About The Shot
Thunderball Grotto, Exuma, Bahamas / 2023
Thunderball Grotto is one of the most popular underwater caves in The Bahamas. The cave gets its name from its appearance in the James Bond film Thunderball, but what keeps me coming back has nothing to do with the movie — it’s the light. I’ve spent countless hours inside this cave at different times of day and in different seasons, and what always fascinates me is how the light enters through the holes in the ceiling. Combined with the changing tide, the entire cave feels different every time. When the tide is right and the sun is high enough, beams of light pour into the cavern, turning the interior into something that feels like an underwater cathedral. The fish drift through the shafts of light like dust in a sunbeam, completely unbothered by your presence. The angle of those light beams shifts throughout the year, so no two visits ever feel the same. It’s one of those places I’m always happy to return to, camera in hand, knowing the cave will never look exactly the way it did before.