Devil's Backbone Reef

The Devil's Backbone is a long, shallow reef running along the northern coast of Eleuthera. It is treacherous to navigate — vessels go through with a local pilot or not at all — and is responsible for a string of wrecks along its length, several of which are now popular dive sites.

Diving and snorkelling here is excellent: coral heads, shallow swim-throughs, and the broken-up wrecks. Most trips run out of Spanish Wells or from Harbour Island. Outside conditions on the Atlantic side can be rough; the reef is best in calm weather.

things to do sight
A story
The Devil's Backbone has wrecked so many ships — including the steamer Cienfuegos in 1895 and the Carnarvon in 1916 — that it is one of the Bahamas' best wreck-diving sites. The shipwreck stories include a small fortune in rum that washed ashore in the 1920s and ended up scattered through every village on Eleuthera.