Explore the world underwater

Formentera (Es Freus)

Spain

Up to 40 m · Advanced Open Water

25 m22 °C

Posidonia oceanica meadows · barracuda · groupers

Cabrera (Cova Blava)

Spain

Up to 20 m · Open Water

25 m20 °C

Reef fish · lobsters · the blue light effect

Scapa Flow

United Kingdom

Up to 45 m · Advanced / technical

10 m10 °C

Plumose anemones · conger eels · scallops; typical cold-water fauna of the North Atlantic

Portofino Marine Reserve

Italy

Up to 40 m · Advanced Open Water

20 m19 °C

Groupers · corals · red gorgonians

Cristo degli Abissi (San Fruttuoso)

Italy

Up to 30 m · Open Water; also accessible by freediving

Grouper · lobster · passing pelagics; walls with coral and deep crevices

Zakynthos (loggerhead turtle)

Greece

Up to 30 m · Open Water

25 m23 °C

Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) · Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus)

Plemmirio Marine Reserve (Sicily)

Italy

Up to 35 m · Open Water

25 m22 °C

Corals · moray eels · lobsters

Tavolara (Sardinia)

Italy

Up to 40 m · Advanced Open Water

30 m20 °C

Groupers · lobsters · red corals

Aegadian Islands (Favignana)

Italy

Up to 35 m · Advanced Open Water

25 m21 °C

Groupers · corals · Punic archaeological remains

Ustica Island

Italy

Up to 20 m · Open Water

25 m22 °C

Dusky groupers · tuna · amberjack

El Hierro / La Restinga

Spain

Up to 40 m · Advanced Open Water

25 m21 °C

Angelsharks · occasional basking sharks · manta rays

Grotta di Nereo (Nereo Cave)

Italy

Up to 33 m · Advanced Open Water; the narrow tunnels require a cave qualification

Red coral (Corallium rubrum) · spiny lobsters · European lobsters

Tremiti Islands

Italy

Up to 40 m · Advanced Open Water

25 m21 °C

Groupers · red corals · lobsters

Peristera wreck (Alonnisos Underwater Museum)

Greece

Up to 30 m · Advanced Open Water; only with an authorised guide

Mediterranean reef life; the park protects the Mediterranean monk seal

Lastovo Island

Croatia

Up to 35 m · Open Water

25 m21 °C

Spiny lobsters · European lobsters · octopus

Mljet Island

Croatia

Up to 35 m · Open Water

25 m21 °C

Groupers · corals · two inland salt lakes

Kornati Islands

Croatia

Up to 35 m · Open Water

25 m21 °C

Posidonia oceanica meadows · bottlenose dolphin · loggerhead turtle

Cirkewwa (Malta)

Malta

Up to 35 m · Open Water

30 m20 °C

Reef fish · two patrol boat wrecks

Malta (Blue Hole Gozo / Um El Faroud)

Malta

Up to 40 m · Advanced Open Water

35 m20 °C

Groupers · moray eels · octopus

Zenobia Wreck

Cyprus

Up to 42 m · Technical

25 m20 °C

Large groupers · barracuda · moray eels

Strýtan (hydrothermal chimney)

Iceland

Up to 70 m · Advanced Open Water (drysuit)

20 m5 °C

Limited wildlife; a unique mineral tufa chimney

Komodo National Park

Indonesia

Up to 40 m · Advanced, strong currents

22 m26 °C

Reef manta rays all year round · grey reef sharks · thresher shark

Ningaloo Reef

Australia

Up to 25 m · Open Water

20 m25 °C

Between 300 and 500 whale sharks a year; giant manta rays · turtles · whales; more than 300 species of coral

Raja Ampat

Indonesia

Up to 40 m · Open Water

25 m29 °C

Reef and oceanic manta rays · tasselled wobbegongs · endemic walking sharks (Hemiscyllium)

Wakatobi National Park

Indonesia

Up to 40 m · Open Water

30 m28 °C

Close to 950 species of fish and some 400 of coral; mobula rays · short-finned pilot whales · six species of dolphin

Misool (Boo Windows and Magic Mountain)

Indonesia

Up to 30 m · Advanced Open Water

Reef and oceanic manta rays · reef sharks · wobbegongs

Bunaken Marine Park

Indonesia

Up to 40 m · Advanced Open Water

30 m28 °C

Green and hawksbill turtles on almost every dive · eagle rays · reef sharks

Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park

Philippines

Up to 40 m · Advanced Open Water

30 m27 °C

More than 350 species of coral and close to 500 of fish; hammerheads · thresher shark · eagle rays

Cenderawasih Bay (whale shark)

