Ocean Atlas: the Underwater Sculpture Park THAT ALMOST KILLED ME

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So if you don’t know me very well – hi. I’m Kay. And I strongly dislike swimming. For one, I don’t really like marine life. Fish are weird and marine mammals just simply cannot be trusted. I hate being cold. The second my skin’s cold receptors start firing (at any temperature under 75 degrees), I will call the police. I hate being wet even more. Where is the pleasure in being soggy? I will never understand. And I have very low stamina. Like, worrying low stamina. So with that in mind, I very logically decided to go snorkeling in The Bahamas. Specifically, to see Ocean Atlas.

You may be asking yourself, “but wait. Isn’t she just going to hate snorkeling? The whole point of it is…to swim…right?”

And you’re absolutely right.

I hate snorkeling.

I hated snorkeling the first time I tried it in Hawaii, and I imagine I will continue to hate it for the foreseeable future.

But I had to do it. I had to snorkel because one – I am a fool. And two, because located within the Clifton Heritage National Park is an underwater art installation, called Ocean Atlas.

But What IS Ocean Atlas?

So I mentioned that it’s an underwater sculpture park, but what does that mean? And how did it get there?

Well, easy answer first, an underwater sculpture park is…literally a sculpture park that is underwater. That’s it.

But the answer on how it got there, well, that’s a more interesting story. The Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation, aka BREEF, commissioned Ocean Atlas from artist Jason deCaires Taylor. Ocean Atlas was revealed to the public in 2014. The purpose of the art piece is to encourage coral colonization (by giving a sort of building block for the coral to grow and thrive on), as well as shifting tourists away from endangered reefs near other parts of The Bahamas. Issa win-win!

The artist, Taylor, is actually the creative mind behind Viccisitudes in Grenada, which was the FIRST underwater sculpture park IN THE WORLD. Since then, he has also created MUSA (Museo Subacuático de Arte) in Cancun, which is one of the largest underwater art museums in the world, and Museo Atlántico, the first underwater art museum in the Atlantic – off the coast of Spain.

The main piece of this park, Ocean Atlas, is a giant statue of a young Bahamian girl, holding up the ocean. It represents the fragility of ocean life as we know it, due to ocean acidification, water pollution, climate change, overfishing, that one guy asking for a straw at a restaurant…you know, the usual environmental threats plaguing the Earth.

Dope. And basically Taylor is the expert on all things underwater sculpture park-y, and I had to visit. Duh.

Getting There

The island of New Providence isn’t big. From downtown Nassau, it’s about a 35-40 minute drive to Clifton Heritage National Park, give or take with traffic and the inevitable roundabouts that will probably get installed by the time you read this.

To snorkel out to the park, however, I thiiiiiiiiiiiink you have to book a tour in order to swim out to the park. Or at least that was the information I was able to gather, the website is VERY unclear. If you don’t want to book a tour, there is still a park fee, but you have access to their exclusive beaches (which were my absolute favorite on the island!) and you can also roam the park grounds. But back to the snorkeling tour.

There are three options. The cheapest is $44 USD. That one includes the park entrance fee, beach access, and a snorkeling guide out to the sculpture park. The website also says that snorkeling gear is included. However I forgot to book in advance so I just showed up and booked the not-bundle deal. It was a bit cheaper but since I had to pay about $20 to rent snorkel gear, it ended up being about the same price. Anyways, they stress that the tour is not for young children or beginner swimmers.

They will ask you multiple times if you are a confident swimmer.

To which I repeatedly, and confidently, confirmed.

Suit Up Time

I actually missed my time slot because I absent-mindedly walked by the meeting booth, so I got moved to the next hour start time and I just relaxed on the beach while the group I was supposed to be in waded into the water.

When the five of them came back, one was severely sunburned, one was holding his arm, and another was simultaneously scratching themselves and waving their arms around. But they were all winded and out of breath. The group all rushed to the shack, pulling off their flippers and masks.

Apparently, someone’s GoPro had attracted barracudas.

Apparently, someone had bumped into FIRE CORAL.

And, well, apparently someone forgot their sunscreen.

The guide clapped his hands and smiled at me, passing me my equipment. “Ready?”

I was still processing the whole fire coral and getting chased by fish with sharp teeth bit. “Um,” I said, looking around the shack. It was just me now. “Shouldn’t we wait uh, for the rest of the group?”

