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Gibraltar Mediterranean Seagibraltar has a good deal to offer all levels of diver from as shallow as 8mtrs to as 60mtrs+ for the techy wrecks reefs and drop offs
see also
website more info about los pecos including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Australia Coral SeaOsprey has plenty of diversity, hence a great name for our liveaboard, the "Diversity". Osprey has a dive site called "North Horn". Quite a number of shark species can be found at this site including white tip, black tip, and silver tip. A number of really large groupers were also present at this site, they were the Queensland grouper or Cod as they are called and they were in the 400lb. range and as we were at a shark feed they literally took some of the food away from the sharks. Also at this site it is reported that there is some nice size tree type of soft coral. Water temp was 82F, with about 80 ft. of viz.
more info about North Horn at Osprey Reef including maps, reviews, and ratings...
PhilippinesOffers an extremely wide range of diving for a single destination. 2nd ww wrecks from the Japanese fleet. Thermal lake where the first 15 meters is semi sweet water at 29 C, from 15 to 25 meters the temp is 39 C & below that it goes back to being 29 C. Wide range of corals hard & soft with a lot of macro life. It has a friendly safe diving atmosphere.
more info about divecal including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Bahamas AtlanticThis dive has to be one of the most exhilarating drift dives out there. The channel, or Cut, between North Eleuthera and Current Island forces the tide to stream through at 6-10 knots, making for a challenging dive. Your buoyancy skills have to be real sharp to be comfortable on this dive.
I went with Ocean Fox, a small and well-run dive shop on Harbour Island. The checked my diving experience and requested that I take a dive with them prior to being permitted to dive Current Cut to ensure I was 'up to it'. I liked that they were safety conscious, and understood their requirement after one pass through the Cut!
We made a total of three runs through the Cut. The first lasted 12 minutes, in which time we must have travelled nearly 2 miles! Dr Andy, the divemaster, made sure we stayed together as a group (there were 3 other divers on the trip) and that we saw what was down there - 3 sharks and 7 eagle rays on just the first run!
The starting depth is around 35ft, and my computer (which didn't like the dive at all - it kept beeping at me) registered a max depth of 61ft. The bottom is hard rock covered with sea fans, sponges and small corals. As you get into the dive the bottom becomes pock-marked with large holes, and Andy did his best to get us in as many as possible. Once in the holes you are somewhat out of the current, so can catch your breath and look around. Many of the holes are packed with lobster, parrot fish, and big queen angels.
The visibility isn't great, since the rushing water stirs up the bottom. We made the dive on an incoming tide, which Andy said is a cleaner run than the outgoing tide. The fast-moving water also tests your photography skills. I managed to get a couple of shots off of the sharks as we flew past them, but positioning yourself in the water at speed isn't that easy!
This is not a dive for the inexperienced or those who avoid 6 Flags! It is an amazing dive, however, and one I will remember for a long time.
more info about Current Cut High-Speed Drift Dive including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Bahamas AtlanticThe Grouper Hole is one of the most outstanding dive sites in the North Eleuthera/Harbour Island area for sheer density and diversity of marine life. The stie ranges from 65ft to 90ft and boasts huge overhangs and grottos covered in hard and soft corals and sponges all in pristine condition. The site is a few hundred yards from a 2000ft drop-off and provides the only real protection for schools of fish in the area. As a result the site is packed full of fish: big schools of Bermuda Chub, Bar Jacks, Black Jacks, Horse-eye Jacks, Goatfish, Yellowtail Snapper, Grunts...the list goes on. From December through April, around the full moon, large numbers of Grouper visit the site to spawn, and so divers are treated to the rare opportunity to photograph schooling Grouper. The visiting Grouper also attract sharks, so be prepared for close encounters with Carribean Reef Sharks, Nurse Sharks, and on occasion Bull Sharks.
