Top places to go scuba diving?

[jezzeaepi]

Im in the prelimenary stages of planning a big trip with some of my friends, and I thought I would take this oppertunity to suggest some locations that have excellent SCUBA diving oppertunities. I don't know much about SCUBA diving yet, but I will prepare in the coming months. First and foremost though, I need to think of some locations so we can start shopping for good deals. sooooo..

Where, anywhere in the world, would you recomend for scuba diving? With global warming and pollution, I would imagine that many places are on the decline, so Id really like to visit a place that is still somewhat preserved and unspoiled. Id really like to see a great diversity of life. Oh, and I suppose if theres cool things do there, out of the water, I supose my friends would appreciate it =P Also, If you have any websites for further reading, I would appreciate that as well.

Peace,
Jesse

 

[BobinCovington]

one cool place my wife and I like is Kona Hawaii. Snorkeling at the Cpt Cook monument with all kinds of yellow tangs and reef fish. We loved it. You can also dive with the Manta Rays.

I'm sure there are other great places, but we had fun in Kona

 

[oldsaint]

I went to Aruba a couple of years ago. Very nice reefs and visibility was great. Most of the dives I went on were drift dives. So you were down a good hour +. The price was right also. We got 2 round trip tickets and 5 nights in a 4 star resort for $1500.00 through southwest. That's total not each. The weather there is beautiful year round and they are below the hurricane belt. The only bad season the have is a windy season and that's not too bad from what I've heard. We went in early July. I got hooked up with an guy name Clive. His boat is call Dive Clive. It's a nice small boat. Only 5-6 divers at a time. Much nicer than the 20+ cattle boats that you see around.

 

[bingme]

scuba club med

Depending on your budget and experience level.
Beginners with modest cash. Try a club med. Take their scuba course and get resort certified over the course of 4 days then enjoy two days of guided diving. Easy way to get into the sport and party with friends. Tahiti is a great location. Mexico is good and costs less. Later on get certified if still interested and practice lots. Then go to Bonaire for a week or two for all you can eat, self guided, shore diving. Aruba is probably a good suggestion too as all three of the Netherlands Antilles are culturally similar. If you go to Curacao, rent a car and tanks and go to the north end. Much of the south has been under various pressures for a while now and the reefs show it.

Im in the prelimenary stages of planning a big trip with some of my friends, and I thought I would take this oppertunity to suggest some locations that have excellent SCUBA diving oppertunities. I don't know much about SCUBA diving yet, but I will prepare in the coming months. First and foremost though, I need to think of some locations so we can start shopping for good deals. sooooo..

Where, anywhere in the world, would you recomend for scuba diving? With global warming and pollution, I would imagine that many places are on the decline, so Id really like to visit a place that is still somewhat preserved and unspoiled. Id really like to see a great diversity of life. Oh, and I suppose if theres cool things do there, out of the water, I supose my friends would appreciate it =P Also, If you have any websites for further reading, I would appreciate that as well.

Peace,
Jesse

 

[morgan]

to my knowldege ningaloo reef in western australia is the healthyest reef in the world its a really nice dive site u can dive amazing reefs right off the beach or take a boat trip and dive with the whale sharks or manta rays there is quiet often turtles to be seen aswell as 250+ speices of coral
keep in mind that unlike the great barrier reef u need to take a boat to do any diving unlike ningaloo that is right on the beach mate its all right there i was 10 meters from the shore and saw a turtle and the condiotons are so good that we were swim up to 2kms off shore with out a boat just kept swimming because the coral just keeps going

 

[reedman]

I really want to dive near Heron Island in Australia. From the pics I have seen it is great.

I have been diving in Cozumel and it was very cool, but a different kind of dive....drift dive so you don't have to swim at all....just ride the current. Sharks, eels, loads of fish and some soft corals. As you get deeper you start to see some hard corals. We went down to 115' and were still seeing plenty of life.

Diving in Grand Cayman was fantastic also. Sea turtles, sharks, soft corals, plenty of fish, sunken ships, jelly fish. Just an all around nice dive. And the dive boats are great.

I still would love to dive the blue hole in Belize. I have heard nothing but great things.

