No matter what your budget or level of experience; whether it’s the marine life, wrecks and reefs; or a combination of everything, we’ve listed some of the best liveaboards and resorts for scuba diving around the world.
Schooling sharks, stunning reefs and walls teeming with marine life. Easily accessible wrecks. The most beautiful surroundings along with temperatures you could happily bathe in. Yes, the Red Sea has it all!
Sharm El Sheikh is known for extravagant and glittering lifestyles, but the spectacle doesn’t stop when you go beneath the surface. In fact, Sharm is one of the most popular dive locations for beginners to learn. With 50 dive centres, whether novice or experienced, you will find something for you. Visibility can even reach up to 60m in places, so you’re likely to easily spot the swimming manta rays, barracuda, sharks, and stingrays around you.
Marine life aside, the SS Thistlegorm is considered one of the best wrecks in the world. You can still see the 2 locomotives, 2 tanks, motorbikes, and anti-aircraft guns amongst the artefacts. This is one of those sites which is hugely popular, where 2 days might just be long enough to make the most of it, and definitely worth a visit.
If you would prefer something a little less busy though, the Straits of Tiran, Ras Mohamed Marine Park, Aqaba’s wreck of the Cedar Pride and the Blue Hole at Dahab will be just as satisfying. Scintillating sea life, dramatic coral formations with a bit of history thrown in make for the most exhilarating diving experience!
With more than 3,000 species of fish, 13,000 islands and part of the Coral Triangle, you will not be short of great diving experiences in the Indonesian Republic.
The island of Alor with schools of hammerheads; stunning underwater photography opportunities at Raja Ampat with the highest biodiversity on Earth; and of course, the Komodo National Park, offers great diving even during the Monsoon as it is Manta season!
Puerto Galera, in the Philippines, is home to around 30 dive centres, with a great opportunity for night diving to explore the reefs, coral, and drift dives along the walls. Bali will provide you with muck diving and coral-encrusted wreck dives along with impressive underwater cave systems and caverns. And finally, the remote and protected status of the Galapagos Islands ensures you will love this ‘diver’s paradise’. Wolf and Darwin Islands are simply breath-taking, where you will be diving amongst the sealions, penguins, hammerheads, sea turtles and eagle rays. There’s plenty more to go at if this is the area for you, so do your research before you put plans in place.
It’s not always the easiest of places to get to, but well worth the effort. And although the islands can be prone to some strong currents, sheltered areas can be found for the more novice divers. But with so much to explore, you will not regret adding to your dive log in surroundings like this!
Most famous for the 2000 km Great Barrier Reef, a spectacular sight, Australia hosts numerous dive sites suitable for PADI Open Water divers. But, the more experienced among you can delve deeper and dive further out to the more remote areas.
And you certainly won’t be alone in the waters here with a variety of fish, dolphins, sharks, and humpback whales likely to join you! Amongst the unspoiled reefs of Lizard Island, the SS Yongala wreck of Townsville and the Whale Sharks and Manta Rays of Ningaloo Reef there is nothing to disappoint in Australia!
A note of caution though, please dive responsibly at the Great Barrier Reef. In fact, it might be worth getting out there sooner rather than later, as it is slowly deteriorating with bleaching brought on by the climate changes. It is most certainly experience you’ll not want to miss.
If you are looking for your own little Mediterranean paradise, the Maltese Islands might be just for you. Voted amongst the top three dive sites in the world, and one of the European favourites, the 50 dive centres across the three islands of Malta, Comino and Gozo cater for all.
Wrecks, reefs, and caves make up the 100 dive sites and create the most magnificent underwater landscape. Gozo is probably the more challenging with rocks, crags, cliffs, and a ladder rather than a steady sloping beach down to the water. But Xlendi Bay will give you the complete opposite, with shallow to deep diving and a beautiful cave dive thrown in.
Although in the main they are accessible all year round, June to September is the best time to visit.
And our final recommendation, for when you are scuba diving around the world, is the spectacular, yet possibly surprising, dive location of Iceland – the only place you can dive two continents at once! You can dive here all year, and although there are longer daylight hours during the summer allowing for evening dives, remember that with only four hours of daylight in December, winter months are best avoided.
Downsides to Iceland, other than the cold? A dry suit certification may be needed; a medical self-check must be completed; and only divers aged 17 yrs+ can take part.
However, the benefits of these unique crystal-clear waters, with visibility in the Silfra Fissure lagoon reaching over 100m; the pure spectacle of diving in volcanically heated ‘geothermal’ waters and the stunning landscape both above and below the water, far outweigh the downsides.
Strytan is the only place in the world where you can dive next to a hydrothermal vent, and astonishingly jellyfish, cod and pollock, and possibly even an inquisitive humpback whale may join you! Kleifarvatn Lake will give you a strange mix of sensations as you feel the clay-like lakebed, and gas bubbles start to pop up causing the rocks around you to vibrate, all mixed with the sulfur and hydrogen sulfide gases.
So, the choice is yours, and with our prescription scuba diving masks you have no excuse not to see everything perfectly! Let us know if we can be of any help.
