From Fiji's kaleidoscopic reefs to shark-packed passes in French Polynesia, these six destinations offer some of the world's most exhilarating underwater experiences.
Years ago, I impulsively signed up for scuba diving as a university elective. I was heading on a round-the-world trip and thought it might be useful. I never imagined it would shape the way I travel for decades to come.
Who picked the list?
Florida-based travel writer Terry Ward has logged more than 500 dives over the past three decades of travels that have taken her to every continent except Antarctica. She has her PADI Advanced Open Water Diver and Dry Suit Diver certifications and writes a monthly column called Roaming Diver for Scuba Diving Magazine.
I'm hardly alone. For a growing number of travellers, diving is not just an activity to add to the itinerary, but the reason for the trip itself. "Scuba diving fundamentally shifts how people travel and experience a destination," says Kristin Valette Wirth, chief brand and membership officer for PADI Worldwide, which issues more than one million certifications each year. Since travel resumed post-pandemic, she says, PADI has seen a 50% increase in divers earning their Advanced Open Water Certification.
In the years since my first plunge, I've logged more than 500 dives around the world, in locations ranging from the Arctic waters around Svalbard to Indonesia's Spice Islands and Palau's isolated marine lakes. Perhaps more profoundly, however, the sport has connected me with the locals who love these places and are doing their very best to protect them for future generations of divers and snorkellers.
From Fiji's soft-coral gardens to shark-filled passes in French Polynesia, these are six of the world's most exhilarating places to dive – and the new experiences making them worth planning a trip around this year.
Best for diving with colourful corals: Fiji
I first understood why Fiji is called the soft coral capital of the world while snorkelling the Great Astrolabe Reef decades ago. Even from the shallows, the colours were astonishing, with oranges, purples, pinks and greens flashing from sponges, sea fans, crinoids and whips. According to the World Wildlife Fund, Fiji's waters contain more than three-quarters of the world's hard and soft coral species.
I've returned many times since, most recently to Rainbow Reef in the Somosomo Strait between the islands of Taveuni and Vanua Levu, where fuchsia- and tangerine-hued soft corals blanket the reef. Migrating humpbacks also pass through the channel from July to October. At Great White Wall, the area's most famous dive site, operators time descents for slack tide, when luminous white soft corals are in full bloom about 65ft (19.8m) down.
Make it happen: Sau Bay Resort & Spa, PADI's first Eco Center in Fiji, offers dive experiences in Rainbow Reef and recently launched a blackwater dive that takes place after dark in the Somosomo Strait. Divers descend on a lit down-line that attracts glowing planktonic life and aquatic invertebrates from the coral-covered depths.
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260409-six-of-the-worlds-most-extraordinary-places-to-dive
