You’re riding the cut, and everything feels so distant: the Aqua Cat’s crew, the Divemaster’s cue to “dive, dive, dive!” and the audible dumping of air from the BCs as the row of expectant divers takes a giant stride off the boat’s deck and makes a negative entry into the rollicking current. They were present moments ago, but the Wax Cay Cut has muscled them behind you with great velocity.

Nothing sticks around on this drift. The Wax Cay Cut moves southeast of Nassau and northwest of Great Exuma, rushing the usual tranquil seascape into a scroll of ocean flora and fauna. Did you spot eels and lobsters scampering among the corals? What about the smaller fish straining against the current? Before you can be sure, they are gone. The only certainty on this dive is the speed (up to 2 knots) and the surrender, and you are imbued with the thrill as the sea fans bend in acquiescent below. Only a school of enormous angelfish and resolute reef fish defy the current that whisks you along so effortlessly, slicing through an otherwise supplicant ocean.

You drift for 35-40 minutes at depths of up to 40 feet before the cut slows, treating you to an unexpected finale: a pod of 20 sleeping nurse sharks piled together like a rugby scrum on the grassy ocean floor. It’s an unlikely sight after moving at such a persistent clip; the creatures’ slumber belying your exhilarating journey through the Wax Cay Cut.

For more of Aqua Cat’s best dive experiences, check out “Shark Feed and Wreck Dive in One” and “The Washing Machine’s Spin.”

Visit aquacatcruises.com to learn more, check out current dive deals or contact them today to book your next trip.