Indonesia

Up to 20 m · Open Water

15 m28 °C

Resident whale shark · more than 35 endemic fish species · hard coral gardens

Similan Islands

Thailand

Up to 30 m · Advanced Open Water

20 m28 °C

Manta rays at the cleaning stations of Koh Bon and Koh Tachai · turtles · leopard sharks

Apo Reef Natural Park

Philippines

Up to 35 m · Advanced Open Water

30 m27 °C

Reef sharks · hammerheads · thresher shark

Kri Island (Raja Ampat)

Indonesia

Up to 30 m · Open Water

20 m28 °C

Giant manta rays · tasselled wobbegongs beneath the table corals · Denise's pygmy seahorse (endemic to Raja Ampat)

Blue Magic (Raja Ampat)

Indonesia

Up to 30 m · Advanced Open Water

20 m28 °C

Oceanic manta rays · reef sharks · shoals of trevally

Manta Ridge (Arborek)

Indonesia

Up to 20 m · Open Water

15 m28 °C

Resident reef manta rays · cleaner wrasse

Surin Islands

Thailand

Up to 30 m · Open Water

20 m28 °C

More than 260 species of reef fish · 68 of coral · 48 of nudibranch and 31 of shrimp recorded in the park

Moalboal (Sardine Run)

Philippines

Up to 30 m · Open Water

20 m28 °C

Millions of sardines in bait balls · turtles · whitetip reef sharks

Cape Kri

Indonesia

Up to 35 m · Open Water

20 m29 °C

Giant trevally of more than 20 kg · bigeye trevally · barracuda

Apo Island

Philippines

Up to 25 m · Open Water

25 m27 °C

Green turtles well used to divers · shoals of reef fish · dense hard coral

Ogasawara Islands

Japan

Up to 30 m · Advanced Open Water

25 m24 °C

Sperm whales and humpback whales · dolphins at Futami (Chichijima) · more than 190 threatened bird species across the archipelago as a whole

Menjangan Island (Bali Barat)

Indonesia

Up to 40 m · Open Water

30 m27 °C

Whitetip reef sharks · turtles · Napoleon wrasse

Richelieu Rock

Thailand

Up to 35 m · Advanced Open Water

15 m28 °C

Occasional whale shark and manta ray · schooling mackerel and barracuda · frogfish

Hin Daeng / Hin Muang

Thailand

Up to 60 m · Advanced

25 m28 °C

Manta ray · occasional whale shark · grey reef shark

SS Yongala

Australia

Up to 28 m · Advanced Open Water

15 m26 °C

Olive sea snakes · very large turtles · groupers

Whitsunday Islands (Chalkies Beach)

Australia

Up to 20 m · Open Water

15 m25 °C

Turtles · reef fish · hard corals

Christmas Island

Australia

Up to 40 m · Open Water on the shallow reefs; advanced on Perpendicular Wall

Whale sharks · manta rays · spinner dolphins all year round

Osprey Reef (Coral Sea)

Australia

Up to 40 m · Advanced

30 m27 °C

Grey reef and silvertip sharks · hammerheads · pelagics

Baa Atoll (Hanifaru Bay)

Maldives

Up to 20 m · Open Water

20 m28 °C

Up to 200 reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi) at once · the largest known aggregation in the world; whale shark

Lady Elliot Island

Australia

Up to 20 m · Open Water

20 m24 °C

Reef manta rays for much of the year · turtles · leopard sharks

Aldabra Atoll

Seychelles

Up to 30 m · Advanced Open Water

25 m27 °C

Mangroves · seagrass meadows · fringing reef; the world's largest population of giant tortoise

Heron Island

Australia

Up to 30 m · Open Water

20 m25 °C

Nesting green and hawksbill turtles · manta rays · reef sharks

Brothers Islands (El Akhawein)

Egypt

Up to 80 m · Advanced, drift diving

30 m26 °C

Hammerhead · oceanic whitetip · thresher and grey reef sharks

Norman Reef

Australia

Up to 25 m · Open Water

25 m26 °C

Reef sharks · turtles · clownfish

Cod Hole

Australia

Up to 25 m · Open Water

25 m26 °C

Large potato cod · thoroughly used to divers · Napoleon wrasse

Rocky Island

Egypt

Up to 60 m · Advanced, drift diving

30 m27 °C

Feeding sharks · giant barracuda · large shoals

Chumbe Island

Tanzania

Up to 20 m · Open Water

20 m27 °C

Napoleon wrasse · green turtles · pristine corals

Agincourt Reefs

Australia

Up to 40 m · Open Water

30 m26 °C

Hard and soft corals · turtles · reef sharks

Flynn Reef

Australia

Up to 30 m · Open Water

25 m26 °C

Reef sharks · giant groupers · turtles

St John's Reef

Egypt

Up to 40 m · Advanced Open Water

30 m27 °C

Hammerheads · grey reef shark · oceanic whitetip

HMS Hermes wreck

Sri Lanka

Up to 55 m · Technical (mandatory decompression)

