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Italy Tyrrhenian SeaOne of the best sites in Italy: we can find all that we find in the Mediterranean Sea but, above all, groupers and barracudas.
more info about Secca del Papa, Tavolara Island, Sardinia including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Italy Mediterranean SeaA lot of sealife and red coral.
Email us at
click here to email or visit our website
website for more info.
more info about Capo Caccia, Alghero Sardinia including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Northern Mariana Islands PacificA beautiful sunken pool connected to the ocean by underwater passages. The sunlight shining on the ocean outside the cave gives the water its amazing deep blue color with typical visability of 100 plus feet. The Saipan Grotto is one of Saipan's best diving spots. Considered by many as one of the best shore cavern dives in the world, this must do dive site in Saipan is sure to amaze you.
After entering the water through a large limestone hole, divers realize they are in a huge cavern. From here, there are three different exit holes to the sea. Once outside, there are beautiful walls, swim-throughs, and caves to explore. Turtles, sharks, and wrasse, are some of the many types of sea life to be seen at this magnificent dive site.
more info about Saipan Grotto including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Oman Indian OceanI have been diving i Oman for a few years now, both North and South, but my favourite dive will always be the aquarium. I have always tried to end the weekends diving with a visit to the aquarium, its an easy shore dive, entering in a small rocky gully sinking down onto table coral where we find all sorts of small marine life, usually lobsters hiding in the coral and puffer fish hanging around. we then make our way across the bay to the aquarium itself.It starts off with a small rocky reef, loads of small fish, clown fish in their anemones, scorpion fish spread around, you can usually see rays and turtles here. moving towards the mouth of the bay you pass through the main coral which is covered with small marine life and for a while we had our own nurse shark, which hid amongst the coral, then pass on to the wall keeping an eye out for lion fish, stingrays normally settled on the bottom, depending on air consumption you can exit the bay to check out bigger reefs, but then turn around to pass back through the bay again, I will always love this dive. Thi is a very good dive site to train on, the middle of the bay has a flat bottom with sand, after carrying out your training you can show students lots of life and it can all be contained withing the bay.
Only problem with the site is it is 80 km from Salalah, the nearest big town and we always took all our own equipment and compressors, camping on the beach for weekends and longer when there are holidays.
The dive is also a good snorkelling site.
more info about The Aquarium, Dhofar including maps, reviews, and ratings...
United Kingdom AtlanticA bit of a scramble over large shingle wherever you get in. Most divers prefer the shelter at the Portland end. The beach slope quickly (making it tricky to get back onto when you're tired at the end of a dive and the swell pulls you back. It's a bit indignified crawling out on your kneees but at least you know that everyone who has tried managed it!
The marine life ranges from dogfish (yes, they're sharks) to dustbin sized Rhizostoma Pulmo Jellyfish.
There are wrecks too. Park in the Portland rd big car park.
Excellent range of British marine life, wreck, what more do you want!
more info about Chesil Beach including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Taiwan East China SeaIf you would like to find out more about dives sites in Southern Taiwan and elsewhere in the country or perhaps you are visiting Taiwan and would like to do some fun dives, or perhaps you live and work in Taiwan and you would like take some PADI Scuba Diving courses, please contact us.
Joe Cooperman
PADI Scuba Diving Instructor
#477967
click here to email OCEAN DIVING CLUB Taichung City
Taiwan
more info about Southern Taiwan including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Taiwan East China SeaThe Southern tip of Taiwan is home to a variety of easily accessible dive sites. One of our favorite ones is located just outside of the beach town of Kenting. Ho Bi Hu, is located (often the butt of jokes) quite near to a nuclear power station. It is sheltered by a breakwater on one side and protective shoreline on the other making something of a small bay. The put-in point is accessible by car and deep channels eroded into the dead coral shore make it fairly easy to get to during both high and low tide. The water is warm and the visibility is very good during the winter months however strong winds can bluster creating side-shore surface currents. Most times however, the bay is fairly calm. The channels get deeper and deeper until they drop over a wall to about 10 meters. Divers can then swim along sandy bottoms inbetween widely spaced balmies. Lots of good soft corals in abundance. Plenty of Angel Fish, Bat Fish, Trigger fish, Wrasses and smaller types. Lion fish are also very common here. I have seen large octopus and cuttle fish in this area from time to time.
Ho Bi Hu is a very good introduction to diving in Southern Taiwan although it can be very crowded from time to time, especially in the summer and spring. Anoyances include large parties of snorklers who appear in the spring and summer who cannot swim but are issued life jackets and cling to large floating devices issued by tour companies.
We typically use Ho Bi Hu for Open Water Dives #3 and #4 when teaching students.
If you would like to find out more about dives sites in Southern Taiwan and elsewhere in the country or perhaps you are visiting Taiwan and would like to do some fun dives, or perhaps you live and work in Taiwan and you would like take some PADI Scuba Diving courses, please contact us.
