World's Best Dive Sites
Reefs, walls and wrecks worth crossing oceans for. 19 places, mapped and ready to build a trip around.
Plan a trip on Trailwind →Great Barrier Reef
Cairns, QueenslandBestYear-roundClimate72–84°FCurrencyAUDLanguageEnglishRecord-breaker, Largest living structure · Australia.
The Great Blue Hole
Lighthouse ReefBestApr–JunClimate77–86°FAirportBZEA perfect 300m sinkhole of stalactites and reef sharks, iconic from the air and below.
Sipadan Island
SabahBestApr–SepClimate79–84°FCurrencyMYRLanguageMalayAirportTWUA pinnacle rising from 600m: turtle-thick walls and barracuda tornadoes.
Raja Ampat
West PapuaBestOct–AprClimate73–86°FCurrencyIDRLanguageIndonesianAirportSOQThe most biodiverse reefs on the planet, remote and staggeringly blue.
SS Thistlegorm Wreck
Red SeaBestVariesClimate55–100°FCurrencyEGPLanguageArabicAirportSSHA WWII cargo wreck full of motorbikes and trucks under the Red Sea.
Silfra Fissure
ThingvellirBestJun–AugClimate21–57°FCurrencyISKLanguageIcelandicAirportKEFSnorkel the crystalline gap between two continental plates in glacial meltwater.
Darwin & Wolf, Galápagos
Galápagos IslandsBestJun–NovClimate73–82°FCurrencyUSDLanguageSpanishAirportGPSHammerhead and whale-shark superhighways at the edge of the archipelago.
Cocos Island
PacificBestJun–NovClimate73–81°FCurrencyCRCLanguageSpanishAirportSJOA remote liveaboard-only island wrapped in schooling hammerheads.
Blue Corner, Palau
Rock IslandsBestNov–MayAirportRORHook into the current wall as grey reef sharks stack up in the blue.
Ari Atoll
MaldivesBestNov–AprClimate79–84°FAirportMLEManta cleaning stations and whale sharks along the Maldivian channels.
Tubbataha Reef
Sulu SeaBestMar–JunClimate81–86°FCurrencyPHPLanguageFilipinoAirportPPSA UNESCO atoll of sheer walls and pelagics, reachable only by liveaboard.
Richelieu Rock
Andaman SeaBestNov–AprClimate79–86°FCurrencyTHBLanguageThaiAirportHKTA purple soft-coral pinnacle famous for whale sharks off the Similans.
SS Yongala Wreck
QueenslandBestJun–NovClimate68–84°FCurrencyAUDLanguageEnglishAirportTSVA century-old wreck teeming with giant groupers, rays and sea snakes.
Manta Ray Night Dive
Kona, HawaiiBestYear-roundClimate66–82°FCurrencyUSDLanguageEnglishAirportKOAManta rays barrel-roll through your dive lights off the Big Island at night.
Cenotes of the Riviera Maya
TulumBestNov–MayClimate72–88°FCurrencyMXNLanguageSpanishAirportCUNDive crystalline freshwater caverns of light beams and ancient stalactites.
Aliwal Shoal
KwaZulu-NatalBestMay–SepClimate55–82°FCurrencyZARLanguageZuluAirportDURRagged-tooth sharks and the sardine run along a fossilized dune reef.
Poor Knights Islands
NorthlandBestNov–AprClimate57–72°FCurrencyNZDLanguageEnglishAirportAKLJacques Cousteau's favorite temperate dive: arches, caves and kelp.
Revillagigedo (Socorro)
PacificBestNov–MayClimate63–77°FCurrencyMXNLanguageSpanishAirportSJDGiant oceanic mantas and dolphins at Mexico's remote liveaboard islands.
Malpelo Island
PacificBestJun–NovClimate77–82°FCurrencyCOPLanguageSpanishAirportBOGA shark sanctuary of hammerhead and silky shark walls far offshore.