Destinations

Best Scuba Diving Destinations

The bucket-list dive spots worth crossing the planet for, plus the easiest places to start as a brand-new diver.

By Mat Mora · Updated 17 June 2026 · ~8 min read

There is no single best place to dive, only the best place for what you want to see and where you are in your diving. Below are the destinations divers dream about, grouped by what makes each one special, followed by the friendliest spots to earn your first certification.

The Red Sea, Egypt

Warm, clear, calm and astonishingly rich, the Red Sea is the rare destination that suits a first-day beginner and a seasoned wreck diver equally. Coral walls drop into deep blue, the famous wreck of the Thistlegorm sits within reach, and you can dive almost year-round. It is also one of the best-value places on Earth to learn, which is why so many divers get certified here.

Raja Ampat, Indonesia

If biodiversity is your obsession, nowhere beats Raja Ampat. This remote corner of Indonesia sits in the heart of the Coral Triangle and holds more recorded fish and coral species than anywhere else surveyed. The trade-off is logistics: you usually reach the best sites by liveaboard, and currents can be brisk, so a little experience helps.

Galapagos, Ecuador

The Galapagos is the place for big-animal encounters: hammerhead schools, whale sharks, sea lions, mantas and marine iguanas grazing underwater. The water is cooler and the currents stronger than the tropics, so it rewards confident, experienced divers rather than first-timers.

The Maldives

Channels and atolls funnel nutrient-rich water past the reefs, drawing in mantas, reef sharks and the occasional whale shark. Many divers explore by liveaboard, drifting from one reef to the next. There is diving for every level, from gentle lagoon reefs to exhilarating channel drifts.

More world-class destinations

The best destinations for your first dives

As a new diver you want warm water, good visibility, gentle conditions and plenty to see in the shallows. These places deliver all four and have excellent, well-run dive schools:

• Red Sea, Egypt — warm, clear, calm and cheap to learn in.
• Koh Tao, Thailand — one of the world's busiest training islands, for good reason.
• Bonaire — calm, shallow shore reefs you can take at your own pace.
• Cozumel, Mexico — warm, easy drifts over healthy reef.
• Great Barrier Reef, Australia — sheltered inner-reef sites are ideal for beginners.

Season matters as much as place. The same destination can be flat and clear in one month and rough or rainy the next. Check the local dive season before you book, and where you can, line your trip up with the marine life you most want to see, such as manta or whale-shark aggregations.

How to choose your trip

Match the destination to your certification and comfort. If you are newly qualified, choose warm, calm, shallow reefs and build experience before tackling strong currents, cold water or deep walls. Wherever you go, dive within your training, and consider an Advanced course before destinations that involve depth or current.