The site is 7 miles off-shore and is often subject to strong currents, making the site undiveable. Ocean Fox Diving, on Harbour Island, has figured out when the tides are slack at the site, so contact them in advance to see when the site is available to dive. If you are in the area during a grouper spawn, you will not be disappointed!
more info about Grouper Hole including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Myanmar (Burma) Andaman SeaBlack Rock,
An outcrop dropping like stairs to over 70m (220 feet).
It's a wall dive site and deep dives are part of the menu !
Whale sharks are there, as they are in Thai waters, Manta rays, Grey reef sharks, Leopard sharks, Eagle rays, and sometimes Bowmouth guitarfish.
Wall down to 220 feet
Live-aboard boat from Phuket or Ranong
Variable from 10-50 metres
Variable, often strong. Over 3 knots for the spring equinox tides (march)
Good and colorful, some ghostpipefish.
Fantastic, very exciting; sharks, rays, "A Must" saee dive site
Great diving. Shark's everything possible
more info about Black Rock including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Myanmar (Burma) Andaman SeaThis site goes by many names
3 Stooges (Three Islets) or Shark Cave or In Through the outdoor.
Distance from Phuket: 170 NM
Distance from Victoria Point: 53 NM
3 Stooges consists of one small island and two large rocks, all of which rise above the surface. Each could be considered a separate site; there is no way to see them all on a single dive, or even a full day of diving.
All three are perfectly suited for multilevel profiles, with thriving marine life from the bottom to the surface.
Underwater, the combination of unusual topography and a tremendous variety of creatures makes this one of the best dive sites in the Mergui Archipelago.
Nearly every square meter is riddled with crevices that provide shelter and holdfasts for an enormous volume of fish and invertebrate life. Aside from the marine life, another outstanding feature is a large canyon on the north end of the main island where you can encounter up to a dozen semi-resident grey reef sharks.
Past the canyon on the right you will find an opening to a tunnel that runs completely through the island and exits on the east side at about 15m. Be sure not to disturb the several huge tawny nurse sharks that sometimes rest within the crevices as you pass through.
more info about Three Stooges including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Micronesia PacificDiving in Yap has made the top 5 lists in recent years by premier photographers and authorities on dive travel. M'il Channel is legendary for the majestic manta rays that feast in the coral channel which is also used as their cleaning station. The giant mantas of Yap weigh upwards of a ton and stretch more than a dozen feet tip to tip.
A single manta encounter may be the most awe-inspiring event one can hope to experience in a lifetime of diving.
There are other equally spectacular dive sites around Yap. And more have yet to be discovered. We encourage visitors to stay longer and visit all the dive sites. Your tour guides are always friendly and helpful. Visit our website for more information:
website more info about M'il Channel including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Bahrain Arabian SeaDiving in the Persian (Arabian) Gulf, it is very different from the Red Sea. Lots of silt here with a few coral reefs, sea grass beds, and interesting oyster beds here in Bahrain. Haven't been to UAE or Oman, but have been doing lots of diving here in Bahrain. Water temp is dropping. Starting putting on shorties a few weeks ago, almost time for full wet suits. During November, water temps can drop 5 to 7 deg C per week. It's down to the 20's now. A month ago, we were in t-shirts!
more info about The Gulf including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Argentina Atlantic (South)Forget about diving in Buenos Aires. The city is by the River Plate (Rio de la Plata), which is a mud soup. The closest diving you can try is in Mar del Plata, 400 km south of Buenos Aires, and the diving there is so-so.
If you have time, go to Puerto Madryn. This is 1,500 km south of BA, and the diving there could be spectacular. They have one of the largest sea lion & sea elephant colonies in the world, and depending the time of the year that you go, you are almost guarantied a dive with Right whales. There also several wrecks around there. Don’t remember their depth. Although summer just finished down there, you need AT LEAST 5mm wet suit.
ORCAS Every year since 1976, the arrival of Transient / Resident Orcas to the Peninsula Valdez has been observed.
