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Top 10 Summer Scuba Diving Destinations Contd

Top 10 Summer Scuba Diving Destinations Contd

Written by Noreen
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Published on March 9, 2011

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 continuation of the Top 10 Summer Diving Destinations around the world: (If you missed part 1 of this post click here)

6. Chuuk (Truk), Micronesia

Chuuk Lagoon formerly known as Truk Lagoon is Micronesia’s incredible undersea phenomena and the finest wreck diving destination in the World. The heart of the World War 2 activities between America and Japan, the Japanese set their naval base in Micronesia’s Truk Lagoon with often more than 1,000 merchant and war ships moored there ready for deployment. The venue of many fierce encounters during the WW2, now more than 100 ships, planes and submarines rest in the crystal clear lagoon waters of the Chuuk Atolls that make for some stunning dive sites. (For more read: Best Wreck Diving in the World: Truk (Chuuk) Lagoon, Micronesia)

7. Turks and Caicos Islands, Caribbean

PADI’s 7th favorite dive spot and ours too, these islands provide a rich assortment of relatively unexplored underwater sites, including sea lanes where boaters and divers often spot whales. Along with miles of reefs brimming with marine life, the islands also have some great wreck diving of their coasts. The HMS Endymion which sunk in 1790 is one such wreck. The reefs also feature some deep sea drop offs where the walls plunge into inky black depths of more than 2,100 meters (6,900 ft.). (For more read: Caribbean Diving: Turks and Caicos Islands)

8. Phuket, Thailand

Thailand is simply a spectacular South-East Asian destination for Scuba Diving. All the water bodies surrounding this nation are populated by diverse and rich variety of coral and marine life making it easy to find great dive sites. The Western coastline of Thailand facing the Andaman Sea is a coastline rich with some of the best scuba diving sites in the world. (For more read: Thailand Featured: Andaman Sea Diving Part I)

9.  Indonesia

You can’t say you’ve dived Asia until you’ve been underneath the surface in this archipelago. Forming one corner of the ‘Coral Triangle’, Indonesia’s 17,000 magnificent islands with it’s rich marine diversity is slap bang in the center when it comes the some of the best diving in Asia. Situated at what it sometimes referred to as the core of the ocean’s heart, Indonesia sits on the western edge of the Pacific Rim which witnesses a lot of seismic activity and is called the “Ring of Fire”. The seismic activity in the region causes the pressure and heat responsible for nutrient rich warm equatorial currents, that make Indonesia a hot bed of marine bio-diversity and home to 20% of the world’s coral reefs. It’s no wonder that Indonesia features in the world’s best scuba destinations, unfortunately it’s the least known of them- A forgotten divers paradise! (For more read: The Coral Triangle Diving Guide: Indonesia)

10. Cocos Island, Costa Rica
Ranked as the 6th Best dive site by the PADI network, Cocos Island is a live-aboard only dive destination as it’s situated some 300 miles off the main coast of Costa Rica. A must dive site for those shark diving enthusiasts, it’s a unique spot to dive with literally hundreds of hammerhead sharks. You can also swim with dolphins, tuna, gigantic marble rays and even whale sharks here making it a must dive destination for any diver.