It goes without saying that the ocean has endless spots to explore and dive. From Central America to Indonesia, SCUBA nuts will all have their take on the best dive sites. Why do we love diving in Belize, Mexico, and beyond? Whale sharks, coral atolls, spotted eagle rays, Blue Holes, macro delights and reef sharks, for starters. Take a look at these top 5 dive sites.
Here’s a look at the Top 5 Dive Sites, according to Salt Life.
5. The Great Blue Hole, Belize
The Great Blue Hole is a world-class destination for recreational scuba divers attracted by the opportunity to dive in crystal-clear waters and see myriad species of marine life including tropical fish and spectacular coral formations. The Great Blue Hole is a large underwater sinkhole off the coast of Belize. It lies near the center of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll about 60 from the mainland of Belize City.
4. Manta Ray Night Dive, Hawaii
Hawaii isn’t the only place where you can swim with manta rays, but it might be the coolest. The Kona Coast is home to over 240 resident Manta Rays. These gentle giants can grow up to 16 feet in length and weigh up to 1600 pounds, but they have nothing that bites or stings, making this dive one of the safest large animal encounters out there.
Groups of Manta Rays converge nightly off of Makako Bay (Garden Eel Cove), to feed on the Phytoplankton & Zooplankton that appear to soak up the glow given off by underwater dive lights.
3. Gran Cenote, Mexico
Gran Cenote is one of the most famous cenotes (sinkhole or natural crater) in Mexico. Located just a few kilometers from Tulum on the way to Coba, this is one of the top diving spots in Riviera Maya.
Although its name suggests it’s a singular large cenote, in reality, the chasm consists of several meandering cenotes. The clear water ensures that even those opposed to getting wet are sure to see fish. Additionally, Gran Cenote is one of the most popular spots to snorkel in the region.
2. Raja Ampat, Indonesia
Get up close and personal with huge manta rays and giant clams, gape at schools of barracuda, fusiliers or parrotfish, peer at tiny pygmy seahorses or multicolored nudibranchs, and, with luck, encounter wobbegong and epaulette (walking) sharks in Raja Ampat. The reefs have hundreds of brilliantly colored soft and hard corals, and the marine topography varies from vertical walls and pinnacles to reef flats and underwater ridges.
1. Roatan, Honduras
Roatan’s dazzling array of marine life can be found on both shallow reefs and plummeting walls. It is well-known as a destination for hunting macro critters but equally famous for encountering the largest fish in the sea: majestic whale sharks. Roatan is perfectly suited for new and veteran divers.
Did we miss any dive sites that you love? Let me know in the comments!
If you’re a scuba diving enthusiast, your daydreams may feature a yacht, land-based luxury, racing fish-filled currents, calmer conditions, staggering depths, sunlight-filled shallows, inquisitive marine life or probably some combination of all of these. Whatever your preferred base and dive profile, add these six diving locations in the Southern Hemisphere to your underwater bucket list.
Raja Ampat, Indonesia
Off Indonesia’s West Papua province, the 15,000-square-mile Raja Ampat archipelago has tremendous marine biodiversity: more than 75 percent of the world’s hard coral species, half of the world’s soft corals, 1,500 fish species, and 700 mollusk species.
Another heartwarming feature is its status as Indonesia’s first shark sanctuary; sea turtles, rays and dugongs are also protected.
While scuba sites are superb throughout the archipelago, Misool in the south has some of the best. Explore swim-throughs and say hello to Papuan scorpionfish at the Dunia Kecil (“small world”) site. Become mesmerized by otherworldly soft coral gardens at Whale Rock, and meet multitudes of fish—barracuda, Spanish mackerel and more—flying through Karang Bayangan’s currents. Between dives, ease into a lake filled with ethereal jellyfish, their sting so mild it’s undetectable.