“Oh, it’s just you. You’re the last one for the day.”

So his complete undivided attention. Great.

The Start

So, with my feigned confidence, and my GoPro that suddenly seemed too shiny, I waddled over to the ocean.

And promptly tripped. Literally, on my face. Almost broke my arm.

WHY WAS IT SO HARD TO WALK IN FLIPPERS.

The guide waited in the waist-deep water as I picked myself up and continued tripping and stumbling over the rocks in the shallow end. To my unpleasant surprise, the water was cold. But I had to go in anyway so I didn’t look like a wimp. The waves were already pushing me over on my butt as I tried fixing my flipper that had slipped off. Salt was getting in my eye. There was sand in my butt crack. The guide continued waiting until I was all the way waist-deep with him before saying, “You know, it’s easier to put on the flippers over here in the deeper water.”

Thanks, good to know.

“Have you snorkeled before?” He asked, putting on his mask.

“Yes.” And it was a disaster – but I didn’t add that part.

“Great!” He clapped his hands together, then pushed off the ground and propelled himself out to sea. I was supposed to follow.

Ah shoot.

Just Keep Swimming

**BLOGGER’S NOTE** : I will be adding in the pictures from my GoPro momentarily…uh…as soon as I find it…

So uh, technically, I DO know how to swim. Technically.

I adjusted my mask, trying -unsuccessfully- to sweep my bangs out of my face so I could get a proper seal. I pushed myself forward, an awkward freestyle stroke so I could catch up to the guide. He was already treading water up ahead, watching and waiting. “Ah okay good, just wanted to make sure you could keep up,” he said when I finally reached him.

I gave him a thumbs up and we continued on.

With each arm movement and leg kick, I held an air of reassurance and *~*ease*~* After all, I could TECHNICALLY swim.

But uh. the thing was – I was a very anxious swimmer.

I’m not going to lie, I was starting to get tired and we weren’t even 1/5 of the way there. I glanced back at the shoreline, which was so close and yet felt like it was in another lifetime. “Hey,” he called to get my attention. “There are some fish under us! Look down.”

I looked down.

“No,” he laughed, pointing to his snorkel. “Use your mask!”

I checked the seal 37 more times, then gently submerged the very top layer of my face to see under the water. I saw one fish. I’m pretty sure it flipped me off.

AND THEN WATER GOT INTO MY SNORKEL TUBE.

My head shot up like someone had tased me, and the tube flew out of my mouth from all of my coughing and wheezing. The guide swam over to me, treading within arms reach. “You good?” He asked, even though I had just been waterboarded by Mother Nature.

I didn’t want to be a wimp though. I gave a slightly shakier thumbs up.

“Water is going to get in your tube, that’s normal, just blow it out, real hard.”

I shook my head, still coughing.

“Here, like this.” He demonstrated. “Now you do it.”

I kept coughing as I tried, but apparently my weak attempt was

“Eh,” He shrugged. Good enough. He resumed swimming.

I was going to die.

Half-Way to Ocean Atlas

My muscles burned. I attempted a few more times to look under the water at the sculptures he pointed out, like the giant faces done by artists Andret John and Willicey Tynes. But since I kept snorting ocean water on accident, I decided to stop pretty quickly.

Instead, I opted to just let the GoPro do all of the looking and I would focus on keeping myself afloat. I looked back to shore, which I could barely see over the relentless waves. My breathing was so labored I was fogging up my own mask. My stomach growled in protest. The sun clawed at my face. AND WE WERE SWIMMING AGAINST THE CURRENT.

The guide slowed down again, waiting for me to catch up. “You good?” He asked.

My hand could barely form a thumbs up.

He continued, “So right below us is a sunken plane that was actually used in a movie. You want to dive down and take a peak?”

I coughed again.

He nodded, “Well I’m going to go for a dip, I can take your GoPro along if you want?” I handed it over and he dove under. It was humiliating, but I had already accepted the embarrassment. I had no business being out here. This was not my element. Not my place. I wanted to get out. I needed to leave.

Oh no.

I realized the familiarity as the feeling crept into my chest. I was panicking.

Panicking + Swimming =/= Good

I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the waves slapping me in the face. I treaded water, but anytime my chin dipped below the surface I sputtered and started coughing again. After what felt like an eternity, the guide finally resurfaced and handed me back my GoPro. We were in the final stretch.

