San Salvador Dive Guide

San Salvador is one of the eastern-most islands of the Bahamas. It is believed that the island was the first landfall of Christopher Columbus in the New World, and there are a few monuments to that accepted history on the island, as well as in the waters. The island is home to only around 1,000 people, and it's main industry is tourism. The reefs along the western coast are well known in some scuba circles, and can offer excellent diving.

Getting to San Salvador

San Salvador's tiny airstrip can be reached from several islands in the Bahamas, and in season there is a more or less daily flight from Miami. The other option if Miami is not viable is to fly via Nassau. Note that this may involve an overnight stay in one direction or the other, if not both.

San Salvador Dive Resorts

There are in effect only two options to stay on the island: the Riding Rock resort and the nearby Club Med. Both resorts have fully staffed dive operations, and even share nitrox facilities. If you're going with a group that includes non-divers, the Club Med will have more options. The Riding Rock Resort is definitely a cheaper option, and while it may not be posh, it is comfortable and the staff seem to go out of their way to help you.

Outside of the two resorts, there really isn't any place else to stay, so there also aren't any other dive operators.

The Diving

Most dive sites are within a short boat ride of the resorts. A full dive package is usually three dives a day. You do two boat dives in the morning, returning to the resort for lunch, followed by a third dive in the afternoon. The underwater landscape is generally a sloping sandy bottom with some coral outcrops, which ends at a low fringing reef, the other side of which plunges down steeply. The island is somewhat famous for sharks, which patrol the reef. We saw them on almost every dive.