The Orcas patrol along the steep pebble coastline of Punta Norte, listening to the young seals, only a few weeks old, as they play in the water or cross from one colony to the next.
See
website more info about Orcas including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Antarctica Antarctic (Southern Ocean) Any expedition to the Antarctic is expensive. Dive equipment is more
expensive. There isn't any 'Club Med Antarctica' where you could stay.
There is always the possibility that your vacation excursion could get you
socked in to Antarctica for six months or more. Why would you want to dive in
waters where hyperthermia or getting trapped under ice is such a high risk? Big
and unsusual critters, that’s why!
An Antarctica voyage should be a carefully planned and coordinated adventure,
precisely scheduled to take advantage of the short 'austral summer'
season to visit the frozen continent. Amos Nachoum organizes a 20 nights voyage
that is a dream come true for photographers needing the extra time to capture
the elusive 'one great shot'.
Surrounded by the Southern Ocean, defined as the water between latitudes of
40-64 degrees south, uninterrupted wind circulates vigorously developing into
the notorious 'roaring forties' and 'furious fifties' .This
interaction between wind and sea currents creates a region of intense turbulence
and as a consequence, the Southern Ocean is richly productive ecologically. An
abundance of plankton supports the world's largest concentration of marine
wildlife. Millions of sea birds, penguins, seals and whales appear in glorious
abundance with the coming of the Southern Hemisphere's spring season. Most forms
of Antarctic life clings to the edges of the continent, where beaches and cliffs
offer snow free nesting grounds for birds and pupping locations for seals. It is
our intent on this voyage, to see and photograph most, if not all of the
available species
See website
more info about Antarctic Expedition diving including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Venezuela Caribbean Sea
Pinnacle (or Guasa) the 'not for
sissies' dive. Lots of surge and current and struggling down a rope to the
top of the pinnacle. It was very poor—but we still managed to see everything
you can think of up close: huge, varied species of parrot fish, more octopus,
drums, eels, scorpion fish, interesting corals, and more reef fish that you
could imagine. With the current, we could only imagine what lay out of our line
of vision!
Los Gatos brought us huge nurse sharks, morays, fighting (with each
other!) scorpion fish and the biggest scrawled filefish any of us had ever seen.
Green Paradise (and it was). 1st and Los Cuchos ('Eagle
Rays' and there were!) (2nd) Good vis and all the Eagle Rays you could
count—not to mention a few bull sharks swimming back and forth below. Huge
green morays (some of the biggest we’ve seen since Cozumel 10 years ago!) were
on every dive many times more than one sighting and also out free swimming!
Mini Wall, New Wall, Ledges Turtles, African Pompano, queen angels
everywhere, soap fish, huge southern rays. Wicked, flying current at Ledges but
big nurse sharks hidden everywhere in the ledges, big porcupine fish, and
biggest cowfish we have ever seen. Beautiful forests of corals and so many
schools we called it the 'Fish Freeway'.
El Avion and La Cocina . Visibility dubbed La Cocina the
'Where Were You?' dive. Almost all of us rolled off and never saw our
own buddy until the end of the dive. We buddied up with whomever we could find
and all made the dive. Again, "clouds" of every size wrasse and other
fish. The last dive was called the "Sergeant Major dive"-they were
everywhere.
more info about Reefs including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Papua New Guinea South China Sea It doesn’t get any better than this! The diving left us speechless. From
the untouched beauty of the bommies to the tiny, weird creatures in the muck, to
the B-17 Blackjack bomber, everything was superlative. We saw everything from a
Harlequin Ghost Pipefish to a Hammerhead. Be careful of the Panda Anemonefish–they
are quite aggressive and they bite hard!
There is even a Nautilus dive where a cage is sent down with bait and several
Nautilus are brought up for the divers to see and hold. The crew then takes the
animals back down to 200’ where they are released unharmed.