WHEN TO GO October – April
DIVE CHARTER
Beautifully crafted, 167-foot Dunia Baru has seven ensuite cabins and is an ideal base for remote dive adventures. duniabaru.com
Jellyfish everywhere in Raja Ampat: photo by Kara Murphy
A band of sea turtles swim on site of Lady Elliot Island
Bleached Anemone and a False-Clownfish
Ray play in the waters of Lady Elliot Island
Christmas Island: photo by Kara Murphy
Idyllic Similan Island waters await: photo by Kara Murphy
Christmas Island: photo by Kara Murphy
Great White Wall: photo by Kara Murphy
An underwater scene from Raja Ampat: photo by Kara Murphy
Ari Atoll, Maldives
For wonders on a grand scale, head to Ari Atoll, one of 26 natural atolls in the remote and vulnerable 1,190-island Maldives archipelago. Whale sharks cruise its outer edge year-round; if you’re lucky, you’ll swim close to the planet’s biggest fish, awed by their
might and magnificence. However, this atoll has smaller delights as well. At the Hafsa Thila dive site, for example, hundreds of psychedelically colored anemones and anemonefish create a striking dream world. At nearby sites, giant moray eels, sea turtles, spotted eagle rays, and fish—fusiliers, butterflyfish, tangs, parrotfi sh, and more—add to the enchantment. Migratory reef manta rays are also common, and one manta event is well worth a detour. Between June and November, at high tide during the full and new
moon, up to 200 hungry rays gather for plankton feeding frenzies in Baa Atoll’s Hanifaru Bay, so add this to your scuba itinerary, if possible.
WHEN TO GO Year-round, although seas tend to be calmest in March.
DIVE CHARTER 128-foot Four Seasons Explorer has 10 staterooms and one suite. Charter her or book a place on a scheduled cruise. fourseasons.com/maldivesfse
Christmas Island, Australia
With a narrow fringing reef harboring 600 species of fish, 88 species of pristine coral, caves, and steep walls plummeting to the deep sea, remote Christmas Island—in the Indian Ocean and closer to Indonesia than the Australian mainland—offers a bounty
of dive sites…64 altogether. These include the Rhoda Wall, which begins at 60 feet and descends to 10 times that; Daniel Roux, a lively coral outcrop; and the Thunderdome
and Thundercliff caves. The former cave has a dark, air-filled chamber in its inner reaches; rise for a breath here and let your imagination toy with its chair-shaped natural formation known as “Neptune’s Seat.” Does a sea goddess rule from here?
WHEN TO GO
November to April for whale sharks; November for the red crab migration; and May to October if you’re visiting via yacht.
LANDBASED EXPLORATION Christmas Island Wet’n’Dry Adventures offers daily dive trips.divingchristmas.com
Similan and Surin Islands, Thailand
To sample Thailand’s best scuba diving, venture into the Andaman Sea, about 40 miles west of Khao Lak, where 11 granite boulder islands (the Similans) attract boatloads of divers and snorkelers, thanks to the good visibility, intriguing underwater boulders, coral gardens, and other marine life.
Hin Muan Deaw (“whole roll of film rock”), a sea fan and soft coral-covered rock near islands No. 5 and No. 6, and West Ridge (near No. 10), which features a manta cleaning station, are just a couple of must-visit sites. The area’s most exquisite dive, though, is 40 miles north, in Mu Ko Surin National Park. Here, Richelieu Rock—a flat, horseshoe-shaped, sedimentary limestone rock draped in pink, red and purple corals—rewards divers
with a dizzying display of fish as well as turtles, manta rays, moray eels, and scorpionfish.
WHEN TO GO
The Similan Islands are only open to visitors from November to mid-May with the best visibility between December and March.
DIVE CHARTER Dunia Baru can include the Similan Islands on charters traveling to or from Myanmar’s Merguiarchipelago. duniabaru.com
Rainbow Reef, Fiji
Fiji is blessed with more than 4,000 square miles of coral reef and more than 1,000 fish species. Dive sites are scattered throughout the 333-island archipelago; however, make Rainbow Reef, in the narrow Somosomo Strait between Vanua Levu and Taveuni, your first stop. Here, about 20 scuba sites are spread along its southern section. The abundance of soft coral is the result of water rushing through the channel during tidal shifts, thus providing nutrients for marine life.
