Your heart pounds overtime with excitement as you finally descend to the bottom of a dive site. A whole new world unfolds before your eyes. From walls to reefs, wrecks to piers, scuba diving allows you to tap into your inner adventurous self and see an unlimited amount of fascinating marine life in its natural habitat.
Many Caribbean islands offer diving during all seasons so your chances of spotting diverse organisms – from sea horses to reef sharks, turtles to shrimp – is possible year-round. Getting certified through PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) is a must and can be done on most Caribbean islands, allowing you to use your certification for life (although you may benefit from a refresher course if you have a large gap between dives). From night dives to shipwrecks, you’ll see that the variation in these underwater landscapes is endless. Here are our favorite dive destinations in the Caribbean.
1. Bat Cave, St Vincent
What to expect: An underwater marvel awaits at St Vincent’s Byahaut Bat Cave: you swim through a fissure between two rocks in order to enter the dive site. Look up at the top of the cave to see dozens of bats hanging out on the ledges before making your descent. There is plenty of marine life at around 40–60ft (12–18m) deep, including eagle rays, pipefish and seahorses.
What to know: Book an early morning dive trip to Bat Cave to avoid the crowds that come on other dive boats. Seeing the bats inside the cave is a great bucket list diving experience for the adventurous.
How to make it happen: The Sandals St Vincent Dive Center offers all-inclusive diving while staying on the property, including all equipment needed. Alternatively, book your trip through dive operators such as Canouan Scuba Center or Dive St Vincent.
2. Deep Plane, Jamaica
What to expect: In Western Jamaica, near Negril, the Deep Plane dive site offers divers the chance to explore the nooks and crannies of a Cessna 152 aircraft wreck, for which the site is named. There is also a robust and active coral reef surrounding the wreck. Once you descend to the plane, look for colorful coral crusting along the wreck as well as a variety of marine life, including turtles, sharks, sea fans and various rays living on the coral.
What to know: Diving is possible year-round, but since the plane sits at 90ft deep (27m) it is recommended for advanced divers only, which is those with a PADI Advanced Open Water Certification or higher.
Make it happen: You can rent equipment and take PADI dive courses at the ScubaCaribe dive shop in Negril. The dive instructors are friendly and knowledgeable about first-timers’ concerns like answering questions about depth, safety, and proper equipment. You can also book through One Love Scuba Dive Center, which is on the Seven Mile Beach at Traveller’s Beach Resort. Any dives booked through the company include transportation from your Negril accomodations.
3. Fort Young House Reef, Dominica
What to expect: If you are looking for an exhilarating night dive, head for the town of Roseau in the southern part of the island of Dominica, which is home to the Fort Young House Reef. The plentiful sponge life and soft coral that attaches to the underwater volcanic rock at this dive site attracts nocturnal marine life, like octopus and squid, and tons of moray eels, which you can view using your dive light.
What to know: The site is easily accessible via a 5-minute boat ride from the Fort Young Hotel dock in Roseau. The hotel itself is geared for scuba divers with its dive shop and scuba school. Groups of divers regularly meet in the onsite restaurant to swap stories.
Make it happen: The PADI dive instructors at the Fort Young Hotel offer night dives to all certification levels year-round and you can rent all equipment from the dive shop there.
4. Stingraysted, St Croix
What to expect: Stingraystead in St Croix, the US Virgin Islands, is a plateau with a sloping wall of sand on the Green Cay Slope Mini Wall System filled with coral heads. This site has a depth of 32ft (10m) for the mooring and is a popular place for stingrays of all sizes as well as flounders and jawfish. The wall starts at 40ft (12m) and then drops thousands of feet to the ocean floor.
What to know: With a max dive depth of 60ft (18m), Stingraysted is a site that welcomes beginners and advanced divers.
Make it happen: Dive boats head out from the Christiansted boardwalk marina. Dive shops located along the boardwalk include Dive Experience, St Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures and Latitude 17 Scuba. Each dive shop offers complete sets of diving equipment for rent.
5. STENAPA Reef, Sint Eustatius
What to expect: The island of Sint Eustatius has a marine park called STENAPA (St Eustatius National Marine Park) and this reef unfolds to a maximum depth of 60ft (18m). The artificial reef includes a combination of sunken items like a tugboat, pieces of broken shipwrecks, and long metal pipes created to attract marine life to the reserve along the artificial reef. Some of the organisms to spot include barracuda, sponges, French Angelfish and Caribbean reef sharks.
What to know: Diving in the national marine park is a must, but if you have a day break from diving, it’s worth a visit to the dormant volcano on the island, the Quill, which offers 8 trails that weave throughout the thorny woodland and elfin forest. You can take a self-guided tour and look for seedless breadfruit hanging from their parent trees, see wild-growing, edible raspberries that bloom naturally in the forest, or see the sway of small round fruit growing on grape trees.
Make it happen: Underwater exploration can be led by PADI-certified instructors at Scubaqua, a local dive shop situated on the black sand beach in the Lowertown harbor area.
6. Mike’s Maze, Sint Maarten
What to expect: For beginner divers, Mike’s Maze in Sint Maarten is a great choice due to the maximum depth being only 50ft (15m). However, there is still so much to see at this location at this depth: small overhangs and shallow caves allow for you to test your curiosity in a mild way. Sit back and watch a theater-worthy display of active green sea turtles eating off the sea grass, an array of textured sea stars lying on sand or – if you’re lucky – a few reef sharks patrolling the site.
What to know: It’s best to travel to Sint Maarten during the low season (the peak tourist seasons are December through April and July and August). I like the low season because there are often less people in your dive group. You will be able to spread out easier on the boat and you have more attention from the dive instructor. The summer months are the rainy season but this rarely causes disruption for diving. As long as it is not a heavy storm, visibility will be adequate for an enjoyable dive.
Make it happen: Rent all of your necessary gear at the Dive Sint Maarten dive shop located in the bustling Bobby’s Marina.
7. Coral Gables, Turks and Caicos
What to expect: Only a 15-minute boat ride from the shore of Grace Bay in Turks and Caicos, the Coral Gables dive site is located in the island’s Princess Alexandra National Marine Park, which has been a protected marine area for over 30 years. The dive site is great for beginners because the maximum depth is only 30ft (9m) and with this shallow underwater landscape, the sunlight penetrates nicely illuminating marine life like peacock flounders disguising themselves on the sandy bottom and yellowtail snappers drifting around the colorful fan corals.
What to know: The visibility at most dive sites in Turks and Caicos is extremely clear year-round and in January through March you have the best chance at spotting rays, dolphins and migrating humpback whales.
Make it happen: Stay at the Club Med Turkoise and take a PADI course there.
8. Superman’s Flight, St Lucia
What to expect: Drift diving – where you ride the underwater current while taking in the sights around you – is a thrilling experience where you barely have to kick or move your body as you glide along. Superman’s Flight in St Lucia was named after the cliff above the dive site where a scene from Superman II (1980) was filmed. The quick current that flows along the sloping wall allows you to feel like a superhero while taking in parrotfish, turtles, sponges and colorful soft corals as you drift past.
What to know: If you have down time, one of the most popular experiences in St Lucia is taking a mud bath at the drive-in Sulphur Springs at the Soufrier Volcano of which the mud is said to detoxify the body. You can dive in the morning and have time to visit the mud bath in the early evening.
Make it happen: The best place for divers to stay in St Lucia is at the all-inclusive Sandals Grande St Lucian. All equipment is available at the onsite dive shop and dives are included as part of your stay.