With summer around the corner, it’s that time of the year again to scope out those tropical scuba diving destinations for that unforgettable dive vacation. Here’s a look at the Top 10 Summer Diving Destinations around the world:
1. Cozumel, Mexico
Ranked no. 1 by PADI as a top dive destination and featuring on almost every divers must-dive destination list, the island of Cozumel off the Mayan Coast of Mexico is a feast for any divers eyes. Famous for its drift diving, Cozumel is a lazy diver’s paradise with currents that range from gentle 1/2 knots near some dive sites to fast, strong currents only for experienced and adventurous drift divers. The island is a mere 28 miles / 45 kilometers/ km long and 10 miles / 16 kilometers/ km wide and is surrounded by gorgeous reefs and pristine clear waters. Cozumel is actually a conglomeration of many different coral formations and personalities, as a series of separate reefs make up the over 20 highly popular diving areas of Cozumel, including a labyrinth of tunnels, dramatic swim through’s and canyons lying amidst the towering coral plateaus teeming with marine life. (For more read:Paradise Reefs: Diving in Cozumel, Mexico)
2. Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles
Bonaire of the Dutch Antilles located in the southern Caribbean near Aruba is world renowned for its excellent scuba diving and is consistently rated among the best diving and locations in the world. The island itself is actually the peak of a submerged mountain, so deep sloping reefs surround most of the island. Just a walk down the beach and you can plunge into any one of the 86 spots and find spectacular coral within a few hundred yards. The Bonaire Marine Park protect the environment from the high water mark to a depth of 200 feet maintaining this reef’s integrity. (For more read:Bonaire – A Divers Paradise)
3. Cayman Islands, Caribbean
Rated by many publications as the best place to dive in the Caribbean, the Grand Cayman a part of the Cayman Islands is also ranks 3rd on PADI Network’s list of favorite Scuba destinations. Diving conditions in the Caymans is second to none, with it’s astonishingly clear underwater visibility usually ranging from 150′ to 200′. It’s renowned primarily for their abundant Wall and Wreck Diving sites. This world class dive destination has sites such as the Strawberry Sponge Wall, Snapper Reef and the MV Capt. Keith Tibbetts Wreck in Cayman Brac, Little Cayman’s Bloody Bay Wall ranked as one of the top five dive sites in the world and so many more. It’s quite popular for non-diver sites too like Stingray City, where you can float through shallow waters and come face-to-face with stingrays the size of table tops. (For more read: Dive Cayman Brac the Caribbean’s Wall Diving Capital & Diving With The Rays at Stingray City, Grand Caymans)
4. Belize, Caribbean
At the mention Belize Scuba diving and as a diving destination everyone talks about the Blue Hole Diving, but there’s a lot more to this diving hotspot that just that. The Barrier Reef around Belize is 185 meandering miles (298 km) of unspoiled beauty. It varies from 8 to 16 miles (13-26 km) from the mainland to less than one mile (1.6 km) offshore from Ambergris Caye. Belize even has three atolls with more than 160 miles of walls and reefs suitable for diving. With divers flocking to the blue hole’s Lighthouse reef, the rest are secluded unspoiled and untouched, a far cry from the major dive centers and other popular marine life destinations of the Caribbean and our pick for no.4. (For more read: There Is More To Diving In Belize Than Just The Blue Hole)
5. Sipadan, Malaysia
Sipadan island, off the coast of Sabah, Malaysia is simply unbeatable in its beauty and wealth of marine life that inhabit this coral island, formed by living coral growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone in the heart if the indo-pacific basin. The island itself is a pinnacle rising from 600 meters from the seabed in the Celebes Sea. Home to some of the best dive sites in the world, Sipadan is most renowned for Barracuda Point which regularly features among the top 5 dive sites in the world. (For more read: Worlds Amazing Dive Sites: Barracuda Point Sipadan)
