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Best Places To Scuba Dive In The World For Your Next Diving Trip
The best places to scuba dive in the world for your next diving trip are closer than you think. From the famous Great Blue Hole in Belize, Central America to the divers’ favourite Maldives in South Asia, choose the next location and let’s go on an underwater adventure.
Scuba diving is a beautiful way to immerse yourself in pristine waters and learn more about the vibrant world of marine life. People love scuba diving for various reasons. And there are plenty of gorgeous diving sites to choose from.
Whether a beginner or a seasoned diver, a diving trip always offers new learning experiences about yourself and the magnificent ocean. Scuba diving is definitely an experience that everyone should try at least once.
With so many stunning diving spots to discover around the world, read on, pack your things and get ready to visit some of the world's top scuba diving spots with beautiful crystal waters, colourful reefs and plenty of sea life.
Top 10 Dive Destinations In The World
A good diving site means different things to different divers, in line with their preferences and experience. Overall, a good diving spot can offer various marine life with clear visibility. Before searching for your next diving spot, let's figure out a few criterias to consider.
First of all, determine your diving experience and choose your next dive site accordingly. If you are new to diving, deep dive sites are not recommended. You should practise more in places with calm water and low currents.
Secondly, logistics are often overlooked. Consider how far it is to reach your diving spot, how you can travel there, and whether it is financially suitable. Take note if there are dive shops and places to rent diving equipment.
After knowing the basic criteria for your next diving spot, here is the list of all the best places to scuba dive in the world for you to choose from.
The Maldives
Lively fish and colourful coral reefs in the Maldives. Photo by feel4nature on stock.adobe.com
An island paradise loved by both new and experienced divers. Known as one of the best tropical islands in the world, the Maldives is an ideal place for divers of all levels.
This is due to its year-round warm waters (about 27-29 Celsius degrees) and good visibility (approximately 30 metres). If you are looking for island resorts, plenty of them have PADI Dive schools. The Maldives is also where you can find whale sharks at any time of the year.
Maaya Thila is a popular diving site in Maldives with extraordinary marine life, such as sharks, turtles and frogfish. Kandooma Thila is a dive site recommended for experienced divers. Here is where you explore Jack's Corner - a submerged cage covered in soft corals.
Thanks to its unique formation, Broken Rock is one of Maldives' most popular dive sites. This place is home to beautiful corals, turtles, pufferfish, barracudas and moray eels.
Egypt
Our recommended sites are Hurghada, El Gouna and Marsa Alam. Aside from spectacular marine life such as beautiful fish, lively turtles and dolphins, there are many fun places to visit in Egypt for travellers as well.
Mexico
Belize
Sharks are among the various marine life that can be seen in Belize. Photo by eskystudio on stock.adobe.com
With over 400 islands and the longest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere, Belize is an ideal destination for scuba divers.
Outlined by full-of-life coral reefs and inhabited by sharks, Belize's Great Blue Hole is best discovered by a liveaboard. This is one of the most unique diving spots in the Caribbean, as it is the world's biggest ocean sinkhole.
Divers can observe the one-of-the-kind rock formations and enjoy a serene dive down the hole. Different types of sharks can be seen here, including bull, hammerhead, nurse, and blacktip tigers.
Other great places for scuba diving in Belize are Half Moon Caye, Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Long Caye Wall. Half Moon Caye is a beautiful island with plenty of marine life to explore. Hol Chan Marine Reserve is a lovely area that is good for shallow dives and is snorkel-friendly.
Thailand
If you are new to scuba diving and looking to dive recreationally, Koh Tao is an excellent place to start, with reasonably priced classes, plenty of dive shops and diving trips. Scuba diving in Thailand is widely loved due to its colourful reefs and warm waters.
Aside from the full-of-life coral reefs, other diving experiences that every scuba diver should try are wreck diving at popular sites such as the HTMS Chang, HTMS Khram, HTMS Sattakut and scenic drift diving in Turtle Rock, Koh Rok Nai, East of Eden and Koh Similan.
Indonesia
The panoramic view of Komodo National Park, a popular dive site in Indonesia. Photo by tanarch on stock.adobe.com
A biodiversity hotspot with over 17,000 islands, there are plenty of fun activities to do in Indonesia and beautiful diving places to visit. Indonesia is a spot frequently visited by experienced divers thanks to its high level of biodiversity and an impressive number of over 13,000 islands. Raja Ampat, Komodo National Park and Alor are voted among the best places to scuba dive in Indonesia by divers.