Snorkeling Harbour Island
Called Briland by residents, Harbour Island rests off the northeast shoulder of Eleuthera. Only one and a half square miles in size, Briland is accessible by water taxi or private boat only. The island is home to Dunmore Town, one of the quaintest, prettiest little communities in the country. Brightly painted homes shine in a subdued rainbow of subtle pastel hues. In the morning, the rising sun breaks the surface of the ocean, glinting red off the gleaming surface of the island’s famous, pink sand beach.
Meander down the quiet, seaside lanes and admire the Victorian filigrees decorating the homes. Watch as fishermen pull their boats up onto the sloping shore. Enjoy the profusion of aromatic, flowering bushes lining the streets. Harbour Island presents a gentle, slightly reserved, but welcoming air that permits solitary wanderings or warm conversation. It’s your choice.
The Devil’s Backbone, a ridge of barely submerged coral reefs stretching across the northern edge of Harbour Island and Eleuthera, has been the final resting place for dozens of vessels over the years. Today, that same area of sorrow is a place of joy for snorkelers exploring the waters. Enjoy a sense of history mingled with an appreciation of the marine world as fish mill around ancient anchors embedded in the coral.
Harbour Island Snorkeling Sites
Man Island – You’ll find octopus and sea cucumbers in every crevice.
Sea Gardens – A horse shoe shaped reef with an over abundance of corals an d funny looking creatures.
Pink House – A breathtaking elkhorn forest with caverns filled with silversides lead out to the reef.
Devil’s Backbone – A stretch of more than three miles of pristine reef.
Potato & Onion Wreck – A spectacular natural shipwreck 200 feet long and sunk in 1895 in just 15 feet of water.
Tunnel Reef – Is a big Swiss-cheese shaped coral head nearly a quarter of a mile round featuring tunnels.
Carnavon Wreck – A natural disaster wreck in just 30 feet of water sunk in 1918.
Cienfuegas Wreck – Sift through the wreckage of a passenger liner for dishes and portholes.
Three Fingers – A good beginning for young snorkelers. Shallow corals with lots of fish to chase around.
Train Wreck – A train which fell off a barge during the American Civil War.
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