Best Scuba Diving Tours

Choosing the best scuba diving locations is a highly subjective affair, depending on the preferences of the person or people who are being asked. There are hundreds of major dive destinations around the world, and many thousands of dive sites.

Your own choice will depend on what you want from a scuba diving location. That could be a chance to swim around and into wrecks, or explore the most fantastic coral reefs. You might want to venture deep in a Blue Hole and marvel at its geological improbability, or swim with sharks and dolphins and be surrounded by a myriad of marine life. It may be wall diving that really gets your pulse racing as you swim out over a drop-off that plunges thousands of feet into blackness, or you may relish the challenge of cave diving.

Scuba diving locations are everywhere across the planet. You could visit a scuba diving location in Africa, Asia, Australia, or in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. You may choose South America, Central America or the Caribbean. How about North America, Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, or the Red Sea?

Whilst your own geographical location, your vacation time and your finances may limit which scuba diving locations you can reasonably expect to travel to, it won’t do any harm to draw up a wish-list for yourself, and you may want to add the following dive destinations to that list.

Cozumel, Mexico

The Island of Cozumel is off the Mayan coast of Mexico, just south of Cancun, and is considered by many to be the ultimate scuba diving location in the world. It is surrounded by crystal clear waters that are just perfect for scuba diving. Visibility on a good day can be over 200 feet, putting some other Caribbean scuba diving locations in the shade – but only by comparison.

Currents running through the main reefs on the leeward coast provide the perfect conditions for the keen drift diver, and it is these currents that bring the nutrients that allow the reefs to flourish so spectacularly. In total there are 19 scuba diving reef areas that cater for all tastes, including dramatic swim-throughs with a magical abundance of marine life. Cave divers can take a short hop to the scuba diving locations on the mainland where they can dive the freshwater caves called the cenotes.

Cozumel has been established as a tourist destination for many years and as a popular scuba diving location since Jacques Cousteau announced its fantastic dive sites to the world back in 1961. The tourist infrastructure is well-developed although concentrated in the main town of San Miguel, where there is a variety of accommodation, a lively night scene, and dozens of excellent dive shops.

Fiji Islands, South Pacific

The scuba diving location of Fiji is known as the Soft Coral Capital of the World and offers a varied and incredible diving experience. Water conditions and visibility are second-to-none throughout the year, and the colorful coral formations prove a draw for professional and amateur underwater photographers alike. It is here that you will find the Great White Wall, the Yellow Tunnel and other underwater features.

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands are a group of three islands south of Florida in the Caribbean. The main island is Grand Cayman, and its two smaller islands are Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. Visibility in this scuba diving location averages 80 to 150 feet and you can swim over shallow reefs right out over drop-offs that descend thousands of feet.

Florida

The amount of dive shops you can find along the Gulf coast and Atlantic coast testify to the fact that this is the best and most popular scuba diving location in North America. Marine life is a big attraction, and divers can swim with giant turtles, manatees, sharks, tropical fish, rays and dolphins. For Americans, this is obviously the easiest spot to reach for scuba diving, and that will certainly play a part in its success as a scuba diving location. In terms of visibility, the Gulf coast is preferable, but you will find a great variety of wrecks and reefs on the Atlantic Coast, and if you want warmer water and more exotic marine life, then the Florida Keys may be your chosen port of call.

Belize

Belize remains a largely undiscovered scuba diving location, even though it is not as distant as some may think and it boasts a barrier reef that is 185 miles long, making it the longest in the Western Hemisphere. Situated in Central America, under Mexico and next to Guatemala, Belize lies on the Western Caribbean and the Gulf of Honduras.

Scuba diving takes place around the keys, which are a collection of reefs and atolls, full of marine life, and the best diving is found on the leeside of the atolls where the visibility is much better.

Heron Island, Australia (Great Barrier Reef)

Any article on scuba diving locations can’t pass without mention of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and one spot you might want to explore is Heron Island. This is a quiet coral island that rises above the reef and offers fantastic snorkelling and diving opportunities just off the shoreline.

Vanuatu

Vanuatu is located east of Australia between New Zealand and Southeast Asia, and is a scuba diving location with a marvellous diversity of marine life and diving experiences. Caves, wrecks, swim-throughs, walls, overhangs, lava towers, coral reefs, and underwater grottoes all await the scuba diver who is happy to venture further afield.

Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos

The scuba diving location of Grand Turk is situated along the southern tip of the Bahamas, and benefits from being sheltered from heavy currents. Visibility is therefore excellent and scuba diving is an option throughout the year. Marine life, such as manta rays, can be found here in abundance, and it is a top spot for wall diving where coral and sponges adorn the walls that descend thousands of feet.

Hawaii

Hawaii is not the greatest scuba diving location for visibility, being more exposed than many places, but there is plenty to compensate for this. Marine life rules the day around Hawaii, thanks to its fertile volcanic ecosystem, and divers can see giant sea turtles, huge stingrays, sharks and whales around the coasts. Needless to say, Hawaii’s tourist infrastructure cannot be bettered, so it is far more than a great scuba diving location.

Koh Tao Island, Thailand

This is known as a favored destination for divers who relish colourful reefs and the more pulse-racing experience of swimming with Whalesharks and Grey Reef Sharks. A scuba diving location that’s also an established tourist destination, one drawback for the responsible diver is that marine conservation can take a backseat to bringing in the cash, with shark-hunting trips offered as an official activity.