THE BAHAMAS – New Providence // Thunderball (1965) & Never Say Never Again (1983)
That movie lived twice – so did their dive sites. In both “Thunderball” and “Never Say Never Again” Bond dives for hijacked nuclear warheads at wrecks off the Bahamian coast. The James Bond dive sites are only a fin flap away.
Why Bond was here
In Thunderball, Bond (Sean Connery) wants to find a hijacked war plane with two nuclear warheads on board. The Vulcan bomber had been stolen by villain Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi), a top gun of Spectre, and disguised underwater with an algae looking cover. Bond plunges into the mischief, naturally shark surrounded. Later on in the movie, Bond and US Navy seals engage in a thrilling underwater battle with Largo and his henchmen – not around the Vulcan bomber, but next to a sunken LCT barge.
Some 20 years later, Connery-Bond came back for the remake Never Say Never Again. It’s not in line with the Eon series, but an attempt by Thunderball co-author Kevin McClory to start a own 007 franchise. Well, after the one movie performed bad at the box-office, movie makers said “never again” to McClory. Anyway, the plot was the same – though the warheads were stolen via a tracking system. When on the Bahamas, Bond engages with Largo compagna Fatima Blush (Barbara Carrera) on a dive to a wreck – the now called “Tears of Allah”.
How you gonna get there
All James Bond dive sites are located around Bahamian main island New Providence. The “Tears of Allah” wreck and the dropped Vulcan bomber are close to one another in a five minute diving range. They are situated west of Clifton Pier at New Providence. Local dive big shot Stuart Cove organizes a combined dive to the site, meaningfully called “The James Bond wrecks”. The dive is usually included in a two tank dive trip starting from 140 USD. Heading to the desired dive location can be negotiated on board with the dive instructor. Stuart Cove are famous for their thrilling Bondesque shark dives as well.
The third wreck, the barge used for the climax of Thunderball, is on the other side of the island. Next to small Athol island north east of the shore of Nassau, the wreck is in six meters depth. It was used for cargo at the times of World War II. Stuart Cove doesn’t offer trips to this side – but Bahamas Divers does. Their two tank package starts from 140 USD.
Good to know
Another of the James Bond dive sites close to the spot of the LCT barge has its charmes as well – it’s called “Thunderball & Cannonball Reef”. The first part of the name comes for a reason: The crash landing of the above mentioned Vulcan bomber was actually filmed here. The spot is north of Rose Island – right next to the tourist happy Paradise Island – and Bahamas Divers head there as well.
The Vulcan bomber used for shooting never was a real plane, but a mock-up. After the crew filmed the landing north of Rose Island they brought the replica to the new location west of New Providence – and blew it up to prevent others to use the plane for whatever purpose. So now, being some decades underwater, the wreck doesn’t look like a plane at all – only the rods remained.
But divers, who love to see a real plane wreck, can be satisfied at New Providence, too. A slightly scattered DC-3 waits in 45 meters depth just south of the James Bond wrecks served by Stuart Cove’s Dive Center.
Doing the James Bond dive sites was huge fun for us. While the Vulcan bomber is not that impressive anymore, the steel rods are hiding places for turtles, lobsters and moray eels. Then, the “Tears of Allah” is a big show. When we were there, someone had put a chair on the wreck – so you could “sit on deck” to enjoy the underwater view.
© 1965 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. and Danjaq, LLC. (1) © 2015 Huntingbond (2)