Snorkeling Near Nassau in The Bahamas

Nassau, the capital and largest city of The Bahamas, doesn't come to mind as the first destination for nature-lovers in the 700-island nation. The municipality lies on the small island of New Providence, which is home to 70% of the entire country's population. And on the day I visited off of the Caribbean Princess cruise ship, three other mega-liners were berthed. Meanwhile construction is underway to expand the port to eventually accommodate up to twelve ships at any give time.

Just to the north of the bustling town lies even more development on Paradise Island, home to luxury resorts and vacation homes for superstars like Oprah Winfrey and Tom Cruise. However the crowded barrier island is only the first in a string of sandy cays and reefs that extend to the next populated island, Eleuthera, fifty miles away. One of the first of these islets, Athol Island, was my destination for a morning snorkeling tour to two coral reefs.

A small boat from Stuart Cove's picked up myself and a group of fellow Princess passengers right next to our ship. Cruise ships towered like skyscrapers as we made our way out of the cruise port. After passing under two high bridges connecting Paradise Island, our pleasure craft picked up speed as we traversed the less crowded east end of Nassau Harbor. We quickly reached the first of our two stops just a couple of miles away from the mega liners and construction cranes.

Parrotfish Reef followed by Angelfish Reef were the names of the spots we snorkeled off of Athol Island, which today sits in a national marine park. The low-rising isle is deserted now but was once a quarantine station for people with deadly diseases like cholera and yellow fever.

Jumping off the tour boat into the first reef's shallow, tepid saltwater, I quickly spotted the largest angelfish I had ever seen, a gray angelfish. Easily the circumference of an LP vinyl record, the striking creatures might have been some of the most abundant fish on the reef, second only to sergeant majors. While the angelfish was dull in color, its bright white lips and tessellated scales, not to mention its large size, made a fascinating subject to photograph.

Another angelfish on hand, the queen, was more colorful but much smaller than the gray, and in far fewer numbers. Unsurprisingly, parrotfish abounded, notably the stoplight in both initial and terminal phases. In addition, I easily spotted Atlantic blue tangs and identified a number of Spanish hogfish. A large spiny lobster lay motionless on the sea bottom, hopefully safe from fisherman and seafood-hungry tourists.

Minutes away at the snorkel tour's next stop at Angelfish Reef, in addition to the stoplight, I encountered two more parrotfish species, the princess and the redband. (Based on my personal discoveries, I would swap the reefs' names.) I also found two varieties of butterflyfish: the foureye and the spotfin. Wrasses and snappers were more difficult subjects to photograph, the former quite tiny to focus on, the latter quite large but too timid to come near. Luckily poised motionless below me was a very inactive trumpetfish that afforded me some of my best shots.

At both stops it might have been the abundance and variety of coral that most impressed me. Aweing me were a number of soft and hard species, including sea fan, brain, and pillar. In addition, unique sponges in the shapes of baskets dotted the underwater landscape.

Whether named Angelfish or Parrotfish Reef, the sites were each rich coral reefs that nurtured not only their namesake fish but a countless number of other marine denizens. I was thrilled to discover that such a pristine snorkeling destination lay within sight of The Bahamas' busiest port and city.