Scuba diving Grenada and Carriacou Silver Diving

SCUBA MAX and Mrs Max stepped off the beaten track some 17 years ago.
Not that the tiny island of Carriacou is that far away from sophisticated civilisation, it is afterall just a short hop from the popular tourist destination of its sister island Grenada.
But this Caribbean paradise is a throwback to the time when life moved at a much slower pace. And I mean much slower.
Gazing down the main street of the island’s capital, Hillsborough the first thought that came into my head to describe it was ‘one horse town’.
And I mean that with the greatest respect
For that means the island has been able to retain all of its unspoilt Caribbean charm, a charm that has made people from the four corners of the world decide to sell up and settle here.



Unspoilt charm also equals unspoilt diving.

Visitors to Carriacou can’t help but feel that they are among a small band of explorers who have thrown off the shackles of the package break to sample its underwater delights.

It feels as close to virgin diving as it gets without the need to lug dive kit along mile after mile of overgrown muddy rainforest path or take three days of planes, trains, automobiles, bicycles, sampans and donkeys to finally arrive at the chosen dive destination.

There is nothing virgin about the diving at all and you can get here easily on many a package break. It’s just that the island has not sought to build brassy hotels to drag in tourists at the expense of its own ambience.

Yet only a small number of people venture to the island every year meaning those that do get to enjoy what travelling is all about – immersing oneself in the culture and making friends with the
locals.
Granted Max and his wife Claudia are originally from Germany, but they are as good as locals now.

Max - his given name is Werner but when locals struggled to pronounce it they adopted his middle name instead - ended up on the 13 square mile blot of lush green amid a sea of blue almost by accident.
Offered a half-price spot on a dive trip at the last minute when another diver dropped out, he felt it rude not to accept and so began his love with the island. He and Claudia eventually quit the rat race and moved to the island in 1993.
The locals nicknamed him ScubaMax and Claudia soon earned the moniker Mrs Max which is still shouted to her in warm greeting when she is out shopping.
Now they have a beachfront PADI 5 Star Dive Resort Carricou Silver Diving in their own slice of Caribbean paradise – and it’s probably one of the region’s best kept secrets.

Using a small ‘cigarette’ piroque boat, Max likes to keep his dive groups small. There is no lemonade like conditions with crowds of divers underwater here.
While its larger neighbour of Grenada is pitching itself as the Caribbean’s premier wreck diving hotspot, Carriacou offers a natural wonder instead of a manmade one.
Max promised that the reefs around the south of the island housed 30 to 40 per cent more aquatic life than its larger neighbour.
Rather than assume such a bold statement makes Grenada a poor second by comparison, it actually makes Carriacou something even more special.
Pristine is the only way to describe the handful of dive sites I sampled.
Sharkie’s Hideaway, beneath Mabouya Island, a short ten minute boat ride away, was awash with colour and rich in splendour and diversity.
The reef topped out at eight metres and extended down a steep slope to a sandy plateau at about 25 metres, making it an ideal spot for all divers.
No sooner had we rolled backwards off the boat, than Max and I were surrounded by a shimmering blue shoal of fish that stuck with us, flashes of silver lighting up the water as their bodies reflected the sun bursting through the surface, as the gentle drift picked us up and carried us over the reef covered in soft and whip corals.
Unfortunately the sharks took the dive site name literally and stayed well hidden.
So we had to explore for our delights.
I had never been one for small critters – probably because I am not great at spotting them – but on this reef you couldn’t miss them, making it a perfect spot for macro photography.

Coral banded shrimp were everywhere, sharing the hideaways with small moray eels, colourful coral shrimps, crabs and lobsters.
Eventually the reef turned to a rock garden extending from about 12 metres. Snaking through the canyons, in and out of the current, we were treated to large schools of chub and glassy sweepers tucked under an overhang.

In the crevices, I spotted a sculptured slipper lobster, a small crustacean with a broad flat body and eyes on the carapace. Get too close and they will vanish in the blink of an eye such is the great bursts of speed they are capable of.

Unfortunately the sharks took the dive site name literally and stayed well hidden.
Such is Max’s love of the ocean and his desire to give his customers the best time, he put no time limit on the dive and only called it some 75 minutes later as we finally hit 50bar.
Getting back in the boat is similar to using a rib and it was back to the dive centre for a wash down and a chill.
The well-equipped centre itself sits nestled amongst its own tropical gardens on main road that runs in front of the sands of Hillsborough’s golden beach and its facilities have been well thought out.
I can always tell how good a dive centre is with what has become known as the XS Wife Test. Alison stands at a little over 5ft tall and needs an extra small BCD for comfort.
The better centres around the world can easily accommodate her, the not so good try to fit her in a small even though it means the cylinder rolls around on her back. Even though it is off the beaten track, Carriacou Silver Diving passed with flying colours.

Pushing the boat out a bit further the following day we headed to Sisters Rocks, two small guano covered pinnacles that dramatically break the surface, about 15 minutes from the island.
Here the current pumps a little bit more in places making a more energetic drift dive stretching down to 30metres at Barracuda Point and 40 metres at The Deep Blue.
The site itself is unique. On the north side where the current rips you along, the reef is covered in an underwater forest of giant black gorgonians, a variety unlike anything I have seen before.
Here you can expect to see eagle rays, but thanks to a day of poor viz, they remained elusively out of eyesight.
As you round Big Sister, the current drops and the reef changes shape into soft corals and sea fans.

It is here that the reef really comes to life with the velvet corals swaying softly in the gentle surge sweeping back and forth over the reef. And it was here the nurse sharks could be found, nestled amongst the reef itself.

Back on terra firma, our equipment washed down and packed away, we relaxed in the gardens of the dive centre with the couple’s dog Buster sat at our feet. As the sun went down and the bay gleamed brightly under the glimmering white moonlight ­­– giving you a hint of where the centre got its silver name from.

And then Max revealed another of the island’s surprises.
“I always wanted to be a chef,” he said as he promised us a feast later that night.
You see, Hurricane Ivan that hit the island a few years back actually did Max and Claudia a favour.
After the devastation, they managed to secure a plot of land right next door to their purpose built dive centre and finally realise a long held dream; they built their own restaurant, Lyme and Dine
Surrounded by beautiful gardens, the menu is European with a Caribbean twist and changes daily, depending on what Max wants to cook on the day.
And trust me, his food is as mouth-wateringly tasty as the island is stunning and the restaurant proved the perfect way to unwind after the day’s diving.
Sat on the porch, the crickets clicking in the background like some Hollywood cliché, we tucked into pork and fresh seafood washed down with a wonderful bottle of red
The couple wanted their little oasis to be a place to relax, enjoy some good diving, good company and great food with the same personal touch at the heart of their dining experience as their diving one.
While Carriacou may delightfully be a little bit off the beaten track, ScubaMax and Mrs Max proved it didn’t mean you had to go without a luxury or two.

See the guide for more details.

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