Just off the coast of Staniel Cay in the beautiful Exuma Cays, lies an underwater cavern paradise called Thunderball Grotto. It acquired its name because it was one of the filming sites for the 1965 James Bond movie “Thunderball”. Thunderball Grotto has since been used in the filming of several other movies such as Never Say Never Again, Splash and Into the Blue.
By boat, Thunderball Grotto is just a couple of minutes from Staniel Cay and we were so excited to get to explore it during our recent stay at Embrace Resort. The island itself is composed of sharp rocks and a few shrubs – not giving away a clue as to the wonderland underneath.
A faded sign on the island indicates the location of the grotto and says
“Welcome to Thunderbird Grotto – No Fishing – Take Only Photos”
During low tide, snorkeler’s can enter the cave through a small opening on the west side of the small island.
Our guide pointed us in the direction of the opening and encouraged us to swim right in.
Not quite sure just what we would be swimming into and hoping that it would be more spacious than the original opening, we ducked down and made our way in.
Sure enough, just a few feet in, it began to open up.
Once inside, we began to get a glimpse of the cavern. The colors of the water and the walls were absolutely amazing and it was soooo much lighter inside than we imagined.
Underwater, rays of sunshine highlighted the beautiful coral.
And sergeant majors were abundant.
But we thought the most amazing feature of Thunderbird Grotto was the grotto’s size and colors once inside. The openings in the ceiling let generous amounts of light in and apparently the adventurous sometimes jump into the cavern through these holes. Yikes.
The current eventually brought us to the other end of the grotto,
Where we swam out through a much larger opening to our waiting boat.
Have you been to Thunderball Grotto? Tell us about it!
Find Thunderball Grotto on our Bahamas Map
You might also be interested in the following posts from this area:
The Swimming Pigs of the Exuma Cays
Swimming With Sharks on Compass Cay
To see more posts on the Bahamas and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory
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