Ben's Cave

A collapse opening in Lucayan National Park that leads into the Lucayan Caverns. Guided cavern dives show a clear fresh-water layer over salt water, ancient formations and fossil shells; dives must be arranged with an authorised guide.

Ben's Cave is one of two inland blue holes in Lucayan National Park on the south coast of Grand Bahama, and is the entrance used for guided dives into the Lucayan Caverns. It formed where part of the cave roof collapsed, and it is named after Ben Rose, a Grand Bahama diver who explored the cavern after Father Underhill came across it in 1960 and told him about it.

Divers enter a large chamber where daylight still reaches. The water is layered: about 9 m of clear fresh water sits on top of salt water, and the boundary between them (the halocline) shimmers when disturbed. Stalactites, stalagmites and fossil conch and bivalve shells line the chamber, showing that it was once dry.

The Grand Bahama Museum notes that the tunnels running off Ben's Cave are true cave, beyond the reach of daylight, and are not part of the guided cavern visit. The cave is also a summer roost for bats, and the water is part of the island's drinking-water supply.

A daylight cavern in an anchialine cave: fresh water over salt water, a visible halocline, and calcite formations. Water depth in the entrance pool is about 18 m according to the Bahamas National Trust.

The fresh-water top layer is part of the island's drinking-water lens, so the operator asks divers not to apply sunscreen or other skin products before the dive. Bats roost and breed in the park's caves in summer. Water temperature and visibility are not published by the park.

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Boardwalks and trails built during the park's early development (Bahamas National Trust).