World’s Best Dives: Top 10 Places for Diving and Island Hopping

1. French Polynesia | The Islands of Tahiti Diving in French Polynesia is everything 
not pictured in those photos of over-water bungalows. Start your dive on the outside of the reef wall. Off Rangiroa as high tide approaches, the incoming water pushes anything chasing the flow of bait inside the lagoon. This means gray reef sharks, silvertips, whitetip reef sharks, dolphins, mantas — and divers. After Rangiroa, you’ll have to return to the main island of Tahiti and fly to Fakarava, which offers more pass diving, and Bora Bora for a snorkel with lemon sharks. But the best reason to hop a plane is the Austral Islands, home to another wonder. September and October, the waters off Rurutu are thick with humpback whales and their just-born calves. tahiti-tourisme.com

2. Hawaii | Kauai and Ni’ihau It’s called the Forbidden Island — so of course Ni’ihau is one of Kauai’s most in-demand attractions. Home to Hawaiian monk seals and green turtles, Kauai packs lava-tube caves and ledges sheltering whitetip sharks — certainly enough entertainment for a dive trip of any length. But if it’s May through October, you’ll still want to book a day trip to Ni’ihau. The island lacks power, roads and any signs that development has impacted reefs. You’ll likely see spinner dolphins, beaked whales and lots of sharks. The list could go on — but really, you were sold at “forbidden.” kauaishoreshotel.com

3. Turks and CaIcos | Provo and Salt Cay “It’s all wall diving here, sloping down to 6,000 feet,” says Debbie Redshaw, instructor at Dive Provo. Providenciales is the hub of this territory south of the Bahamas. For many, it’s as far as they venture. “Eagle rays, sharks, turtles, barracudas, turtles — we get some of the best marine life,” says Redshaw. But there’s one big animal you likely won’t see off Provo: humpback whales. For that, hop a Caicos Express flight for sleepy Salt Cay. December through February, pods journey through, and are easy to spot because of shallow sand patches, unlike Provo’s depths, where you could be diving alongside a whale and never know it. diveprovo.com

4. Fiji | Viti Levu and Kadavu After landing in Nadi on the main island of Viti Levu, most divers immediately catch a connection to an outlying isle for the surreal colors of soft-coral jungles. At Matava
Resort on Kadavu Island, you’ll check that off your list. The Great Astrolabe reef has the broccoli-like wonders in a host of colors. One color absent: gray. For that, head back to the main island to join Aqua-Trek for a dive to the Bistro. You’ll see swirls of green flowing from a bait bucket plus lots of gray in the form of bull sharks, lemons and the occasional tiger. matava.com; aquatrek.com

5. St. Vincent and The Grenadines | St. Vincent, Union Island and Tobago Cays “A lot of things that are unusual everywhere else are usual here,” says Kay Wilson, owner of St. Vincent-based Indigo Dive. She’s talking about the island’s reputation as the critter capital of the Caribbean, 
with weird wonders like brotula fish, which Wilson describes as “little vampires with fangs,” and peppermint shrimp. “They get their groove on with a little dance.” After you’ve got your fill of 26 miles of virgin territory, Wilson recommends the fast ferry to Union Island. From there, head to the Tobago Cays where, says Wilson, “You’ll snorkel with turtles and lounge on Robinson Crusoe-type beaches.”
 indigodive.com

6. Bahamas | Nassau and Grand Bahama “We get people who dive with the Caribbean reef sharks, and right away, they want the next big thing,” says Gary Vanhoeck, head of operations at the Nassau-based Stuart Cove’s Dive Bahamas. And although that could mean nosing up to the great hammerheads of Bimini or oceanic whitetips of Cat Island — Stuart Cove’s offers expeditions to these Bahamian Out Islands in late winter — most folks head to Grand Bahama and Tiger Beach. Tiger sharks, like the much-photographed Emma, patrol the site year-round, making a last-minute addition much easier, regardless of the season. stuartcove.com

7. Grenada | Grenada and Carriacou “You know the books by Paul Humann? We have nearly every species on those pages,” says Conny Hagen, owner of Arawak Divers on Carriacou, the sister island of Grenada in the southern Caribbean. While Carriacou is known for its marine life, Grenada is all about metal. Its biggest prize is the M/V Bianca C, the Caribbean’s largest wreck. Add in another 12 divable wrecks that
local operators like Native Spirit Scuba visit regularly, and you have reason to journey to both destinations. divegrenada.com

8. Thailand | The Similan Islands and Koh Bon Khao Lak isn’t an island but a town near Phuket on Thailand’s western coast. It’s the starting point for liveaboards and day boats touring the Similan Islands, known for some of the country’s most pristine, colorful diving in the Andaman Sea. “These islands have huge variety — from super small stuff like ghost pipefish and pygmy pipefish to manta rays and whale sharks,” says Darren Fernandez, instructor with Sea Dragon Dive Center. In a week, the shop’s boat will visit up to six islands in Mu Ko Similan National Park, plus Koh Bon, an island surrounded by stronger currents that attract mantas. seadragondivecenter.com

9. British Virgin Islands | Tortola and Jost Van Dyke The best travel plans in the British Virgin Islands are loose. It’s the sort of place where you can hear a fellow traveler’s dive tales over coffee, board a ferry and, just after lunch, dive the site he spoke of. Most trips start on Tortola. It’s the island with the most infrastructure, and the jumping-off point for most dive boats visiting the RMS Rhone as well as the myriad wrecks and reef dives. Most likely the island you’ll hear stories about is Jost Van Dyke — so undeveloped that more people get around by dinghy than car. On Jost, you’ll find current-swept deeper sites — a deviation from the calm, shallow favorites the BVI are known for. Lose track of time swimming with eagle rays, Atlantic spadefish and nurse sharks. Drag your fins too long, and you may miss the 5 o’clock boat back. Your punishment? You’ll just have to order a painkiller and watch the sunset at the Soggy Dollar Bar before bedding down in a villa at White Bay. Wake up, and you just might decide to do it all over again. jostvandykescuba.com

10. U.S. Virgin Island | St. Croix and St. Thomas If you’re diving by old-school rules of deepest first, then you’ll want to start your USVI trip on St. Croix. The island’s north shore is one big wall dive, falling away to 13,000 feet. At sites such as Cane Bay and Twin Palms, it’s shore accessible. Centers such as Cane Bay Dive Shop rent nitrox and air tanks, so how many deep swims you take is entirely up to you. When you’re ready for a change of scenery, head to St. Thomas. For every reef dive that St. Croix has named, St. Thomas has a wreck to match — freighters, barges and a Navy hospital ship, among others. canebayscuba.com stthomasdivingclub.com