- The Ranch
--So called because of its resident pygmy seahorses, at about
20 m.
- Silver & Black
--A fun dive site, where a flutemouth hovered over
me to hide as it stalked prey. The main attraction is a sandy plain with
hundreds of garden eels, bobbing and weaving in the current. Schools of
triggerfish and other reef fish. At night, we saw two ocellated epaullette
sharks, an enormous grouper, blue spotted rays, and even a dime sized octopus
free swimming in the blue.
- Jason's Reef
--Two bommies where Rhinopeus have frequently been
spotted.
- Bunama Beach
--A muck dive site, filled with fantastic creatures! A
pair of harlequin ghost pipefish, numerous porcelain crabs, eels, seahorses,
lots of shrimpfish flitting through the seagrass, double ended pipefish, red
tailed pipefish, a variety of outrageously colored gobies, and much more. At
night, we watched a color show put on by a cuttlefish, a swarming ball of
catfish feeding, a shy little cowfish, and ghost spider crabs. Fantastic!
- Ayers Rock
--Again looking for Rhinopeus, again failed. A great
consolation was a mature blue ribbon eel as well as the black, juvenile
version.
- Observation Point
--Billed by the divemaster as a great muck diving
site, it was a bit disappointing. Nobody could find much of anything.
- Wreck of the B-17 "Blackjack"--
Lying at 48.5 meters. It is
almost perfectly intact, with very little encrustation to mar the beautiful
lines of this enormous airplane. Such is the condition of this plane that the
twin cannons in the tail turret still move in their mounts, and the belt of
bullets is still clearly visible. Reach into the cockpit, and you'll find that
the pilot's yoke still moves. The nose of the plane is caved in from the
impact, and the propeller tips are bent back, but it still looks like the
plane is ready to fly
- Kearst Reef
--A blue water dive, this was a bit disappointing. We did
three dives, and only managed to spot one very shy gray reef shark, a small
school of barracuda, and the occasional moray.
- Deacon's Reef and Dinah's Beach
--Two dive sites close to each other.
The boat tied up at Dinah's Beach with two tenders running divers over to
Deacon's. I'd seen Deacon's in various books I'd read before coming, and I was
shocked to see the difference between the present day Deacon's and the
pictures I'd seen. It seemed like 50% of the fantastic profusion of red whips,
sea fans, and other coral formations had died off, leaving scars of dead coral
pieces lying about. This seemed to be diving heaven! Frogfish, eels, mantis
shrip, octopus, ocellated epaulette sharks, cuttlefish...simply everything was
here! And the best part about Deacon's/Dinah's is the shallowness, which meant
some marathon 100+ minute dives. All told, I was underwater nearly 7 hours
that day!
Basilisk Point -- Basilisk was the worst sites of the trip, a wall dive
where some mantas occasionally pass by.
more info about Paradise Sport including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Solomon islands Pacific
- Leru Cut
is a geologic formation where the solid
limestone of an island has a section cut into it. The top of the cut was open
to the sky, but it was only about 5 meters across at the widest. We dropped
down to about 15 meters and swam into the cut. It was like going into an unlit
alleyway between two large buildings at night. Although there was light
outside on the reef and up above at the top of the cut, down in the cut itself
it was quite dark. This made for some interesting lighting effects.
- The Toa Maru
is a 400ft+ Japanese cargo ship that was attacked and
sunk during WWII. The ship rests on its starboard side on a slope with the bow
in the shallows starting at about 25ft and the stern ending below 120ft.
Artifacts included fuel drums, ammo, saki bottles, and a motorcycle. The big
surprise was the condoms that Danny had previously found on one of his many
dives there. To preserve them, he placed them in a jar and hid them in the
wreck to show to his guests. I never laughed so hard through a reg when the
divemaster pulled that jar out of its hiding place.
- One Tree
I caught this dive at a good time as a school of Spotted
Eagle Rays performed an acrobatic display for over twenty minutes with a few
of them checking me out at very close distance.