The Great White Wall—a scenic vertical wall of soft, white corals—is the most famous site and is best experienced during low slack tide, when the current is minimal and the soft corals are visible. After descending to 49 feet, you’ll enter a swim-through filled with soldierfish and fairy basslets. Exiting at about 82 feet, turn left and begin drifting along the spectacular wall, which extends to depths of more than 130 feet. Remember to move away from the wall at least once to properly witness its grandeur.
WHEN TO GO April – October; check with your dive guide for the best tidal window for the Great White Wall.
LANDBASED DIVE LUXURY Laucala Island, a 40-minute boat ride from the Great White Wall, offers diving day trips and glamorous villas. laucala.com
Lady Elliot Island, Australia
If close scuba encounters with manta rays and sea turtles sound like your version of heaven, book a trip to Lady Elliot Island, a coral cay on the southernmost Great Barrier Reef. Expect to fall in love as reef manta rays dance elegantly around cleaning stations such as Lighthouse Bommie; for the ultimate treat, visit in the Austral winter and early
spring, when humpback whales migrate along Australia’s East Coast. Their song, audible on nearly every dive, will fill your senses. Keep your fins crossed that one swims past before you surface.
WHEN TO GO
July and August
LANDBASED EXPLORATION
Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort offers dives twice daily. ladyelliot.com.au
DIVE CHARTER
Ocean Alliance represents a number of yachts that charter on the Great Barrier Reef. oceanalliance.com
Story and photos by Kara Murphy, Southern Boating September 2017
On a Mission: Heroes plant 500 corals in a single day assist in coral restoration.
Stellar scientists, hero veterans and future leaders recently planted 500 corals near Looe Key in the Florida Keys, marking the sixth year of a unique partnership involving science, conservation and coral restoration.
Members of the Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge (CWVC) and SCUBAnauts International joined forces with scientists from Mote Marine Laboratory on June 27th for the record-breaking mission on the reef. The number of corals planted marked the most-ever the groups have planted in a single day since they began working together in 2012.
In total, they have planted more than 1,600 corals in an area unofficially named “Hero’s Reef” honoring all current and former members of the U.S. Armed Forces.
CWVC improves the lives of wounded and injured veterans through rehabilitative, high-adventure and therapeutic outdoor challenges while furthering the physiological, biomedical and pathological sciences associated with their injuries. The veterans who participate in the outdoor challenges have suffered from traumatic brain injuries, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or have lost limbs.
SCUBAnauts International involves teens in the marine sciences with intensive dive and science training. Through its partnerships with universities and research organizations, SCUBAnauts learn to take charge as they work on innovative projects that positively impact our oceans, such as this coral restoration.
Combined efforts from Mote, Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge, and the SCUBAnauts, planted 500 Stagorn Coral on Hope Reef on Tuesday, June 27th, 2017.
Ten years ago, Mote established an underwater coral nursery where scientists grow colonies of the threatened staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) for replanting and coral restoration on decimated or damaged sections of reef within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
When the colonies reach a suitable size, small fragments (nearly 2 inches long) are snipped off and used to create a new colony—similar to the way new plants are grown from cuttings of existing plants. These cuttings are then mounted on the reef so they can grow and develop into new colonies.
Mote has more than 10,000 colonies of staghorn coral in its underwater nursery, including more than 85 genotypes, allowing researchers to determine which corals have the heartiest genetic makeup and the best chances of survival. To date, Mote has planted more than 40,000 reef-building coral fragments to help restore Florida’s reef. Mote is also working on a new coral micro-fragmenting technology that is enabling the organization to regenerate larger reef-building boulder corals on the reefs. Mote’s goal is to continue working in partnership with these and other groups to plant more than a million corals.
