Where in the Caribbean has the best diving spot?
Replies: 13 - Last Post: Nov 20, 2012 6:36 AM Last Post By: ilhamita
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Where in the Caribbean has the best diving spot?
Scuba diving is definitely the one of the things I'd loved to do other than photography and cooking. I've already dive some spots in Asia which has very beautiful scenery of diving spots. Now that we are planning to go in the Caribbean soon, I wonder which islands has the best diving spots there, which I would surely go for a dive. Anyone knows? It will be much appreciated. Thanks!2
St. Lucia, off Soufriere, is good. Honduras/Belize is said to be marvelous.3
In my opinion, Dominica probably has the best diving, followed by Saba, in terms of quality of the reef and marine life.Bonaire is also a wonderful place to go and has some of the cheapest good diving in the world as there are dozens of places where you can shore dive (you can get a dive package with unlimited air + weights for about $99 a week so if you have all your other gear you can basically do unlimited diving for $99/week). It's not the absolute best diving in the Caribbean, but it's very good and the ability to exclusively shore dive makes this a top choice for me and many other divers. Nearby Curacao's diving is as good, from a quality of reef perspective, but there's not as much shore diving and the shore diving there is isn't as accessible (plus diving is more expensive).
Grand Cayman also has great diving, though the reef starts pretty deep, at close to 100 feet, so many of the boat dives are shorter and the reef doesn't have as rich colors as more shallow dives. That's not to say there aren't some great dives that are more shallow (and also a few great shore dives), but for these reasons, I'd probably rank it about 4th. I've never dived in Cayman Brac or Little Cayman so I can't opine on those, though many folks consider them to offer some of the best diving in the Caribbean (particularly Bloody Bay Wall off LC).
Belize has some excellent diving off their barrier reef, but it is far from shore (about a 1 - 2 hour boat ride each way) so for that reason I think it is best to do via a liveaboard. It's not nearly as inviting if you have to make that long "commute" several days.
The Bay Islands, Honduras have OK diving, but they are the cheapest place to do boat dives in the Caribbean (and one of the cheapest in the Western Hemisphere) so I see that as really being their strong suit. But the best diving in the Caribbean, they are not.
Cozumel has great drift diving and you'll see lots of turtles. It's also one of the less expensive places to dive. A very solid choice.
Bahamas and Turks and Caicos are the best places to see Caribbean reef sharks and they also have some very good diving.
OK, that's my quick rundown. I've also dived many other places in the Caribbean, but the above choices would be my top ones. The best choice for you largely depends on what is most important to you (for example, good cheap diving, shore diving, quality of reef, etc.). If I had to choose my two favorite places for diving though, I'd put Dominica and Bonaire at the top of my personal list.
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Dominica is great. They take reef preservation very seriously, and the condition of the reef shows it.Roatan in Honduras is also very nice. You can reach good spots off the West End in 5-10 minutes. If you go to the East of the island, you can almost certainly have every site to yourself and the topography is interesting.
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Wow! Definitely a lot to consider. Thank you all guys for your response. I've also heard Cayman is a good spot. And I've also read from a blog that St. Vincent and the Grenadines is also a good spot. Do anybody here agrees to this?7
Thank you for this quick rundown @mgtraveller, really appreciate it. I'm more of a backpacker and would really prefer to go on the cheapest but the most beautiful spot that I can dive. I do think these places has really beautiful diving spots but I am really in a budget, so I think I'd go for the cheapest spots. Which of these diving destinations would you recommend?9
Yes, if price is the main factor, then Utila/Roatan in Honduras is the place to go.Mexico and Nicaragua are also cheap, and Central America in general is cheaper than Caribbean islands for diving/living/etc.
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If you go to Honduras, try to visit the Maya ruins at Copan, particularly if you are flying into Honduras via the mainland (most visitors fly into San Pedro Sula, which is only a couple of hours away from Copan with good public transport options). It will really "spice up" your trip a lot as it is one of the best of the Mayan ruins (after Tikal in Guatemala and in Mexico, IMHO).Enjoy!
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Hi bluewatermary,I just read all the comments you received about your diving trip in the Carribean. You mentioned that you were probably going to Honduras and I wanted to have your feedback about the trip in general, and the diving in particular.
I am planning myself to go for 10-15 days diving around the Christmas period, and I'm not decided on a destination yet.
Any advice/tip/comment would be more than welcome.
Thanks!