- The Hell Cat
- A shallow dive; 30ft, this American fighter plane was
perfectly intact. Ammo still found in its wings. Amazingly, this fighter was
accidentally shot down (pilot survived and was rescued) by WWII ace Greg
'Pappy' Boyington of the Black Sheep Squadron. One of Pappy's
bullets hit the engine and the fighter had to ditch due to loss of oil
pressure.
- Japanese Zero
This is a shallow dive that is only a stones throw from
the market in Gizo. It is an intact plane that, although interesting on its
own, had a beautiful florescent red anemone. The two anemone fish that called
it home were 'tinted' in the same color of red. A few fin strokes
away are the broken pieces of a Japanese Float plane.
more info about Reefs and wrecks including maps, reviews, and ratings...
United States Pacific
San Benedicto is a very rugged
island that looks like a volcano rising right out of the ocean. The last
eruption was in 1952 and you can easily see where the eruption took place, on
the lower side of the southeast corner of the island.
Shark Caves is located on the East side of the island. A dive briefing
was given prior to our arrival at which time we were informed that gloves,
lights and knives are strictly prohibited while diving any of the islands.
Target lights and focus lights attached to any camera gear are exempt. The
recommended water exit procedure is to climb the ladder with your fins on to
avoid any injury with the potential bouncing, surge and currents that may exist.
This was not difficult with the wide, well spaced steps on the ladder and was
indeed a very good recommendation. Once the anchor was dropped and the RIB’s
were in the water, everyone suited up and jumped in for the first checkout dive.
The dive was to approximately 70 feet. Visibility was poor at only 30 feet, but
I was able to get up close with at least a dozen white tip sharks resting in
their caves. I also spotted a Shovelnose Guitarfish, a very Stingray-ish looking
variety of the shark family.
There were hundreds of Moorish Idol's and even with the reduced visibility,
it was a great dive and the water temperature was a pleasing 76 degrees, 10
degrees warmer than the water in Cabo. Once all of the divers were back on
board, the Solmar V moved to a protected bay with calm water on the south side
of the island and dropped anchor for the evening. It seemed that in a matter of
only minutes, a few Silky sharks showed up and began patrolling the boat a few
feet under the surface. After dinner, we were treated to a shark feeding show
off the side of the boat where tuna parts were hung off the side.
more info about San Benedicto, Baja including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Aruba Caribbean Sea The Antilla was a German freighter that was sunk in
1940. The ship is 400 feet long and there is one large compartment that you can
penetrate. The viz was still low and there were tons of people and boats at this
site. The snorkel boats were there along with every dive company on the island.
The ship was neat to see but this site is way too crowded. There were groups of
divers going in all directions and it was pretty had to even figure out which
group you were with! Our DM did manage to keep our group together on this dive,
but again, we were not overly impressed with the crew. The most personality they
showed was when the boat got back to the dock and they were pointing out the tip
jar to all of us! Well, after these first 2 days of diving, we were about to
cancel some of the rest of our dives and put the money towards something else.
Fortunately, the next day we did a "South Coast" 2 -tank dive. WOW….
What a difference. The dive was great with beautiful reefs and much better
visibility. The boat left at 8:30am so you had none of the cruise ship crowd or
the resort course divers. There were only 8 divers on the whole boat. Our dive
master and boat captains on these trips were much better. We dove at a site
called The Fingers . It was a drift dive (we had never done one of these!)
The reef comes down like a finger and we went to 100 ft. There were beautiful
coral formations, sea fans, and a diverse amount of fish. The second dive was at
a site called Gino's Choice, max. depth was 60 ft. There was a neat drop
off at this site but we couldn't follow it too far down since this was our
second dive. There were large brain coral and star coral at this site. We saw
many moray eels on this dive.
more info about The wreck of the Antilla including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Australia PacificThe Navy Pier at Exmouth is a must if you can only do a day or two. The only company with a licence for it is the one opposite the Tourist info office in Exmouth. I was a bit suspicious when they said that a pier dive was one of the best in Oz but it is a mindblow. Only 10-12m or so but more fish than I imagined possible, sharks, huge groupers, wobbegongs and dense packed shoals of many species.
