Divers Do It ... In Concrete

Longtime CT+L readers will remember my November 2007 feature on British dive instructor and artist Jason de Caires Taylor, whose compelling concrete figures were submerged in the water off Grenada's west coast to form an underwater sculpture "garden" for divers and snorkelers.

Late last year, Taylor completed the first four pieces for his newest submarine installation, this time located off the coast of Cancun. Over time, the ph-neutral concrete pieces should attract algae and marine life – and snorkelers and divers in their wake – easing environmental pressure on the ecosystem and coral reef, which has been compromised by hurricanes and heavy human traffic.



The figures are the first attractions in what Taylor plans to be the largest underwater art museum in the world, with more than 400 life-sized figures for visitors' gawking pleasure. For more information about Taylor's projects or to buy limited-edition prints of his haunting work, just click here.

Deals for Divers

Grab your fins and make a break for the Caribbean to take advantage of affordable dive deals through the end of the summer...

In Grenada, the luxury LaSource spa resort is offering reduced nightly rates starting at $275 per person, and through September 16 you can take advantage of two nights free on five-night-minimum stays. The resort is also serving up buy one, get one half-off dive excursions through August 31, with your choice of two dive boats and numerous sites like shipwrecks, reefs and the Underwater Sculpture Park.

Over in the Grenadines, the Mariners Hotel in St. Vincent has partnered with Dive St. Vincent to offer an 8-night Summer/Fall Dive Special for $999 per person. The package includes eight nights of accommodations and ten dives per person through November 30.

Both resorts offer PADI instruction and full certification, so even if you're just dreaming about taking that first dive, you can make it happen this summer for a lot less.

Swimming Pigs

There's no way to sugarcoat this...it's exactly what it looks like.

My friends and I spent a week recently boating through the gorgeous Exuma cays in the Bahamas, stopping for picnics on deserted sandbars, and dropping anchor here and there to snorkel in shallow seas. Along the way, we also tried to hit all the must-see spots: the hollowed out sea-cave at Thunderball Grotto, the protected marine land at the Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park, and of course all the best beach bars from Stocking Island to Staniel Cay.

Not wanting to miss a thing on our boating adventure, we couldn't resist stopping to see the curious swimming pigs at Big Major Cay that we'd heard so much about. Roaming free on their own secluded isle, the famous oinkers are known to take a dip and piggie-paddle over to your boat as soon as they hear you coming. Conditioned through years of generous feedings from yachties and day-trippers, these piggies hear the soft purr of an approaching motor and to them, it's the gunshot at the start of a race.

We'd heard the stories, but seeing them dive in right before our eyes was an entirely different experience. I'm not much of a farm girl myself, but I'm still pretty sure that swimming is an unusual sport for most livestock. And they were surprisingly excellent swimmers, like little pig-shaped dolphin. We were mystified. Which I think is the only explanation for what happened next...

We dove in too. We swam with the swimming pigs. I'm sure that it's been done before by a handful of intrepid vacationers, but this was the era of swine flu concerns, and we felt daring, fearless, like pioneers bridging the gap between the human and animal worlds. The pigs were unimpressed by the symbolism, but they still ate a couple soggy handfuls of our leftovers, and in a show of gratitude they stuck around afterward for a few unforgettable snapshots.