What is an underrated scuba destination? The Scuba diving experts at DIVEIN.com analyzed the popularity of global diving destinations through average monthly Google searches. Then, they compared the availability of affordable hotels, restaurants, and nearby activities to reach their answer. They may call it underrated scuba destinations, but we call it a solid list of some of the best scuba deals around.
You might find your next dive destination on this list and probably a spot or two you’ve never considered diving before. If nothing else, it’s a shallow dive (pun intended) into some of diving’s hidden gems.
#10 Palau, Micronesia
Photo Credit: Deposit Photos.
The WWII shipwrecks in Truk Lagoon draw divers in from around the world, leaving Palau as an underrated destination. Palau’s warm, crystal clear water, pristine reefs, and dramatic drop-offs are what diving dreams are made of. There’s a good chance you will encounter large pelagics, especially sharks and mantas on Palau’s coral reefs. There are even a few WWII shipwrecks here, too.
With hotel costs around $416/night and long (and expensive) flights, we wonder how Palau made this list. We double-checked, and flights weren’t factored in, which may be a contributing factor.
#9 West Palm Beach, Florida
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Luckily for US divers, West Palm Beach is a cheap and easy flight for most of the East Coast. The hotels are reasonable, and the city’s nearly 1,600 restaurants mean you’ll have your choice of eateries while you’re on land, but what about the diving?
West Palm is known as a prime American destination for drift dives, but it’s so much more than that. There’s an unbelievable number of ships sunk as artificial diving reefs, many of which host a goliath grouper aggregation in the fall. During the summer, West Palm is known for its turtle dives. You can take night dives at Blue Heron Bridge during full moons, which might be the world’s best shore dive. On moonless nights, dark water dives in the Gulf Stream Current just offshore and watch photoluminescent creatures rise up from the depths.
#8 Ari Atoll, Maldives
Photo Credit: Deposit Photos.
The Maldives as an underrated scuba destination? Maybe. Ari Atoll is a Maldives-designated tourist development zone that’s roughly a 30-minute seaplane flight from the capital, Malé. There are more than 20 islands in the Atoll designated for tourist resorts, which are self-contained with accommodations and recreational facilities like scuba diving. The selling point is that hotels are estimated at $207/night. You still have to get to the Maldives, but once you do, you can stay for a while at that price point.
#7 Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Photo Credit: Deposit Photos.
Vancouver Island is a beautiful vacation destination, with over 5,500 restaurants and plenty of land and water activities. What you might not realize is that 17 scuba activities are listed for Vancouver Island. The Pacific Northwest is home to the giant Pacific octopus. Weighing in at over 130 lbs with tentacles stretching over 20′, these creatures are a must-see for every diver.
The catch is the water is cold, but not as cold as you might imagine due to the prevailing ocean currents. Locals say it’s only a couple of degrees colder than diving in Northern California. Mark Twain said the coldest winter he ever experienced was summer in San Franciso. I guess it’s just a matter of perspective.
#6 Sesimbra, Portugal
Photo Credit: Deposit Photos.
This fishing village just south of Lisbon might be Europe’s diving loophole. Sesimbra is home to Portugal’s first underwater marine park, Arrábida National Park. This park is home to many wall dives and shipwrecks, including River Gurara Proa Wreck, a Nigerian cargo ship that sank during a storm in 1989.
Lisbon is an easy flight for much of Europe, and when you’re not diving in Sesimbra, you can enjoy the history and beauty of Portugal’s capital city.
#5 Viti Levu, Fiji
Photo Credit: Deposit Photos.
Viti Levu has two primary diving regions: the Coral Coast in the south and the Sun Coast in the north. The Coral Coast has one of the world’s most extensive barrier reefs, with nearly 200 miles of coral and more than 100 dive sites. The Sun Coast has over 50 dive sites within a 20-minute boat ride from beachfront resorts. Not only are hotels estimated at $128/night, but you can find direct flights from Los Angeles and San Fransisco.
#4 Key Largo, Florida Keys
Photo Credit: Deposit Photos.
Not only is Key Largo an underrated dive destination, but it’s also an underrated Florida Key destination. It’s significantly closer to the budget flights landing in Fort Lauderdale and Miami and has lower hotel costs as well. Divers will enjoy trips to the Christ of the Deep statue sunk 6 miles offshore from John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and can learn more about their sport at the History of Diving Museum.
#3 Raja Ampat, Indonesia
Photo Credit: Deposit Photos.
Raja Ampat is remote and offers some of Indonesia’s most pristine reefs and breathtaking underwater scenery. Its dive sites are all about diversity and abundance, and the remoteness keeps the costs down. Hotels are estimated at just over $141 a night, which is a bargain, assuming you can reach this remote tropical paradise.
#2 Dominica, Caribbean
Photo Credit: Deposit Photos.
Dominica is one of the top ten diving destinations in the world, and it’s relatively easy for Americans to reach. Once again, reasonable hotel prices of $222/night allow it to simultaneously be a top 10 diving destination and an underrated destination. Divers will enjoy the 20 varieties of whales that visit Dominica, and the famous wall dives with little to no current.
#1 Gulf of California
Photo Credit: Deposit Photos.
Jacques Cousteau dubbed the Gulf of California “the world’s aquarium” due to its rich bio-diversity. We think it’s an all-around underrated destination, but we question the metrics that place it at the top of this list. Sure, you can book liveaboards to remote dive sites and dive with colonies of sea lions. However, the obscene restaurant count of 9,824 and an activity count of 273 imply that the list included the 62,000 square miles of the gulf counted in the statistics. Perhaps hotel/activity density might be a better metric. Nonetheless, you will not regret visiting the Gulf of California if you love nature.
Our Thoughts on Underrated Scuba Destinations
Photo Credit: Deposit Photos.
Our thanks to the scuba professionals at DIVEIN for compiling this list. They used the top 15 scuba destinations in the world and compared the number of dive locations and price of a 5-night stay with the Google search volume to make their determination.
Selecting 10 out of 15 destinations means that the initial list was critical to the outcome, especially for the last three entries. This choice may be how Palau and the Maldives snuck on. That being said, we really think West Palm Beach is underrated for everything it offers.
This list’s criteria also didn’t include airfare or starting location. For reference, Viti Levu is an easily accessible destination from the West Coast, Dominica from the East Coast, and Portugal from Europe.
Lastly, we think they picked an area that was too large in selecting the Gulf of California as number one. Counting a body of water roughly the size of Florida will skew your statistics. That being said, this is meant to be inspirational as well as informational, and adding one new dive destination to your bucket list should justify this five-minute read. We have detailed resources at colemanconcierge/scuba for places we’ve visited if you want to read more.