“This is really a wonderful annual event,” said Dr. Michael P. Crosby, Mote president and CEO. “I don’t know of any other partnership like this involving really innovative science, young citizen scientists and veterans who are sharing their leadership skills. But this event has broader impacts beyond just doing great science. Coral reefs are on the way toward extinction because of decades of human impacts. They were already stressed, and now we have increasing temperatures, increasing acidity and more diseases that are pushing them past their tipping point. If we lose coral reefs, we’ll lose the oceans and if we lose our oceans, we’ll lose the very oxygen we need to survive.”
There is a lengthy list of sensible reasons why Belize belongs on the must-do list when it comes to Caribbean cruising. First, a two-hour flight from the United States to Belize City makes it easy to travel to, English is the official language and it is one of the most affordable destinations in the Caribbean—the U.S. dollar is widely accepted and is worth twice the Belizean dollar. Second (or fourth, depending on how you count), electricity is the same as in the U.S., and you can drink the water. But most of all, besides all of the sensible reasons to visit Belize, the country’s overwhelming draw is the natural beauty of its islands, waters and rainforests, along with its intriguing Mayan culture, all of which are wrapped up in an intoxicatingly relaxed way of life.
Belize is the pioneer of sustainable tourism and, proud of its abundance of natural wonders, it pampers them and shows them off well. Boating on ancient Mayan waterways brings one close to water birds and crocodiles. The country is chock-full of limestone caves and sinkholes to hike and swim in, some of which even contain Mayan treasures. Belize has a baboon sanctuary and one of the only jaguar preserves in the world. Howler monkeys and toucans peer out of its verdant rainforests. With hundreds of offshore islands, beachcombing, diving, snorkeling, and boating are superb.
The more than 321,000 people of Belize come from eight distinct cultures: Maya, Mestizo, Creole, Garifuna, East Indian, German Mennonite, Arab, and Chinese, all of which add their distinct seasoning to the dish of Belizean music, cuisine and art. The Mayan culture is ever present. From 250-900 A.D. the mathematically brilliant Mayan civilization flourished in Central America leaving 1,400 archeological sites in Belize. Day tripping to sites before or after cruising or island hopping is easy since Belize is only 185 miles long and 75 miles wide. Hotels and charter companies are happy to arrange excursions.
Boat travel up winding rivers to both Altun Ha and Lamanai in Northern Belize is a treat. Altun Ha—Mayan for “water of the rock”—was a small but important ceremonial and trading center located 31 miles north of Belize City where archeologists found the largest Mayan carved jade object, a jade head. Lamanai (“submerged crocodile” in Mayan) appears out of the rainforest after a 26-mile boat ride on the New River. It is famous for a stela of a Mayan ruler wearing a crocodile headdress. The Mayans occupied this site for 3,000 years.
Landlubbers are content to stay ashore, but mariners come to life on the water and Belize has plenty of that. Along its entire Caribbean coastline lays the longest unbroken barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere—a UNESCO World Heritage site. More than 100 species of coral and 500 species of fish call the area home. Eight protected marine reserves, including the famous Blue Hole—a 1,000-foot-wide sinkhole in the sea—provide SCUBA divers and snorkelers wondrous guided experiences year round.
Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye are the largest and most populated islands of Belize. Ambergris Caye, with the town of San Pedro, is a little livelier than Caye Caulker where the motto “Go Slow” says it all. Both places have access to the mainland with $20 round-trip water taxis (45 minutes) and $138 round-trip Tropic Air flights (15 minutes). The charter company TMM is based in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. Both islands are good places to provision, gas up and top off the water tank. Required diving and snorkel guides are available on both islands for visits to several nearby marine reserves.
Ragamuffin Tours on Caye Caulker offers the unique experience of sailing on an authentic Belizean sailing sloop all day, visiting Hol Chan Reserve, Coral Gardens and Shark Ray Alley sites for only $70. Included meals could be stewed chicken, coconut rice or freshly-made shrimp ceviche washed down with rum punch mixed in an oversized water jug. Dolphins play with the sloop’s bow wave en route to snorkel adventures with nurse sharks, stingrays, sea turtles, blue tangs, moray eels, goatfish, trunk fish, blueheads, butterfly fish, and the list goes on. Ragamuffin insists that all footwear be left at the dock before departure. By the time the pile of flip-flops are returned, life is seen in a better light!