Large tuna · big grouper · trevally; the absence of fishing and of diving pressure has left an exceptional density of fish

Zabargad Island

Egypt

Up to 50 m · Advanced, technical

30 m27 °C

Oceanic whitetip shark · grey reef shark · hammerheads

Wadi Gimal

Egypt

Up to 30 m · Open Water

25 m26 °C

Dugongs · turtles · whitetip reef sharks

Tiger Beach

Bahamas

Up to 10 m · Advanced (shark diving)

28 m25 °C

Tiger shark · lemon shark · nurse shark

Daedalus Reef (Abu el Kizan)

Egypt

Up to 40 m · Advanced, drift diving

Hammerhead sharks · oceanic whitetip · thresher shark

Ras Mohammed National Park

Egypt

Up to 40 m · Open Water

30 m26 °C

Barracuda · trevally · batfish

Sanganeb Atoll

Sudan

Up to 40 m · Advanced Open Water

30 m27 °C

Hammerhead sharks · grey reef sharks · barracuda

Flower Garden Banks

United States

Up to 40 m · Advanced Open Water

30 m24 °C

Almost 300 species of fish and more than 20 of coral; manta rays · sharks · turtles

Looe Key

United States

Up to 20 m · Open Water

25 m27 °C

Nurse sharks · lobsters · reef fish

Molasses Reef

United States

Up to 15 m · Open Water

25 m26 °C

Turtles · vase sponges · snappers

Peleliu Wall

Palau

Up to 40 m · Advanced, drift diving

30 m28 °C

Grey reef sharks · hammerhead sharks · barracuda tornadoes

Ulong Channel

Palau

Up to 25 m · Open Water

25 m28 °C

Whitetip reef sharks · turtles · hard corals

Blue Corner

Palau

Up to 40 m · Advanced, strong currents

25 m28 °C

Grey reef sharks in groups of 10 to 30 · huge Napoleon wrasse · barracuda in tornado formation

German Channel

Palau

Up to 25 m · Advanced Open Water

25 m28 °C

Reef manta rays at cleaning stations · reef sharks · rays

Jardines de la Reina

Cuba

Up to 30 m · Open Water

35 m27 °C

Grey reef · silky · nurse

Bimini (great hammerhead)

Bahamas

Up to 12 m · Advanced (shark diving)

Great hammerhead · bull shark · Caribbean reef shark

Turneffe Atoll

Belize

Up to 35 m · Open Water

25 m27 °C

Bull sharks · groupers · turtles

Christ of the Abyss (Key Largo)

United States

Up to 8 m · Open Water / Snorkel

20 m26 °C

Brain coral formations · grunts · snapper

Hol Chan Marine Reserve

Belize

Up to 20 m · Open Water

25 m27 °C

Nurse sharks · eagle rays · groupers

Rainbow Reef (Key Largo)

United States

Up to 15 m · Open Water

20 m26 °C

Reef fish · lobsters · soft corals

French Reef (Key Largo)

United States

Up to 20 m · Open Water

20 m26 °C

Moray eels · large snapper · groupers

Jellyfish Lake

Palau

Up to 5 m · Snorkel (scuba diving prohibited)

5 m32 °C

Golden jellyfish (Mastigias papua) and moon jellyfish · neither with an effective sting

USS Spiegel Grove

United States

Up to 40 m · Advanced Open Water

20 m27 °C

More than 130 species of fish; algae · sponges

SS Benwood (Key Largo)

United States

Up to 15 m · Open Water

25 m26 °C

Sharks · turtles · occasional dolphins

Duane Wreck (Key Largo)

United States

Up to 40 m · Advanced Open Water

25 m26 °C

Shoals of snapper · barracuda · amberjack

Channel Islands National Park

United States

Up to 30 m · Open Water

15 m15 °C

Giant kelp forests · sea lions · garibaldi

Chuuk Lagoon (Truk Lagoon)

Micronesia

Up to 30 m · Open Water

20 m29 °C

Hard and soft coral over every hull · lionfish · moray eels

Fujikawa Maru (Chuuk)

Micronesia

Up to 34 m · Advanced Open Water / technical

20 m29 °C

Coral and sea fans on the superstructure · lionfish · moray eels