Our opinion, not professional advice. My Scuba Forum is written by recreational divers, not dive instructors, doctors or other dive professionals. Everything here is our personal opinion and general information. It is not dive training, medical advice or safety instruction. Always follow your training, your instructor, your dive operator's briefing and your doctor. Read the full disclaimer.
There is no single best place to dive. A destination that is perfect for a new diver can be frustrating for an experienced one, and a current-swept seamount that thrills a veteran can be dangerous for a beginner. So each place below has a note on who it suits and when divers usually go. Seasons shift from year to year and conditions change by the day, so treat them as a starting point and check with local operators before you book.
1. Raja Ampat, Indonesia
Raja Ampat sits at the heart of the Coral Triangle and is known for some of the highest reef-fish and coral diversity on the planet: soft coral gardens, schooling fish, wobbegong sharks, pygmy seahorses and manta cleaning stations. Most diving is from liveaboards or small island resorts. Currents can be strong, so it suits divers with some experience. Many liveaboards run here from around October to April.
2. Komodo National Park, Indonesia
Komodo's channels between the Pacific and Indian Oceans bring nutrient-rich water, mantas, sharks and huge schools of fish, along with the park's famous dragons on land. Currents are the defining feature: thrilling for experienced drift divers, and something newer divers should approach with a good guide and conservative sites.
3. The Red Sea, Egypt
Warm water, clear visibility, colourful reefs and some of the world's best wreck diving, including the SS Thistlegorm, a Second World War cargo ship still loaded with motorcycles and trucks. Shore diving around Dahab, day boats from Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, and liveaboards to the southern reefs make it work for every level. Diving runs all year; the water is coolest in winter.
4. The Great Barrier Reef, Australia
The world's largest reef system offers everything from easy day trips out of Cairns and Port Douglas to multi-day liveaboards on the outer reefs and the Coral Sea. Beginners are well looked after here, and the remote Ribbon Reefs reward more experienced divers. Dwarf minke whales visit the northern reefs in the middle of the year.
5. The Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Schooling hammerheads, sea lions, marine iguanas and, in some seasons, whale sharks at the northern islands of Darwin and Wolf. These sites are reached only by liveaboard and have cold upwellings, surge and strong currents, so the Galapagos is for advanced divers with plenty of logged dives. Expect to need a thick wetsuit.
6. Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands
Bonaire is the classic shore-diving island. The whole coastline is a protected marine park, many sites are marked with painted yellow stones by the road, and divers rent a pickup truck and tanks and dive whenever they like. Calm, clear water and gentle slopes make it excellent for new and returning divers. A marine park fee applies.
7. Cozumel, Mexico
Cozumel is famous for drift diving: you float along walls and coral pinnacles while the current does the work and the boat follows your bubbles. Visibility is often excellent. It is a good place to learn to enjoy current under a guide, and an easy flight from much of North America.
8. Palau, Micronesia
Palau combines sharks, mantas and walls (Blue Corner is one of the best-known dive sites anywhere) with Second World War wrecks and the Rock Islands above water. Reef hooks are often used to hold position in the current at the famous sites, so it suits divers comfortable in moving water.
9. The Maldives
Coral atolls in the Indian Ocean, where channel dives bring reef sharks, eagle rays, mantas and whale sharks. Liveaboards cover the most ground; resort diving is relaxed and suits beginners. Manta and whale-shark sightings depend on the season and the atoll, so ask operators what is likely when you plan to go.
10. Belize
Belize has one of the longest barrier reefs in the world, three offshore atolls and the Great Blue Hole, a huge sinkhole with stalactites at around 40 metres. The Blue Hole is a deep dive for experienced divers; the reefs and atolls around it offer gentler diving for everyone.
11. Tubbataha Reefs, the Philippines
A remote UNESCO World Heritage marine park in the Sulu Sea, reachable only by liveaboard during a short season, generally from about March to June. Walls, sharks, turtles and healthy coral reward the effort. The wider Philippines, from Anilao to Malapascua, also offers excellent macro and shark diving at every level.
12. Chuuk Lagoon, Micronesia
Often called Truk Lagoon, this is the wreck diver's pilgrimage: dozens of Japanese ships and aircraft sunk during the Operation Hailstone raids of February 1944, many still holding cargo. Some wrecks are shallow enough for newer divers; the deeper ones and any penetration need wreck and deep training.
How to choose your next destination
- Match the diving to your experience. Strong current, depth and cold water make a site harder. Build up to them; the scuba certification levels guide explains which courses prepare you.
- Check the season. Weather, visibility, water temperature and the animals you want to see all change through the year.
- Decide how you want to dive. Shore diving, day boats and liveaboards suit different people and budgets.
- Count the travel time. A remote destination with three flights each way works better on a long trip.
Once you have a shortlist, the dive trip planning guide walks through the rest, from choosing an operator to the dive-free day before your flight home.