Atlantic Side

Grenada is fortunate enough to have both Caribbean and Atlantic sea on either side of the island. The East side of the Island is the Atlantic side where there is some fantastic dive sites and plenty more to be discovered. The Atlantic side sites give rise to stronger currents, cooler, crisper water and a different variety of aquatic life.

Shark Reef: Depth Range: 12-20 Metres/ 40-65ft

Shark reef is where we find a lot of the smaller nurse sharks on the Atlantic side. This is a very popular dive site with guests, and dive crew alike due to her wide variety of life. This reef gives the feel of swimming in an aquarium. Visibility is usually good as the sediment is moved along by the current and the marine life is simply exquisite. Stronger currents can make this a more challenging dive but considered to be one of the best reefs off the Island of Grenada. Spiny lobster, King crab, Turtle, Stingrays, large snapper, file fish, trigger fish, are all common sightings on shark reef.

King Mitch: Depth Range: 30-37 Metres/ 99-125ft

This former mine sweeper, turned cargo vessel is a monster of a wreck. She is 105m/350ft long and lies 7 miles offshore on her starboard side and her bow points to the west. Her watery grave is 37m/122ft, and the deep blue gives rise to frequent sightings of spotted eagle rays, black tip sharks and nurse sharks. Check out the cargo hold with a flash light, and see the cosmetic bottles, nail varnish and cologne she was carrying along with bags of cement. Barracuda patrol her almost protecting the ship, and keep an eye out for large turtle, especially during tide changes.

Hema 1: Depth range: 25-30 Metres 85-99ft

Hema 1 is a freighter located 3 miles off the south coast of Grenada.
She sank on March 5th 2005 on her way back to Trinidad from Grenada
having offloaded its cargo in St. Georges harbour. This German built
vessel was an iner-island freighter registered originally in
Kingstown, St. Vincent. Hema 1 is 50m/170ft long and she lies in
30m/100ft of water. She started taking on water in high seas on the
Atlantic side of the Island, Hema 1 tried to turn around but the efforts
were thwarted and she was abandoned. Here, the Grenada coast guard
stepped in to rescue the crew members. Hema 1 joins The King Mitch as another of Grenada's "must see" attractions for wreck thirsty divers!

 

 

National Marine Park

Flamingo Bay: Depth range 5-30 Metres / 15-100ft

This is the location of our snorkel trip – Lush rainforest backdrop provides a tropical feeling against the crystal clear turquoise water.
Flamingo Bay is the northern most point of Grenada’s National Marine Park. This particular name given to the dive site is due to the large number of flamingo tongues (nudibranch’s) that are found here, primarily on the fan coral. Plenty of whip coral and gorgonians are found on this site, as well as purple vase sponges, orange and red soft corals. It is here that you are most likely to find shy sea horses, camouflaging themselves against the soft sponge. Scorpion fish are also found here watch out where you put you hands though as they are very difficult to see and can deliver quite a nasty venom. Manta Rays have often been spotted here feeding just below the surface.

Molinere Bay Depth range 4 – 25 Metres / 12-90ft

This shallow reef is ideal for both snorkeling and diving. There is an abundance of juvenile fishes, from mahogany and yellow fin snapper to huge scorpion fish and this site is also a prime location for seahorses. This site is also just to the east of the wreck ‘Buccaneer’ which gives this dive site a wide variety of options for the dive leader.

The Buccaneer is a 13m/43ft wooden schooner that was intentionally sunk off Molinére point for the purpose of diving. She lies on her starboard side in 18m/60ft of water and is covered in whip and black coral. The coral provides habitat for interesting marine life. Check out inside the wreck with a flashlight where lobsters can be seen and peep through the port holes to find some interesting spider crabs. This wreck is a great additional extra as part of Molinére reef, or it’s possible to dive on the Buccaneer as the main site and then extend bottom time by coming up shallow onto the reef.

Molinere is also home to the first Under Water Sculpture Park. The sculptures were put down by an English artist who is also a Scuba Diver, as an additional snorkeling site to Flamingo bay. The sculptures that are based on Grenadian folk tale characters and sculpted using locals are now interesting artificial reefs.

 

North End

The north end of the Island boasts a pristine reef system and yet it is rarely explored. The area in which we dive is called Isle de Rhonde, and depending upon sea condition, is an hour and a half boat journey away from the D2O Dive Centre. Interesting and plentiful underwater flora and fauna is to be found here as well as Black tip, Silky and Grey reef sharks. Hawksbill and Green turtles also frequent these waters as do southern stingray and eagle rays.

D2O offer day trips to Isle de Rhonde on request, subject to a minimum of 6 experienced divers. This full day trip includes; a two tank dive (dive one on arrival, and one in the early afternoon), lunch, sight seeing opportunities and refreshments. The north end of the Island boasts some breath taking scenery; lush green rainforest, rock formations, and cascading waterfalls. The sister Island of Grenada, Carriacou can be seen from Isle de Rhonde and many believe the view of the Islands from the water is worth the trip alone!