100 Best Dive Sites of the World

Here is the SCUBA Travel list of the 100 best dive sites, as voted for by our readers. To cast your vote, scroll down to the bottom of the page.

1. Yongala, Australia
2. Blue Corner Wall, Palau, Micronesia
3. Barracuda Point, Sipadan Island
4. Thistlegorm, Egyptian Red Sea
5. Shark and Yolanda Reef, Egyptian Red Sea
6. Navy Pier, Western Australia
7. Manta Ray Night Dive, Kailua Kona, Hawaii
8. Big Brother, Egyptian Red Sea
9. Great Blue Hole, Belize
10. Richelieu Rock, Thailand
11. Elphinstone Reef, Egyptian Red Sea
12. Ras Mohammed, Egyptian Red Sea
13. Great Blue Hole, Belize
14. Liberty, Bali, Indonesia
15. Sha'ab Rumi South, Sudan
16. Sodwana bay, South Africa
17. President Coolidge, Vanuatu
18. Great white wall, Tavieuni Fiji
19. Blue Hole, Dahab, Egyptian Red Sea
20. Manta reef, Mozambique
21. Poor Knights, New Zealand
22. Osprey Reef, Coral Sea, Australia
23. Tubbataha, Palawan, Philippines
24. South Point, Sipadan
25. Maaya Thila, Maldives
26. Bloody bay wall, Little cayman
27. Dos Ojos (Los Cenotes), Playa del Carmen, Mexico
28. Straits of Tiran, Egyptian Red Sea
29. Fish Rock, Off South West Rocks in NSW, Australia
30. Gordon's Rock, Galapagos
31. Mnemba Island, Tanzania
32. Cod Hole, Northern Great Barrier Reef
33. Ulong Channel, Palau
34. Daedalus, Egyptian Red Sea
35. Darwin Island, Galapagos
36. Jackson Reef, Egypt
37. Grand Central Station, Gizo, Solomon Islands
38. The Zenobia, Cyprus
39. Similans, Thailand
40. Wolf Island, Galapogos
41. Aliwal Shoal, South Africa
42. Puerto Galera, Philippines
43. Sipadan Drop Off
44. Dirty rock, Cocos Island, Costa Rica
45. Peleliu Express, Palau
46. Ghiannis D, Egypt
47. Pixie pinnacle and pixie wall, GBR, Australia
48. Stingray City, Grand Cayman
49. Darwin Arch, Galapagos
50. Protea Banks, South Africa
51. Barra Reef, Mozambique
52. St Johns, Egypt
53. Blue Hole,Gozo, Malta
54. Cirkewwa, Malta
55. Split rock, Kadavu Isle. Fiji
56. Pedras Secas, Noronha, Brazil
57. Holmes Reef, Coral Sea, Australia
58. Shark Alley, Grand Cayman
59. Half Moon Wall, Belize
60. Hin Muang, Thailand
61. Hilma Hooker, Bonaire
62. Japanese Gardens, Koh Tao, Thailand
63. Castle Rock - Komodo National Park, Indonesia
64. The Canyons, Utila, Honduras
65. Booroo, Isle of Man
66. Wreck of the Bahama Mama, New Providence, Bahamas
67. Canibal Rock, Komodo, Indonesia
68. Gili air, Indonesia
69. The Point, Layang - Layang
70. Rainbow Warrier, New Zealand
71. Turtle tavern, Sipadan
72. Los testigos islands, Venezuela
73. Perpendicular wall, Christmas Island, Australia
74. Rangali Madivaru, Maldives
75. Mafia Island, Tanzania
76. Cozumel, Mexico
77. Manta Point, Maldives
78. Little Brother, Egyptian Red Sea
79. The Express, Kuredu, Maldives
80. Garuae Pass, Fakarava Island, French Polynesia
81. Blockship Tabarka, Scapa Flow, Orkney
82. Hanging Garden, Sipadan
83. South West, Koh Tao
84. Wakaya Passage,Fiji
85. Santa Rosa Wall, Cozumel, Mexico
86. Lekuan 1, Bunaken National Park, N. Sulawesi
87. Lombok Strait
88. Toucari Caves, Dominica
89. Joel's, PNG
90. Tiputa Pass, Rangiroa, Polynesia
91. Diamond Rocks, Kilkee, Ireland
92. Fujikawa Maru, Truk Lagoon (Chuuk Lagoon)
93. Sugar Wreck, Grand Bahama Island
94. Umbria, Sudan
95. Office, Mozambique
96. Palancanar Bricks, Cozumel, Mexico
97. Bay of Pigs, Cuba
98. Tiputa pass, Rangiroa, New Zealand
99. Fish Factory, Vuna Reef, Taveuni, Fiji
100. Shark Fin Point, Fiji
101. Great Basses reef, Sri Lanka
102. Cenotes, Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

Books of the World's Best Dive Sites

Fifty Places to Dive Before You Die

Chris Santella, 2008, 224 pages, Hardback
Buy with 20% off at Amazon.co.uk
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Dive Atlas of the World: An Illustrated Reference to the Best Sites

ed Jack Jackson, New Holland Publishers, 2008, 300 pages, Hardback
Buy with 20% off at Amazon.co.uk
Buy from Amazon.com

Dive - The Ultimate Guide to 60 of the World's Top Dive Locations

by Monty Halls, Ultimate Sports Publications Ltd, 2004, 320 pages, Softback
Monty Halls' book describes 60 of the world's best diving areas, and highlights specific dives not to be missed whilst you are there. It also aims to provide independent travellers with the other information they will need, such as about water temperatures, visa requirements, the best time of year to go and addresses of dive centres and recompression chambers. For more details read our review... or visit amazon.co.uk or amazon.com.
Buy with 10% off at Amazon.co.uk
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Diving with Giants: The World's Best Pelagic Dives

by Jack Jackson, New Holland Publishers Ltd , 2006, 160 pages, Hardback
Features the best places in the world's oceans and seas to dive with pelagic species: sharks, manta rays, dolphins, whales, barracuda, etc.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Ultimate Diving Adventures: 100 Extraordinary Experiences Under Water

by Len Deeley and Karen Gargani, John Wiley & Sons, 2009, 218 pages, Paperback
Details some of the best dive sites around the world, with some lovely photographs. The authors have included many of the dives listed in our top 10 list.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk
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The Best Dive Sites of the World

ed Egidio Trainito and Kurt Amsler, White Star, 2007, 364 pages, Paperback
Buy with 15% off at Amazon.co.uk
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Scuba Diver's Travel Companion

by Jeremy Agnew, Rizzoli Publications, 1997, 168 pages, Paperback
Buy with 9% off at Amazon.co.uk
Buy from Amazon.com

Vote for your Top Dives

Name:             E-mail:      

Dive Site 1:      Dive Site 2: 
Dive 1 Description:             Dive 2 Description: 
     
Other Comments or Runner-Up Dives:

How are the votes counted?
The first criteria is number of votes (weighted to favour the first choice dive site above the second). Where two dives tie for a position, priority is given to those with the most enticing descriptions and those whose area has several votes for different dives.

SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011)

Every month we send out a free newsletter which will tell you when the top 100 dive list has been updated. It also has articles on diving areas, underwater life, diving book reviews and interviews with authors. To receive this please fill in your e-mail address below. For an archive of previous issues see the SCUBA News page.