South America

All the way south in Ushuaia, Argentina divers can play with sea lions or explore giant kelp forests.

In Chile Easter Island offers warmer waters, some endemic species and an underwater Moai. Along the coast it is possible to dive with sea lions an even otters.

The coast along north Brazil is scattered with shipwrecks. Over 100 vessels sunk here and create amazing artificial reefs.

Malpelo off Colombias Pacific coast is one of the best sharks dive sites where silky sharks are gathering. Hammerheads, sandtiger sharks and other shark species can be observed too. On the other side coral gardens with tropical reef fish are located in the Carribean.

Los Roques, the carribeans oldest marine park in Venezuela is made up by a huge barrier reef forming a lagoon around a lagoon.

Every diver has heard of the diving in Galapagos, Equador. The famous sites Wolf and Darwin in the north are only reachable by liveaboard. The divers will feel like in a documentary with galapagos and hammerhead sharks, eagle rays, whale sharks, turtles and schooling fish just everywhere in the waters. Other highlights include the marine iguanas, mola mola, penguins, flightless cormorants and sea lions.

Central America

From the area richest in sharks with ripping currents to quiet dives in colorful Carribean the variety of destinations in this region is amazing.

Cocos Island in Costa Rica offers the most incredible shark diving with dozens to hundreds of sharks during every single dive with schooling hammerheads, galapagos sharks, silky sharks, oceanic black tips, silver tips, tiger sharks, whale sharks and loads of reef sharks.

On day trips from Costa Rica it is possible to visit Isla Catalinas and Isla Murcierlagos off the northern Pacific coast of to see reefsharks, eagle rays, devil rays, barracuda and other large fish with an occasional bull shark.

The Blue Hole in Belize is the largest in the world descending over 100 m deep. At 42 m divers will slide through between stalactites and stalagmites for a few minutes before starting a slow ascent back to shallower waters. The highlight during the other dives are possibly the friendly nursesharks swimming between, over and under the group of divers.

Utilla in Honduras is the cheapest place in the Americas to take an open water course. Like on the more quiet neighboring island Roatan the divers will see colorful reefs, walls and canyons with hard and soft coral as well as sea fans with tropical reef fish, turtles, grouper, some barracuda and stingrays. Occasionally nurse sharks and eagle rays cruise by.

North America

Mexico offers some stunning Carribean diving with crazy currents in Cozumel, the best caves and cenotes in the area of Tulum, whale sharks at Isla Mujeres, Sea Lions in La Paz, worldclass diving with big stuff in the Revillagigedos (Socorro).

A lot of the diving in the US is temperate waters leading to a completely different scenery including kelp forests, wrecks and some big fish. Only the states at the Gulf of Mexico offer warmer conditions.

A famous wreck lies off Key Largo in Florida Keys which can be penetrated by wreck certified divers. The wreck is intact, covered in some coral and visited by larger fish as well like dolphin fish, barracuda and jacks. In other areas in Florida diving with pelagic sharks is possible as well as with manatees in Florida Springs. The best caves in the US are located in this area as well.

The northernmost coral reefs of the Americas can be found in the Flower Garden Banks, Texas. These reefs are mainly healthy hard coral swarmed by small fish. Encounters with mantas, sharks and barracudas are not uncommon.

The cold waters at Channel Islands in Santa Barbara allow divers to dive with playful sea lions, swim with giant sea bass and see blue sharks passing by.

Close to San Diego a series of six wrecks serve as artificial wrecks attract marine life around them including some macro life. Part of the wrecks can even be penetrated.

Further up the Californian coast kelp forests are the main attraction with giant sea bass and sea lion.

Morehead City in North Carolina is also called the “Graveyard of the Atlantic” with around 2000 shipwrecks scattered along the coast and a must for wreck enthusiast. Many of the rusty metal lies there since WWI and II.

Adventurous divers find a unique dive site at the Bonne Terre Mine in Missouri. The former mine is flooded and allows divers to explore the remaining building structures and even trains remain inside.

The best diving in Canada can possibly be found in British Colombia, especially Vancouver Island. Around the island the grumpy wolf eel, playful sea lions, giant octopi and wrecks serving as artificial reefs are the highlights.

Caribbean

The visibility in the Carribean is mostly amazing and the coral reefs colorful letting divers feel like in an aquarium.

One of the favorites is Bonaire where divers can self-drive to all the shore entry sites to reach the colorful corals and sponges with inhabitants like frogfish and sea horses.

Turks and Caicos offers dramatic walls covered in coral and sponges with large animals like eagle ray, turtles, nurse sharks passing by. Humpback whales pass by the islands during migration to Dominica.

Dominica is the best place for whale watching in the Caribbean with humpback, sperm, pilot and some other species of whale. It is even possible to free dive here with the sperm whales.

The other islands of the Lesser Antilles offer wrecks, walls, pinnacles, swim-throughs and canyons covered in coral and sponges. A different landscape can be found around Saba with wide, flat reefs as well as lava flows and black sand.

The most exciting diving in Cuba is located in the Jardines de la Reina in the south of the island only reachable via liveaboard. Divers can expect to encounter many different shark species including silkie and caribbean reef sharks. Other highlights are saltwater crocodiles and goliath as well as other types of large groupers.