Near the end of our honeymoon sailing charter aboard Sail La Vie, we sailed 90 miles from the Berry Islands to Bimini, Bahamas. It was an all-day trip through rough seas, and we were glad to reach our destination: Honeymoon Harbour, a small anchorage at the top of Gun Cay. We arrived late, the moon’s reflection was bright on the water.
Honeymoon Harbour is basically a beach, but it’s not your average stretch of shoreline. People come from all over to do what they’d normally avoid at typical beaches: swim with nurse sharks and stingrays.
Your first reaction might be what ours was: wait, what? Isn’t that—dangerous? But stingrays aren’t aggressive (unless you accidentally step on one), and the slow-moving nurse sharks are generally docile towards humans. It helped that the stingrays and sharks at Honeymoon Harbour are used to people; they swim right up and eat food straight from your hand.
So that’s what we did. In our wedding clothes. After jumping off the dock.
Time to Trash the Dress
Ever since we decided on an adventure elopement in the Bahamas, I was set on a Trash the Dress session. What better way to celebrate our marriage and our future life on the water than to do something as freeing and whimsical as this? Wedding dresses are orderly, clean, and perfect, with everything in its place. To wear it while jumping into the ocean—among sea creatures, no less—felt symbolic of everything that’s to come: we’re leaving behind the schedules and predictability and order of a typical life to jump into an adventure.
This session made my Trash the Dress dreams come true. @freediversteph’s on-board photographer Laurent got in the water with a dome on his camera, half the lens in the water and half the lens out. We were thrilled with the pictures; he captured both the creatures below and us on the dock in our wedding clothes.
After we jumped, we got up close and personal with the stingrays and nurse sharks. You can’t tell this from the photos, but Cole had fish scraps in his hand, trying to attract the animals for the best photo ops. It was such a weird, juxtaposed experience: He was in a tux, yet waist-deep in seawater clutching dead fish.
How can you swim with stingrays at Honeymoon Harbour?
If you’re ever in Bimini, Bahamas, we’d highly recommend this amazing experience. Because Honeymoon Harbour is only accessible by boat, it’s best to book a charter. The Bimini Scuba Center offers diving and snorkeling packages as well as trips to the beach, where you can simply wade into the water. It’s great for families and non-divers. Other charter options include Resort World Bimini, Celebrity Cruises, and Bimini Undersea. Reach out to us if you need more recommendations, we have some great ideas for you!
We didn’t name this little slice of paradise, but spending part of our honeymoon at Honeymoon Harbour not only kicked off our lives together in the most appropriate way, but it made for lasting memories, too.
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