World's Best Dive Sites
- Yongala, Australia - The S.S. Yongala is definitely one
of the world’s top wreck dives, located in the beautiful waters of
the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. She sank with all hands in 1911 and
the sea has claimed the wreck as her own, so the whole site is teeming with
aquatic life. All this adventure just 30 minutes away from shore makes the
Yongala an absolutely awesome dive.
- The Thistlegorm, Egypt is comparatively lifeless, but
the ship itself, a second world war british wreck is amazing. Sunk in 1941,
she was carrying lots of cargo that is still clearly intact. You can look
at trucks, motorbikes, machine guns, entire railway carriages and a whole
host of artifacts that really take divers back in time to a less peaceful
age.
- Kelp Forest, Catalina Island Off the California coast,
the kelp forests try to compete with their land bound neighbours, the redwood
forests and pretty much manage to pull it off. With diverse wildlife including
sharks, sunfish, porpoises and masses of smaller animals, the kelp forests
are magical places.
- Blue Corner Wall, Palau is widely recognized as one of
the best in the world for the intense concentration of marine life that
can be found there.
- Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles Pristine reefs are guarded
well and diving here is an experience to be treasured.
- Navy Pier, Australia "Quite simply the best shore
dive on the planet".
- Big Brothers, Egypt The exposed tips of two massive pillars
provide the name and the victorian lighthouse is a memorable view at sunset,
but beneath the waters soft corals cover everything. Teeming with life and
a great spot for pelagic sharks.
- Great Blue Hole, Belize Pretty much what the name implies.
- Barracuda Point, Sipadan Island Lots of life of the sharp
and snappy variety.
- Elphinstone Reef, Egypt Warm seas and lots to see beneath
the waves here.
- Shark Reef - Ras Mohammed, Egypt The whole of Ras Mohammed
is brilliant.
- Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Difficult to get to but
definitely worth the trip
- Stoney Cove, England ...only kidding!
To compile the list above we looked at 8 diving magazines and 14 different websites where authors had listed their top dive sites between 2005-7.
Then we did the usual half arsed journalistic trick of letting everyone on the office add their vote.
Scuba Divers are a funny bunch and so you may not agree with this list. In fact you definitely will not agree, but that is not a problem. Whether you think these are the best or not is beside the point. Your fellow divers really rate these sites, so if you haven't tried diving at one of these yet, get out there and give it a go.
For Ras Mohammed in Egypt you can either stay on the peninsula in Sharm El Sheik or on the mainland in Hurghada. Dahab is a little too far north unless you like really long boat trips
Of course another factor beyond the state of the undersea life is the experience above water. You could add Meedhupparu in the Maldives to this list for the all inclusive vacation fun that can be had there.
