Best Scuba Diving Destinations For Your Next Dive Trip

Stretching 1,400-miles (2,253 km), the Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world with around 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands. Base yourself on Australia’s northeast Queensland coast for access to hundreds of dive sites along the reef. 

In some locations, shallow reefs exist alongside deeper sections, which allows for a range of diving experiences and abilities. Marine biodiversity includes 1,500 species of fish, 4,000 types of mollusks, and 1,000 species of echinoderms, along with countless other marine organisms. 

Because the reef is so extensive, there are many different areas to explore during a trip. Liveaboards run many different itineraries to these areas:

• Cairns and Port Douglas (Outer Reefs): both spots offer day-boat access to popular sites like Milln Reef, Flynn Reef, Hastings Reef, and Thetford Reef, where you'll find coral bommies, clownfish, and reef sharks at depths suited to divers of every level. Most liveaboards leave from Cairns.
• The Ribbon Reefs: this remote chain of 10 outer reefs near Lizard Island is best known for the Cod Hole, where you can get close to large, tame potato cod in clear water.
• The Coral Sea: features steep drop-offs and pelagic action at remote atolls like Osprey Reef, plus the SS Yongala wreck off Townsville, one of the world's top wreck dives and home to bull rays, sea snakes, and schooling barracuda.
• Southern Great Barrier Reef: offers more than 20 sites around Heron Island and Lady Elliot Island, two coral cays known for manta ray cleaning stations and seasonal turtle nesting.

You're certain to encounter marine life such as turtles, dolphins, potato cod, and sharks. Expect colorful, species-rich coral reefs and seasonal migrations of larger pelagic fish. Water temperatures are generally warm. Dive excursions of different lengths are offered regularly throughout the year. Conditions at your specific location will vary depending on the area and season.

Marine life highlights

• Turtles, dolphins, and potato cod
• Reef and pelagic sharks, including seasonal migratory species
• 1,500+ fish species, 4,000 mollusk species, and 1,000 echinoderm species
• Vibrant, biodiverse coral across 2,900+ reefs

Why is Bonaire ideal for shore diving?

If you're a shore diver looking to travel, Bonaire gives you access to over 50 officially recognized sites along its west coast. Many of these dive sites are shallow with an easy shore entry, so they're accessible even if you're less experienced. Most resorts offer unlimited shore diving all year, with roughly 86 to 97 total moored sites across the island.

• Klein Bonaire: this uninhabited island is just a 15-minute boat ride from the major resorts, giving you even more sites to explore beyond the mainland.
• Bonaire's sloping reefs: most of the mainland's reefs, like the Forest and Sharon’s Serenity, slope gently, so you'll find them approachable at any experience level.
• Karpata: a steep vertical wall, a contrast to Bonaire's typical sloping reefs, and a good pick if you want more depth and drama.
• Salt Pier: the pillars here create shifting light patterns that often draw larger fish, plus schools of smaller reef species sheltering underneath.

While exploring Bonaire's vibrant reefs you may encounter tropical fish, squid, seahorses, octopus, and tarpon. Another dive site highlight is the Hilma Hooker, a 236-foot (72 m) Dutch cargo freighter that sank on its side in 1984 in 130 feet (40 m) of water. 

The calm waters within the Bonaire National Marine Park are protected. Visibility runs 65 to 100 feet, making the area well-suited for underwater photography. Bonaire's water and surface temperature stay fairly consistent year-round, and since the island lies outside the hurricane belt, you can plan your trip for any month.

Marine life highlights

• Colorful tropical fish, seahorses, octopus, and squid
• Tarpon and barrel sponges
• Marine life around the Hilma Hooker wreck
• Vibrant reefs within the protected Bonaire National Marine Park

Where can you dive in Fiji?

Fiji is often called the soft coral capital of the world. Nutrient-rich currents running between its more than 300 islands feed dense, colorful coral growth on both fringing and barrier reefs. 

The islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu offer different diving environments. There are calm, shallow reefs, stronger-current drifts, and shark dives. Water temperatures stay warm year-round. Visibility on many outer reefs regularly tops 100 feet (30 m).

• Shark Reef Marine Reserve (Viti Levu): known for pelagics, particularly sharks, and an ideal site if you're an experienced diver. You may see bull sharks, blacktip reef sharks, and tawny nurse sharks. Tiger sharks and whale sharks are typically seasonal.
• Great Sea Reef (Vanua Levu): off the northern shore of Vanua Levu and also known as Cakaulevu Reef, this 120-mile (193 km) stretch ranks as the world's third largest barrier reef system, with extensive soft coral formations, the highest percentage of Fiji's hard coral and reef fish species, and larger reef fish such as humphead parrotfish, dolphins, and turtles.
• Taveuni Island: excellent dive experiences and diverse marine life, with soft, colorful coral, abundant fish species, and drift diving in the Somosomo Strait, including the famous dive sites of Rainbow Reef and the Great White Wall.

Marine life highlights

• Bull sharks, blacktip reef sharks, and tawny nurse sharks (with seasonal tiger and whale sharks)
• Extensive soft coral formations
• Humphead parrotfish, dolphins, and turtles
• Colorful drift-diving reefs at Rainbow Reef and the Great White Wall

Where can you dive shipwrecks and sharks in Micronesia?