Joe Cooperman
PADI Scuba Diving Instructor
#477967
OCEAN DIVING CLUB Taichung City
Taiwan
more info about Ho Bi Hu (Kenting) including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Saudi Arabia Red SeaThis is one of main dive locations in jeddah located in shores. It has nice facilities, instructors and administration. Fishing in not allowed in this beach to preserve the wild life thats why you can see many types of lifes including the huge ones.
The beach is a good place fotr non-Saudi citizen (it is ment for non saudi) originally. but the only way for a saudi to get in is to be a diver or having a diving course.
more info about Al-Nakheel Beach [Jeddah City] including maps, reviews, and ratings...
United States PacificMonterey California.
Perfect diving for everybody. The water is a bit cold so 2 layers of 7mm or a dry-suit is needed. The viz can range between non or 50 ...
There are plenty of sites for all level of divers, Breakwater is perfect for first-timers and night dives. Monastary beach is more for the experienced divers, watch the beach entry because it can be quite tricky.
Diveshops, daytrips (boat) are available.
The dives are full of sea-lions, lingcod, cabezon, kelp .. etc etc
For some examples:
website more info about Monterey, California including maps, reviews, and ratings...
United KingdomGreat dive site, friendly atmosphere, plenty of fellow divers to help and assist.
Access to Stoney Cove for diving is available to all registered divers during opening hours every day except during the Christmas and New Year holidays. You will find details in the current Stoney Cove Report. All diving projects other than instruction and general sports diving must be declared and agreed with the duty site manager.
stoney cove
sapcote road
stoney stanton
leicestershire
le9 4dw
tel: 01455 273089
more info about Stoney Cove including maps, reviews, and ratings...
QatarIt is a nice site to dive from shore.
more info about Old clup reef including maps, reviews, and ratings...
DenmarkIn central copenhagen.
Go to Refshalevej, and drive past the Lynetten Sailclub. the 2nd curve on the road.
Diving in small bay, good for students.
more info about B&W Lynettern including maps, reviews, and ratings...
AustriaOne popular region to do diving is the Salzkammergut in Austria. Numerous large and small lakes in an alpine setting. Conditions are the same as for the Bodensee: deep, dark, cold, clear.
The viz can be 100’/30M which is as good (if not better) than the Red Sea. Of course the marine life and color is not quite like the Red Sea!
more info about Freshwater lakes, Grundsee including maps, reviews, and ratings...
GermanyOne of the best lakes to dive in Germany is the "Bodensee" in southern Germany. The Bodensee, some 80 km long is bordered by Germany, Switzerland, and Austria (hey, that's Austria, not Australia !:)). One spot popular with divers is in the german town of Ueberlingen: deep, dark, cold and clear...vertical wall all the way dwon to 400 ft.
more info about Lakes including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Netherlands Antilles Caribbean Sea Playa Porto Marie
This is a small private cove and beach with a small entrance fee. The beach
is long and beautiful and you can spend a day diving here.
It’s a short swim to a double reef system that is very similar to a large
oval fish bowl. You can dive around the inside of the coral bowl or on the
outside of the coral reef on the wide-open ocean side of the coral reef.
It’s easy to navigate and on the far side there is a natural opening or
break in the reef about 10 meters that acts like a gateway to the open ocean.
Just follow the reef from the inside of the bowl to the outside then turn around
follow the reef back to where you started. Easy to dive and navigate. Max. depth
for us was 70ft. You could have stayed at 50ft. The water is always calm here
with great marine life. We saw several eels, a few turtles and many fish. Playa
Porto Maria also has fresh water rinse showers, Umbrellas, restaurant, bathroom
and a dive shop right there. A great day of diving, food and sun. A great place
to take divers and non-divers.
Playa Kalkai
This dive site is on the far west of the island and has a dive shop right
there. In fact you are better off renting tanks at West End dive shop and use
their shower and facilities after your dive. The rental tanks at West End are
only $6.00. It’s easy to do two dives here. The reef runs parallel to the
shore and is a short swim from the small beach. Easy parking and stairs down to
the beach and ocean. This site is the last shore dive on the island but well
worth the drive. The visibility was about 90ft. no current and beautiful reef
and lots of fish. eels, and lobsters.
more info about The Playas 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...
Jordan Red Sea
- FIRST BAY: Situated next
to the Marine Science Station, this a shallow fringing reef with very prolific
coral and fish life, the reef starts at 2m/6’ and extends down to 30-40m and
beyond. There is a small area of upwelling that attracts shoaling fish. Sea
bass, shoals of fusiliers, schools of squid and octopus are common making this
an excellent site for photographers. This is a more advanced dive
site.
- BLACK ROCK:
This site provides very easy access and is ideal for
snorkelers and anyone who is new to the area, as a coral garden starts just
below the surface and extends outwards for approximately 30m when it drops away
steeply. The reef is prolific with a wide range of fish and is regularly visited
by turtles.
