100 Best Dive Sites in the World

21 March 2013
The top dive site since our list began, way back in the year 2000, had been continually held by the Yongala - a fantastic wreck dive in Australia. But not anymore. Blue Corner Wall in Palau has steadily crept up the list until this week it pushed the Yongala into second place.

How many of the dives on this list have you dived? Tweet @SCUBANews or tell us below.

To vote for your best dive, scroll down to the bottom of the page. You may also be interested in our Best Wreck Dives list and the Top Dives in Europe.

Blue Corner Wall, Palau, Micronesia Yongala, Australia Barracuda Point, Sipadan Island Thistlegorm, Egyptian Red Sea Shark and Yolanda Reef, Egyptian Red Sea Great Blue Hole, Belize Navy Pier, Western Australia Manta Ray Night Dive, Kailua Kona, Hawaii Big Brother, Egyptian Red Sea Elphinstone Reef, Egyptian Red Sea Liberty, Bali, Indonesia President Coolidge, Vanuatu Tubbataha, Palawan, Philippines Richelieu Rock, Thailand Ras Mohammed, Egyptian Red Sea Great white wall, Tavieuni Fiji Tiputa Pass, Rangiroa, Polynesia Bloody bay wall, Little cayman Gordon's Rock, Galapagos Osprey Reef, Coral Sea, Australia Sha'ab Rumi South, Sudan Ulong Channel, Palau Sodwana bay, South Africa Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia Blue Hole, Dahab, Egyptian Red Sea Manta reef, Mozambique Poor Knights, New Zealand Darwin Island, Galapagos Aliwal Shoal, South Africa Darwin Arch, Galapagos Castle Rock - Komodo National Park, Indonesia South Point, Sipadan Wolf Island, Galapogos Similans, Thailand Maaya Thila, South Ari Atoll, Maldives Dos Ojos (Los Cenotes), Playa del Carmen, Mexico Straits of Tiran, Egyptian Red Sea Fish Rock, Off South West Rocks in NSW, Australia Verde Island or Drop Off, Philippines Puerto Galera, Philippines Mnemba Island, Tanzania Bunaken, Indonesia Cod Hole, Northern Great Barrier Reef Canibal Rock, Komodo, Indonesia Daedelus, Egyptian Red Sea Jackson Reef, Egypt Malpelo Island, Colombia Molokini Crater Wall, Hawaii Grand Central Station, Gizo, Solomon Islands The Zenobia, Cyprus Scotts head pinnacle, Dominica Apo Reef, Philippines Dirty rock, Cocos Island, Costa Rica St Johns, Egypt Perpendicular wall, Christmas Island, Australia Sipadan Drop Off Silfra, Thingvellir, Iceland Half Moon Wall, Belize Garuae Pass, Fakarava Island, French Polynesia Peleliu Express, Palau Pixie pinnacle and pixie wall, GBR, Australia Ghiannis D, Egypt Stingray City, Grand Cayman Protea Banks, South Africa Fujikawa Maru, Truk Lagoon (Chuuk Lagoon) Blue Hole,Gozo, Malta Split rock, Kadavu Isle. Fiji Barra Reef, Mozambique Cirkewwa, Malta Palancanar Bricks, Cozumel, Mexico Shark Alley, Grand Cayman Jardines de la Reina, Cuba Pedras Secas, Noronha, Brazil Holmes Reef, Coral Sea, Australia Canyon, Thomas Reef, Egypt Hilma Hooker, Bonaire Hin Muang, Thailand alcyone, Cocos Island, Costa Rica Punta Sur / Devils Throat, Cozumel, Mexico Albatross Passage, Kavieng, PNG Seaventure House Reef, Mabul Japanese Gardens, Koh Tao, Thailand The Point, Layang - Layang Umbria, Sudan The Canyons, Utila, Honduras Booroo, Isle of Man Wreck of the Bahama Mama, New Providence, Bahamas Pinnacles, Ponto Malongane, Mozambique Monad Shoal, Malapascua, Philippines Palancar Bricks, Cozumel Socorro: The Boiler, Revillagigedo Islands, Mexico Mafia Island, Tanzania Rainbow Warrier, New Zealand Manuelita Coral Night Dive (Dinner Bell), Cocos Island, Costa Rica Los testigos islands, Venezuela Rangali Madivaru, Maldives Gili air, Indonesia Batu Bolong, Flores, Indonesia San Andres Colombia Turtle tavern, Sipadan Compiled from divers' votes by Jill Studholme

Comments

Books of the World's Best Dive Sites

Dive Atlas of the World: An Illustrated Reference to the Best Sites

ed Jack Jackson, New Holland Publishers, 2008, 300 pages, Hardback
Available from UK and USA

Ultimate Diving Adventures: 100 Extraordinary Experiences Under Water

by Len Deeley and Karen Gargani, John Wiley & Sons, 2009, 218 pages, Paperback
Details some of the best dive sites around the world, with some lovely photographs. The authors have included many of the dives listed in our best dives list.
Available from UK and USA

Diving the World

Beth and Shaun Tierney, Footprint Travel Guides, 2009, 352 pages, Paperback
Available from UK and USA

Vote for your Top Dives

Name:             E-mail:      

Dive Site 1:      Dive Site 2: 
Dive 1 Description:           Dive 2 Description: 
     
Other Comments or Runner-Up Dives:

How are the votes counted?
The first criteria is number of votes (weighted to favour the first choice dive site above the second). Where two dives tie for a position, priority is given to those with the most enticing descriptions and those whose area has several votes for different dives.

SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011)

Every month we send out a free newsletter featuring the best diving areas, underwater life, diving book reviews and interviews with authors. To receive this please fill in your e-mail address below. For an archive of previous issues see the SCUBA News page.

Another View:
Dive Atlas of the World
See more details...
Available from
UK and USA