All beaches on Ambergris and Caulker are public and plenty of fish swim just offshore. A favorite place for mingling with people and fish on Caye Caulker is at The Split. This small channel separates the island and it is here that people hang out all day at the Lazy Lizard Bar. Snorkel in the morning with starfish, eat curried lobster, coconut rice and beans with a Belikin Beer for lunch, and then return to the water where a float is the perfect means of transportation.
Life becomes more peaceful as one travels down the coast to the Placencia Peninsula in southern Belize. Uninhabited islands provide dot-to-dot sailing in uncluttered water. From April to June people come to swim with whale sharks, and drums beat during the celebration of the Garifuna in November, but most of the time tranquility is the main attraction.
Chartering a catamaran for a week in Belize is possible through Sunsail and The Moorings based in Placencia, TMM Yacht Charters on Ambergris Caye, and other local charter companies. Whether you bareboat or hire a captain and crew, charter is a great way to experience Belizean waters. Just keep in mind that charter companies insist that bareboaters stay within the barrier reef unless accompanied by a local captain. Navigational aids are sparse and navigation by sight with a bow watch is highly recommended due to “skinny” waters and coral reefs. The place is remote beyond the cayes and communication is sketchy at times on both cellphone and VHF. Gas, water, ice, and provisions should be conserved since replenishment is spotty. On the bright side, the barrier reef protects sailors from ocean swells, and trade winds almost guarantee 20 knots of wind every day. The Cruising Guide to Belize and Mexico’s Caribbean Coast by Freya Rauscher (3rd Edition) is the guide of choice and can be ordered from info@windmillhillbooks.com. Most companies provide copies onboard but TMM and The Moorings give a copy to charters.
Perhaps “Mother Nature’s Best Kept Secret” is less of a secret now. Once this country’s natural playground is experienced it could be said, “It’s unBelizeable!”
Harbour Island in The Bahamas is well-known for its natural beauty, soft pink sands and combination of English and Caribbean aesthetics. The 300-year-old Dunmore Town on the island once served as the Bahamian capital in the early 1900s—and it is there that you’ll find the new Valentines Resort & Marina.
Valentines Marina is the largest on Harbour Island, with 50 slips for boats up to 160 feet. State-of-the-art systems for fresh water, power, cable TV, and WiFi access are provided at each slip. Dock attendants are on hand to assist with arrival and departure, while security ensures only docked guests may access the wharf at night. Other amenities include shower, restroom, coin laundry, and waste disposal services.
The sunset view from the docks of the Valentines Resort.
Valentines Resort is a collection of stylish villas inspired by historic Harbour Island architecture. Each villa comes with a large patio, plush décor, marble restrooms, and a fully equipped kitchen with filtered drinking water. If you don’t want to cook, room service for breakfast, lunch and dinner is available. Massage therapy and yoga classes can be arranged in the comfort of your own suite.
SCUBA fans can explore local reefs and grottos with the Valentines Dive Center—equipment and cameras are available to rent each day. The Dunmore Town watersports center offers rental watercraft and a number of fishing excursions for deep-sea, fly or reef fishing. Harbour Island and the nearby Eleuthera Island are home to excellent bonefish spots, and trips can be reserved through phone or email.
Marina Features:
• 50 slips for vessels up to 160 feet
• Electricity (30, 50, 100 amps), fresh water, cable TV, and wireless internet access
• Fuel dock
• Waste disposal
• Shower, coin laundry, and restroom facilities
• Nighttime security
• Mail service
• Fax newspaper
• Onboard and room dining
Other Amenities: • Resort villas with luxury décor and full kitchen
• Massage and yoga therapy
• Room service meals
• Babysitting services
• Pool
• Dive Center with SCUBA and watersport rentals
• Fishing charters
Information:
Valentines Resort & Marina
Box One, Harbour Island
North Eleuthera, Bahamas
1 (800) 389-6864
Fishing Reservations: (242) 333-2142 valentinesresort.com