- GORGONE ONE:
This is a relatively shallow site, generally (10m) though
is named after a large gorgonian fan coral which is at 16mtrs. This site has
splendid examples of massive coral formations, including a 'lettuce coral' the
size of a small house. There are lots of rock pinnacles smothered in fish life,
with a large range of both hard and soft corals covered in Lionfish which gather in huge numbers to hunt for fry. This site is a photographer’s paradise and an
ideal site for second dives.
- EEL CANYON:
This site is aptly named and provides a dramatic dive with
lots of variation in invert life, it has the advantage of lots of large coral
outcrops that offer a variation in depth and contour.
- BLUE CORAL:
Fingers of coral extending at right angles to the coast.
Covered with a profusion of fish and coral life. You also will not have to look
very hard to discover the abundance of small, gray morays. This site also has
the rare fluorescent anemones, but be warned they look muddy brown if
photographed with a strobe.
- SAUDI BORDER:
(The Drop Off) This site is so called because it is just
that, you could swim into Saudi Arabia from here, but don't try it! The top of
the reef starts at 5m/15’ with patch reef and the reef top itself extends
approx. 30-40m/100-120’ seaward at a depth of 10-20m. At this point a wall of
living coral drops down to 50m and beyond. There are small caverns at 30m and
large plate corals abound. At around 40m a large Grouper is to be found hiding
behind a rock pinnacle. Along the reef edge it is common to see turtles. The
sand is home to some large rays and deep water shoaling fish, such as Jack and
Tuna can be seen.
- POWER STATION:
Here the reef drops from the surface to 5M/15’ then
slopes to 12M/36’ before dropping vertically to 200M/320’ in a sheer wall.
Swimming along the edge of the wall offers spectacular views and large pelagic
species make this their hunting ground. Soft corals abound as nutrient rich
waters gently flow along the wall. This dive requires good buoyancy control and
offers some spectacular coral outcrops with huge numbers of fish. The dive can
be completed in shallow water between 12 and 5 M, where an abundance of varied
hard corals each with its attendant species, keep divers entertained.
- PARADISE:
A gentle slope with patch corals leads to a pinnacle and cave
at the edge of a wall in 30M/100’. Working back up to the south we encounter
soft coral gardens at 10-15M/30-45’. Stingrays and eagle rays are common in
this area.
- OLIVERS CANYON:
Swim out to 12M/36’ where the reef starts with a gully
dropping down to 30M. The top of the reef is covered in table corals, where
Scorpion, Stone and Crocodile fish abound.
Don’t Miss…
The ancient city of Petra about two hours North of Aqaba.
more info about Aquaba reefs including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Jordan Red Sea The Cedar Pride is a Lebanese freighter sunk in 1986 at the wishes of
Prince Abdulha, King Hussain's son as an attraction for divers. She lies 150m
offshore and is approx. 80m long by 20m wide. Lying on her port side across two
reefs in a depth of 12-27m. It is possible to pass under the hull of the ship,
which lays across two reefs. She has been rapidly colonized by soft corals and
is home to several large sea bass, Grouper can often be spotted and she is also
patrolled by a shoal of barracuda!
Between the wreck and the shore and just off the starboard bow lies a reef
called Osama's Reef This has nothing to do with Bin Laden! The reef
slopes downward from 10m to 24m with a drop off on one side. Here can be found a
profuse and wide range of corals and fish life, including larger pelagic species
that approach the reef to feed. This site can be combined with the wreck, but
there is rarely time to explore more than a fraction of the reef and so this
site is worthy of a visit of its own.
more info about The Wreck of the Cedar Pride including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Netherlands Antilles Caribbean SeaRates the top dive site in terms of species richness by the REEF Environmental organization. Present count, 323 species, plentiful in numbers as well as variety. With a drop off beginning in 30 feet (10 meters) of water, a continuous reef that runs parallel to shore, minimal to no currents, this is an ideal dive of all levels of divers. The majority of the fish life, colorful orange elephant ear sponges, purple tube and vase sponges and gorgonians are found between 30 - 60 feet or water. These shallow depths provide divers with plenty of underwater viewing time. Bonaire is ranked as the #1 macro capital in the Caribbean, and no site is better for marco than Bari reef. In the shallow terrace ( 0 to 30 feet) the rubble is home to move than 100 species of fish alone. (also ideal for snorkelers). Yellow headed jawfish, pike blenneys, sail fin blenneys and other beauties abound for those with patient eyes! On the reef slope, enormous schools of creole wrasse, queen and french angel fish, rock beauties, groupers, butterfly fish, and countless others. Frog fish generally there for long periods of time, squid in the shallow without fail!
more info about Bari Reef at Sand Dollar, Bonaire including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Cayman islands Caribbean SeaIf it is spectacular wall diving you have come for you have come to the right place. The Cayman Islands are famous for it’s walls that are just a few minutes from shore. Eden Rock is situated near to Georgetown on South Church Street and is an excellent location to either do a West, South, or North wall dive.
more info about Eden Rock including maps, reviews, and ratings...