Scuba diving is a sport in which you swim underwater for extended periods using special equipment. The word Scuba is actually an acronym for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. Scuba diving is an excellent way to see some very beautiful sites: coral diving sites with their colourful sea life are the most famous but other scuba diving attractions include shipwrecks and caverns.
Scuba diving can also be a very relaxing sport and in many places it’s very beginner friendly. Many dive sites are accessible (under the care of an instructor) after a short briefing and training dive. You can learn to dive far more quickly than you can learn snow sports, for example. It’s also suitable for people with a number of physical disabilities. As long as you can use the breathing equipment and are able to successfully propel yourself underwater you may be able to dive.
Destinations
Diving is a major travel activity: dedicated divers plan entire dive holidays, and others may want to include dive sites in their itineraries. Major dive destinations include:
Africa
Tofo in southern Mozambique — nice coral but known more for its abundance of manta rays, reef sharks, whale sharks and humpback whales
South Africa has sites spread along its coast that are usually famous for sharks and large marine life
Port Elizabeth
Djibouti, New Diving destination. Djibouti is a truly unique ecosystem where the mix of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean means an abundance of marine life. Between the months of September – January Djibouti is home to resting migrating whale sharks. It is common to see many whale sharks including Juvenile’s who stay within the safe confines of the Djibouti coast line. 7 Brothers Islands is also a huge attraction to Djibouti waters. Further north than the Devils Cauldron this reef system (7 islands covering a vast area) is breathtaking. Monumental drop offs with stunning soft corals carpeting the walls, schooling fish and big pelagic’s can all be expected.
Asia
Spotted Moray Eel in Sabang, Philippines.Asia’s best diving is concentrated in South-East Asia:
Boracay in the Philippines — the most popular place in the Philippines to become certified. Quality beginner diving as well as a few good intermediate dive sites.
Ko Tao in south eastern Thailand — great for beginners and almost certainly Asia’s most popular place to get certified
Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia — intermediate to advanced diving, with occasionally strong currents
Perhentian Islands, Redang Island and Pulau Tioman — home of sea turtles and many species of sharks on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Great diving deals because of fierce competition. For a less touristy but equally good dive spot, try Pulau Dayang, which can be reached by dive boat from Mersing
The Similan Islands in south western Thailand — Widely regarded as Thailand’s best diving. 70 km due west of Phang Nga, best accessed via liveaboard or a lengthy boat ride from Khao Lak. The Krabi region (Ko Lanta, Ko Phi Phi, etc) nearby is similar and rather more accessible.
Sipadan in Malaysian Borneo — reef diving on a wall that descends 600m into the ocean
There are a few spots elsewhere for the adventurous:
Maldives — crystal clear water with over a thousand coral islets to explore
Yaeyama Islands in Japan — manta rays, hammerheads and mysterious underwater ruins
See Scuba diving in Asia for more destinations and One month of Southeast Asian diving and culture for a possible trip.
Australia and Oceania
Diving a wreck off Wake IslandGreat Barrier Reef — large tropical reef system, most operators do sheltered easy diving. The reef is a few hours’ boat ride from most of Far North Queensland. However the area has been over used and is in danger of being damaged beyond recovery
Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia. A few hours drive and boat ride from Adelaide.
South Coast of New South Wales, Montague Island, Narooma.
Scuba Diving in Australia is world class and the South Coast of New South Wales offers diving unmatched by any large city. Australia is undoubtedly unique. With over 35,000km’s of magnificent coastline, we have superb diving in the tropical waters of the world renowned Great Barrier Reef and northern Western Australia, as well as brilliant temperate diving in the southern states. If you are a certified diver or a snorkeller, Australia has some of the best ocean life in the world.
Scuba Diving – Narooma NSW For an informed look at diving sites around Montague Island.
Vanuatu — intermediate level wreck diving, including penetration, on the President Coolidge, blue hole diving with excellent visibility
Micronesia
Palau
Saipan
Chuuk Lagoon — wreck diving, including optional penetration, on a huge number of ship and aircraft wrecks from World War II’s Operation Hailstorm
Fiji
See also Scuba diving in Australia
North America
Florida Keys
Nanaimo, BC, Canada — Cold water diving among wrecks with large sea life.
California: Monterey, Channel Islands, Farallon Islands.
Mexico
Cabo San Lucas — on the southern tip of the Baja Penninsula is a meeting point of reef and blue water fish. While the number of dive sites are limited the variety of species makes up for it as do the viewing of the sand falls.
Cozumel — has excellent and very accessible diving making it one of the most popular diving destinations in the northern hemispheres. The area is well known for reef, wall and drift diving as well as for a lively top-side scene.
Yucatan — Cancun and Playa del Carmen are well known for cave diving in addition to advanced diving in the labrynth of fresh water cenotes.
South America
Galapagos Islands – Darwin and Wolf Islands offer the opportunity to see schools of dozens of hammerhead sharks, while whale sharks and other large sea creatures are also frequently sighted.
Colombia – Colombia has some of the cheapest diving in South America. A cheap place to learn it is Taganga. But the islands of Isla Gorgona, San Andrés and Providencia have some really good diving.
A little known but excellent location for large pelagics (i.e hammerhead sharks, whale sharks etc.) is Colombia’s Malpelo Island. It is accessible by live aboard only
Brazil – Many places for diving: Fernando de Noronha marine park (Pernambuco state), famous for marine life but including shipwrecks; the many shipwrecks of Recife (capital of Pernambuco); Arvoredo marine park (Santa Catarina state); cavern diving at Bonito (Mato Grosso do Sul state); cavern and cave diving in mine at Mariana (visiting Mina da Passagem) (Minas Gerais state); Abrolhos marine park and Salvador (Bahia state); Parcel de Manoel Luís {Maranhão state); Fortaleza (Ceará state); Maceió e Paripueira (Alagoas state); Guarapari (Espírito Santo state); Arraial do Cabo, Paraty and Ilha Grande (Rio de Janeiro state); and Ubatuba and Laje de Santos (São Paulo state). There are also liveaboards at Northeastern region.
Central America and Caribbean
Aruba
Belize
Bonaire
Cayman Islands
Honduras
Saba — this small volcanic island is located south of Saint Martin and differs from other Caribbean islands as it features steep drop offs and submerged pinnacles that are virtually untouched.
Dominica [1] — located in the center of the Caribbean island archipelago, Dominica’s dramatic landscape is as spectacular underwater as it is above. Dominica is one of the top dive destinations in the world, and has been rated in Scuba Diving Magazine #1 for Marine Life, #1 for Healthiest Marine Environment, #1 for Small Creatures, and #3 Dive Destination.
Europe
Sardinia — The cave sistem in Alghero, with cristal water and astonishing limestone cliffs, is one of the more important cave diving place in Mediterranean Sea. Red coral, lobsters, groupers.
Cyprus the wreck of the Zenobia off Larnaca is among the best and most easily accessed in Europe
Malta — stunning limestone formations, steep dropoffs and good visibility make this possibly the best diving spot in the Mediterranean
Sicily
Iceland — Diving in a crack between the continents in water as clear as it can get, being filtered by lava fields for decades.
Middle East
The Red Sea, particularly the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt)
Dahab
Sharm el-Sheikh
Oman
Muscat
Daymaniyat
Fahl Island
Salalah — has sea kelp and coral – an unusual combination of cold and warm sea organisms.
Saudi Arabia — famously difficult to visit, but hence very well-preserved, and now open to tourists who can book well in advance
Farasan Islands
Jeddah
Yanbu