Barbados' best kept scuba diving secret
Did I ever tell you about the time my brother and I went scuba diving and came across an intact sunken yellow submarine in Barbados?
There are many theories as to how it got there. Legend has it that this sub belonged to a tycoon who had ordered a customised sub for his yacht while he was in Barbados. When his submarine wasn't going to be ready in time for him to show it off to a group of friends who were visiting him on his yacht, he had an (empty) replica made, just so that he could show his friends what he had planned. Once they saw it, he asked for the replica to be sunk near to where his yacht was moored. Sounds ridiculous right? I didn't believe it either until my brother showed it to me while hunting lionfish on the West coast of the island. Check out the video below if you don't believe me...
Lo and behold, there it was, an approx. 40 ft long shell of a yellow submarine hub, with nothing inside! It was pretty eerie, and yet I couldn't help but start humming "Yellow Submarine" when I saw it. Sorry for the grainy photos, but the light wasn't working with me and the GoPro video footage is much more clear.
To top it all off, the visibility was decent and there were quite a few fish around! My brother managed to shoot some fat lionfish for dinner.
Pesky lionfish
I've talked about this invasive species before but I'll mention it again! Lionfish wreak havoc on our marine ecosystems in the Caribbean Hunting them is one way to keep their populations in check. Spearing them is the most sustainable way to catch them. Because of this, they are listed as one of the most sustainable fish choices in Barbados on the Slow Food Barbados Sustainable Seafood Guide.
Something that also struck me as we swam around was how isolated we felt; I'm used to scuba diving in more popular spots in Barbados where you're likely to see a few people around you. We were on our own out here, and it felt really peaceful.
We continued on to explore the The Pamir lying nearby, which used to be a cargo ship before it was intentionally sunk off the coast. Most of its large hull still remains intact, and it's easy to navigate. The belly of this wreck is home to quite a few schools of fish, eels and lobsters. I played around with the GoPro while Josh tucked in to the hull to shoot more lionfish. At certain points the sun hid behind a cloud and the whole ship went quite dark, so I made sure to stick quite close to Josh.
To be honest, I don't know how long it's been there, or whether this story is true, but it was a really fun dive. My only concern with this submarine is whether it was wrecked properly without any damage to the reef or the ocean.
I'm not disclosing the location, because some things are just better kept a secret.
