We paddle through a channel with a white sand bottom and walls of coral, spotting lobster antennae poking out from crevices.

WSJ: The Ultimate Breathtaking Dive

The bottom is mainly brilliant white sand or greenish grass, but we were searching for the vaguely brown and yellow hues that indicate the rocks and coral where Caribbean spiny lobster (commonly referred to as "bugs" for their insect-like appearance) live.

BBC: Lobster diving in the Abacos

Growing up in South Florida, it had become an annual ritual to travel by small boat across nearly 100 miles of open ocean to be in the Abacos at the beginning of August, when the Bahamas opens a "sport season" during which visitors are allowed to hunt the spiny lobster that live in and under the coral reefs and outcroppings in its shallow waters.

BBC: Lobster diving in the Abacos