Ocean Atlas. FINALLY. -_-

Before we actually made it to the flag though, my body decided this whole excursion had gone on far enough. My muscles went on strike. They said –

And just like that, I was done. The waves overtook me. My life flashed before my eyes and saltwater filled my lungs. The guide rushed back to me at Michael Phelps speed, pulling me back above water by my life jacket. “YOU GOOD??”

What part of that scene made him think I might have been even remotely good?

He placed the bright red lifeguard floaty in front of me. “It was a long swim. Here, take a little rest.”

I held onto that floatie tighter than white on rice. The guide nonchalantly explained more about the sculpture right below us, Ocean Atlas, and how she was a contemporary interpretation of the Greek myth of Atlas. Atlas was a Titan condemned to hold the heavens on his back for the rest of the time itself. But in this case, the girl is holding the ocean on her back, representing how closely tied island nations are to climate change and the health of the oceans.

Cool.

I would have asked more questions, but I could barely breathe so yanno. That was all I got.

After a hot second, he gave me a smile. “Are you ready to dive down?”

I smiled back. “Nah, I’m good here.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Uh…you…sure?”

Me, IN ALL CAPS:

He dove under, and I blissfully paddled my feet from the safety of the flotation device. I briefly thought it would be a good idea to poke my head under the water for a view.

My anxiety:

Nope nope nope, not doing that again. It looked cool, but even thinking about the ocean floor was reducing my life expectancy. Like a poser, I tried sticking out my legs in front of the GoPro underwater to make it look like I had swam alongside the giant. Maybe I could fool people with some clever editing.

Since you are reading this, you already know that plan didn’t work.

LEAVING

“You sure…you don’t want to try diving under?” The guide frowned a little. “You swam all this way…”

EXACTLY BRUH. MAMA IS TIRED. And scared, to be frank.

“I got the gist.”

“…okay…” He seemed disappointed. Which may have been more embarrassing if I hadn’t already reached the bottom of the barrel. “Ready to head back?”

I looked towards the shore.

I would rather drown right now.

But instead, reluctantly, I gave a thumbs up. I let the guide take back his magical lifesaving floatie. Hopefully, I had rested enough to make it back.

She had not rested enough to make it back.

I resumed coughing and wheezing as we headed back, but at least the sun was to my back now. I prayed for a miracle, but I only heard crickets. They must be out for lunch.

I called upon the strength of my ancestors. I channeled my inner childhood trauma to fuel me. My passions and dreams coursed through my veins in an attempt to wrangle up enough willpower for one more stroke. I just needed to keep swimming for TEN MORE MINUTES.

My muscles:

Yeah. I was gonna die.

Right before I let the current sweep me under for good, the guide paused, then quickly dove down. I was alone. And, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the red floatie. Also alone.

I flailed about until the waves pushed me into the floatie. I flung myself over it like a wet towel on a locker room bench, just in time for the guide to pop above the surface. He was holding a pink shell the size of his hand, then lifted it to my face. “It’s a conch,” he explained. “Here.”

Okay I guess.

Then, almost as an afterthought, he noticed me holding onto the floatation device. “Tired?” He asked, even though it didn’t sound like a question.

“Oh, yeah, yanno, it’s been a while…since I’ve done this.”

About four years, just long enough to forget I hated snorkeling.

“No worries, you can just hang on.”

Ocean Atlas: The Conclusion

Guys, gals, and pals, that is how I ended up being -literally- dragged to shore on a life-raft by a Bahamian tour guide at the end of his long shift. He also returned the conch to the ocean floor once I realized it was alive and nearly started crying in fear. Kudos to him. To top it off, I only had $5 in cash to tip.

I’m so freakin rude y’all. *cry emoji*

Overall, aside from my ACTUALLY swimming, it was pretty cool! If you’re into snorkeling, I’d say it’s worth it. Though, please note it wasn’t like a super colorful and lively reef. It was mostly just sculptures. But I would say the beaches alone were worth it. They felt so private and secluded, with some of the best and calmest waters on the island. So ignoring my own personal biases, I’d give the Ocean Atlas experience a solid 7/10.

To learn more about The Bahamas, check out my post on Common Misconceptions about The Bahamas!

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