UPDATE Kristin Anderson reports the Navy Pier at Exmouth has been closed to divers since 01 August 2006 and there are no plans to reopen it in the near future. We are hopeful that the Pier will be re-opened at some stage, but there's no information on that yet. Currently they are doing maintenance so it will likely be at least several more months before any decisions are even considered.
more info about Navy Pier at Exmouth including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Samoa PacificAn interesting place, a couple of dives excellent, better than Raro, the others rather mediocre. Moana Divers in Apia, and Pacific Resort Divers in the south were both OK (that means the air was clean, everything worked, the boat was there when you surfaced, they seemed to know what they were doing, and they did not insist on guided diving). PRD set a ridiculous 20m depth limit but we ignored it.
more info about Western Samoa including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Cayman islands Caribbean Sea
- Seaview reef
[61 minutes, max. depth 56’]: We
headed South from Seaview towards Sunset House and rode the slight current
back, ending right at the ladder at Seaview. Highlights: Spotted Scorpionfish,
Pygmy Filefish , Peacock Flounder.
- Hepp’s Pipeline
[52 minutes, max. depth 65’]: Looking back at the
18 dives we did that week, this one was one of our favorites. Right away we
saw a 5 foot green Moray tucking himself into an overhang. We crossed over a
sandy plain, down over a mini-wall to a huge coral "mound". The
coral here seemed very healthy compared to other areas we saw. The site is not
dived very often because conditions are rarely favorable for the dive. In
other words, we were very lucky! During the dive we saw the first and second
Turtles of the trip. I snuck up on the second one while he was sharing a snack
with a grey angelfish…very cool!
[44 minutes, max. depth 13’]: Often called the
greatest 10 foot dive in the world. That I think goes to Moses Reef, Eilat,
Israel. Still good though! Dived with Don Foster’s since TI didn’t have
enough divers to go out. The one tank trip was not included in our dives for
the week, so it cost us $55 US each. We rode a van out to the North side,
and then boarded Foster's very large catamaran style boat that wasn't
specifically outfitted for diving (no tank holders). A short boat ride to
the shallow, sandy site and soon we were surrounded by many friendly
stingray. Everyone should do it at least once, I guess. Don Foster's staff
was very friendly, but the time we spent with them was really too short to
form any kind of opinion. It's certainly a much larger operation than
Treasure Island.
Water Temperature on all dives was 83 degrees F. On all dives the coral
was fairly healthy with a wide variety of fish life inhabiting it.
more info about Stingray City including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Cook islands PacificRarotonga is lovely, a great place to get over your jet lag if flying west to NZ or Oz. The diving is easy and pleasant. Think Malta with coral. There are four dive outfits on the island - Cook Island Divers caters for the young backpacker crowd; Pacific Resort is follow-my-leader diving; we dived with Rarotongan Dive Centre (RDC); and I forget the fourth one. RDC was fine and I recommend it. It's run by Huw & Sheryl John, and Steve Grant (Welsh, Kiwi & Kiwi respectively). RDC respected our qualifications and we dived unguided.
All the diving is from RIB’s or similar (we saw the other dive outfits' boats about). There are only about 3 launch points on the island, but they are fairly evenly spread around the island, and since it's only about 30km in circumference you can nearly always get in somewhere. There are plenty of fish, we saw one shark, the drop-offs are steep but not vertical and there is some coral bleaching. We did six dives and always had the site to ourselves.
Don't travel round the world just for the diving in Rarotonga, but do give it a whirl if you are in the area.
more info about Rarotanga including maps, reviews, and ratings...