There are so many places to dive it is hard to pic. And also it depends on what you like when diving. I like to see sunken ships so there are places off the coast of Florida I would love to go explore.

You might also find that diving in the PNW waters is fun. We like it alot, but we also have dry suits and all the right gear to make it fun.

 

[mmn_usn]

Palau.

Guam

Hawaii

Australia

 

[achu]

Just remember

Welcome to the underwater world of scuba diving!

Just remember, Yes, that entire head of coral would probably look great in your tank, and each colony of coral on the formation would cost a fortune at the fish store... but NO you can't take it home with you

Man, I remember the first time I went diving after I started my reef tank. It really gave me a different perspective as I stared and wondered what the LFS would charge for each coral colony!!

Best of luck and happy travels!

 

[windwaterwaves]

Oahu (snorkel in hanauma bay) & dive in Maui or the big island. Australia (Port Stephens) was amazing even with low vis when I could do it. Mexico the carribean side is nice and there is work there to preserve the environment Cozumel, and Isla Mujeres (cancun). West mexico is cold pacific, low vis during tourist times, hasn't been great Puerto Vallarta, Zihuatanejo, Cabo, los barilles (sea of cortez) was a nice reef. I would love to dive Belize friends have said it's fantastic and they are working hard to keep their reefs and preserves. Jamaica was horrible their economy and massive overfishing has destroyed anything bigger than 3". I heard Honduras is great as well... Oh and my wish list is the Galapagos., Palau, Truk lagoon, thailand (sea snakes and lionfish abound)

 

[krisfal]

I have never been scuba diving but spent a week snorkeling in the Bahamas and it was great. We booked a 5 day sailboat trip, it was just my husband and I and my sister and brother in law, the captain and his wife, spent the entire 5 days sailing, fishing, snorkeling and exploring the islands. Each day we woke up and the captain asked what do you want to do today. The itinerary is completely up to you. Plus all the meals are based on what can be caught in the sea! It was a great time. If you want to check it out here is the website http://www.amarok-charters.com/ The captain and his wife are great, friendly and fun with a lot of interesting stories.

 

[brianblack]

Belize - wife just went snorkling off a cruise ship - said it was great. Cozumel is also supposed to be decent she took the submarine ride and said it was cool - I went in Mex off Puerto Aventuras (1.5 hours south of Cancun) and it was OK but was my First and only dive experience so they did not take us out too far or deep. The locals snorkel and dive in Akumal small town with a great palapa style resturaunt - really good food. Has not got the tourist rep like Xel Ha or Xcaret. Turks and Caicos is another place to go. Depending how much you want to spend you you could get like a boat that sails to different places and you just dive and live on the boat can't remember who does that.
was not the amarok people like krisfal took but something similar. I would like to go and get certified but $$ and time. I think local to me you get certified in a quarry...

And when you see things in the ocean you do do the $$ totals all you think is cha ching cha ching

 

[beoks]

i've dove a lot of places this is hands down the best place its expensive but it is worth every doller

http://www.wakatobi.com/home.php

these guys have a really cool thing going on. the guys that own the resort made a deal with the locals to not fish on their reefs. but they pay them with thigs like electricity, cement, water... stuff like that. so these reefs are basically untouched i have dove just about all of on the yucatan in mexico, bali, all the northwest here, hawaii, sardini. and this is the place to go.

also you should head into underwater sports and see if they have any good trips going on. they have well planned really affordable trips going to places like cozumel all the time deff should check it out

 

[jezzeaepi]

Thank you all for so many suggestions so far! Depending on when we end up going I might try to get certified for diving up here in the PNW. Its gonna be soooooo cold....

Beoks- wow... /drool

 

[beoks]

lol when i dive up here i dont get wet after diving all over i really appriciate the water here. yes it can be cold and dark and not very good vis but we have some critters that you wont see anywhere else, giant pacific octopus, wolf eels. oh and crab does not taste any better when you get to pick the ones you want off the bottom. again i really recommend underwater sports i got my certification there. they have a pool in the building and they have been really good to me i was just there today for their winter sale. feel free to pm me anytime

 

[danno14]

Inland passage of BC.... prepare to dive dry