Caribbean · Bahamas
San Salvador
Sheer lee-side walls with hammerheads passing in the cooler winter months
Photo: James St. John · CC BY 2.0
San Salvador is a remote Bahamas island open to the ocean, its lee coast lined with vertical walls. Diving runs from two resorts: Riding Rock, with Guanahani Divers at its marina, and Club Med Columbus Isle, with 30 sites between 6 and 40 m. Runway 10 sits three minutes from the Riding Rock dock, Shark Alley has a 24 m (80 ft) plateau, and scalloped hammerheads pass along the walls in the cooler winter months.
About diving in San Salvador
Diving here is resort diving by boat. Riding Rock keeps two dive boats at its own marina, which also houses Guanahani Divers, rental gear and storage, and the boats leave around 9:00 am for the first of two morning dives. Most sites lie close to the marina on the island's lee side, so rough seas are rarely met; Runway 10 is three minutes out and Telephone Pole five. Club Med Columbus Isle's dive centre, run with its partner Seafari, lists 30 sites between 5 and 40 minutes from the resort, at depths from 6 to 40 m.
Almost every site is a wall. Some drop vertically from 12 m (40 ft) or shallower to hundreds of metres (thousands of feet), while the reef on top lets a diver keep a shallow profile without going deeper than 12 m. RRI Wall is a straight cliff to 30 m (100 ft), Doctor John's is a coral garden laced with tunnels and crevices, and Witch's Cauldron sits above a gently sloping wall covered in barrel sponges and large coral heads. Visibility can reach 30 m (100 ft) or more, and the island's exposure to the open ocean brings scalloped hammerheads to the walls.
San Salvador suits divers who are comfortable on a wall with nothing below, and who want a remote island where the boat ride is minutes rather than an hour. Hammerheads are a winter sighting rather than a year-round one, and Caribbean reef sharks are frequent visitors, with nurse sharks, reef octopus and Nassau groupers on the reef.
Best time to dive San Salvador
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good |
Hammerheads are seen in the cooler winter months; June to November is the Bahamas hurricane season, when rain storms are expected.
Dive types & marine life
Scalloped hammerheads are seen regularly in the cooler winter months, and at Runway 10 they swim parallel to the wall above the deep ledge. Caribbean reef sharks are frequent, nurse sharks, reef octopus and Nassau groupers are regular, and eagle rays turn up occasionally.
- Wall
- Reef
- Night
- Hammerheads
- Reef sharks
- Groupers
- Eagle rays
- Octopus & cuttlefish
Best dive sites in San Salvador
- 1
Runway 10
Wall three minutes from the Riding Rock marina, where hammerheads sometimes swim above the deep ledge.
- 2
Shark Alley
Wall with a plateau at 24 m (80 ft); sharks are often seen in the deep water or over the plateau.
- 3
North Pole Cave
Wall just behind the boat, dropping sharply from 12 m (40 ft) to beyond 45 m (150 ft).
- 4
RRI Wall
A dramatic drop-off forming a straight cliff down to 30 m (100 ft).
- 5
La Crevasse
Wall top at 11 m (35 ft) running parallel to the shore.
- 6
Doctor John's
A large coral garden on the reef, wrapped around tunnels and deep crevices along the wall.
Site guides
Wall
Overhanging cliff hung with black coral trees and deep-water gorgonians
Wall
Three crevices and a lone coral head shaped like a claw
Wall
A keyhole tunnel through a split-off ridge, marked by hanging rope sponges
Wall
A crevice over 60 m (200 ft) long, branching into caves and tunnels
Wall
A chimney-like vertical cave dropping into a crevice out over the wall
Wall
A straight cliff to 30 m (100 ft) two minutes from the marina
Wall
Hammerheads occasionally swim parallel to the wall above the deep ledge
Wall
Sharks seen off the deep wall or over the 24 m (80 ft) plateau
Approachable schools of grunts and squirrelfish on a shallow photo reef
Wall
A cut through the wall marked by a large gorgonian photographed since 1974
How to get to San Salvador
Bahamasair runs a daily scheduled flight from Nassau to the island's 1,341 m (4,400 ft) paved airstrip, and charters land there too; boats can come in to Riding Rock's deep-water marina. Both dive operations are based inside the two resorts.
Photos from San Salvador
James St. John · CC BY 2.0
James St. John · CC BY 2.0
Dive videos
San Salvador Bahamas Scuba Diving April 2023 - Sharks, Rays and more · Live and Let Dive on YouTube
Best dive video sequences from San Salvador, The Bahamas. · Weightless Adventures on YouTube
Questions divers ask
When are hammerheads seen at San Salvador?+
Scalloped hammerheads are seen regularly in the cooler winter months, and at Runway 10 they swim parallel to the wall above the deep ledge. June to November is hurricane season, when rain storms are expected.
What certification do the San Salvador wall dives need?+
Open Water covers the reef tops at 12 m, but the walls fall far past recreational limits, so buoyancy matters. Shark Alley has a plateau at 24 m (80 ft) where sharks are often seen.
How do divers get to San Salvador?+
Bahamasair runs a daily scheduled flight from Nassau to the island's 1,341 m (4,400 ft) paved airstrip, and charters land there too. Both dive operations are based inside the two resorts.
Sources
- Bahamas Scuba Diving | Shark Diving in The Bahamas & San Salvador — Riding Rock Resort & Marina
- Bahamas Travel Info — Riding Rock Resort & Marina
- Runway 10 dive site — Riding Rock Resort & Marina
- Scuba diving vacations in the Bahamas — Club Med
- San Salvador Island — Wikipedia
- Bahamas — Wikivoyage
Photo credits
- Several branching orange-yellow elkhorn coral colonies on a reef, with sea fans and coral heads behind. by James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- A single grey triggerfish with dark-edged fins swimming over pale sand. by James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- A flat, sand-coloured flounder covered in pale blue rings lying on the sandy seafloor. by James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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