World’s Best Dives: Top 10 Wall Dive Sites

Wall diving can offer all sorts of surprises, from incredible macro life and thriving reef to exciting big-animal encounters and currents beyond compare. These 10 walls are sure to impress:

Blue Corner

Palau

Divers aren’t the only ones who love the plummeting wall at Palau’s Blue Corner. On any given dive, you can see up to 13 species of sharks, bumphead parrotfish, hawksbill and green sea turtles, Napoleon wrasse — the list goes on. Add strong currents into the mix (remember to pack your reef hook), and you’ve got the perfect elixir for advanced divers.

Bloody Bay Wall

Little Cayman

Some of the brightest corals in the Caribbean live on Little Cayman’s signature Bloody Bay Wall. Part of the underwater mountain range that makes up the Cayman Islands, the wall begins around 30 feet and drops a dizzying 6,000 feet into the blue-black abyss.

Great White Wall

Fiji

Fiji has long been dubbed the soft coral capital of the world, and at Great White Wall, it’s no secret why. Healthy white Dendronephthya corals cover much of the wall, making it look blanketed in freshly fallen snow. If reefs aren’t really your thing, lava tubes and pelagic flybys are sure to keep things exciting.

Molokini Crater

Maui, Hawaii

Millions of tropical fish, charismatic manta rays and 100-plus-foot visibility draw divers to this partially submerged volcanic crater, where some of the best diving happens along outside edge of the bowl, at the Molokini Back Wall. Currents here effortlessly sail you past the crater’s unique geological features.

West End Wall

Roatan

A series of canyons and channels pockmark West End Wall, one of Roatan’s most popular dives. Traveling with a non-diver? This site is great for snorkeling, too. After all, everyone can enjoy swimming alongside barracuda, tarpon and massive schools of horse-eye jacks.

Browning Pass Wall

British Columbia, Canada

The frigid waters of BC might not be the first locale you think of when you want incredible walls, but you’d be sorry to sleep on Browning Pass. Cold-water corals, sponges and anemones decorate the rock face while creatures like Puget Sound king crabs and tiny grunt sculpins wander about.

Brothers Islands

Red Sea

Dramatic walls thick with rainbows of hard and soft corals surround the Brothers Islands in the middle of the Red Sea. The pinnacle islands, designated a marine park in 1983, are so remote that they’re only accessible by liveaboard. But that also means they’re exposed to heavy currents that bring by all types of marine megafauna.

Santa Rosa Wall

Cozumel

Enjoy the 80-degree, gin-clear waters of this Caribbean paradise while flying over sheer vertical drop-offs and traversing swim-throughs. And don’t forget to check under Santa Rosa’s stone-coral overhangs, where goliath grouper and spotted eagle rays love to hide and hunt. It’s Cozumel wall diving at its best.

Half Moon Caye Wall

Belize

On the south side of the crescent-shaped island it was named for, Half Moon Caye Wall hosts a kaleidoscope of marine life, from Caribbean reef sharks to garden eels. Plus, with little to no current, it’s the perfect spot for macro enthusiasts to comb the reef for critters.

Batu Bolong

Komodo, Indonesia

To get a true picture of Indonesia’s stunning biodiversity, visit Batu Bolong on the northwestern side of Komodo. Healthy gorgonians sway in the current, soft coral and sponges coat each inch of the wall, and more fish than you’ve ever seen buzz in all directions. Tuna, trevallies, tangs — the gang’s all here.