Ryan Dandy

A question I get asked all the time is, "Where is your favorite dive destination?"  Picking 1 is not easy but here are my top 5 in no particular order.  

1) Palau: This island group in the Pacific between Hawaii and the Philippines has something for everyone.  Palau is known as the Serengeti of the sea with a wide variety of underwater life.  Sharks are seen on nearly every dive.  Manta rays are reliably encountered, sometimes parades of them.  There are caves, swim-throughs, WWII wrecks, beautiful soft coral, drift dives, wall dives and famous sites like Blue Corner where you use a reef hook to remain stationary while schools of sharks, tuna and bumphead wrasse pass right in front of your mask.  The dive operators offer blackwater dives (night dives out in the middle of the ocean where bright lights attract all sorts of critters), and spawning dives which are intense.  Palau is a world class snorkel and kayak destination as well.  Jellyfish Lake is one of the most unique snorkel sites in the world with tens of thousands stingless jellyfish bouncing off you like Jello cubes.  You can kayak to baby shark nurseries and secret bays with openings so tight that boats can’t enter. 

2) Galapagos: To dive the Galapagos Islands properly you need to take a liveaboard boat.  Wolf and Darwin Islands are the prized spots.  Here you may encounter huge schools of hammerhead sharks, Galapagos sharks, dolphins, rays, false killer whales, and during summer months, massive whale sharks.  When the whale sharks are around, you simply hold on to the volcanic reef until one cruises by.  Then you try briefly to keep up with the fish before it proves again that whale sharks are faster swimmers than humans.  The reason why I chose the Galapagos over similar destinations like Cocos or Soccoro is because of the topside wildlife and landscapes only found here.  You have marine iguanas (which you can dive with), the only penguins that can be found north of the equator, funny blue-footed boobies, and of course the huge tortoises.  Playful sea lions join you on many dives as they pose for the camera.

3) Indonesia: Okay, I need to get a little more specific here because Indonesia is longer than the US with a lot of ocean throughout.  While Komodo, North Sulawesi, Wakatobi, Ambon and others are amazing, Raja Ampat gives you a bit of everything along with the most pristine reefs in the world.  Some of the most luxurious liveaboards are found here.  We are talking shoulder rubs after every dive and gourmet meals all day long.  The northern islands have everything from pygmy seahorses to manta rays.  The coral gardens are extremely healthy and home to turtles and reef fish galore.  Down south is the island of Misool.  The reefs here are the healthiest I’ve come across and special species can be found like the walking shark and wobbegong.  The owners of Misool Eco Resort patrol the area and I invite you to read their story of conservation.  Because of them, this region is seeing biodiversity growth while most the reefs around the world are in increasing trouble. 

4) French Polynesia: Only 8 hours from LAX, the islands of Tahiti are well known for overwater bungalows and romantic escapes, but there is a lot to see underwater especially if you like big stuff.  Tahiti has a very successful tiger shark dive.  Moorea has lemon sharks and stingrays and seasonally you can swim with humpback whales.  Bora Bora has a great manta dive.  Tikehau is also known for mantas as well as reef sharks and barracuda.  Rangiroa is a diver’s dream with a friendly pod of dolphins that love to interact with humans.  When the dolphins don’t show you still have hammerhead sharks, turtles, eagle rays and huge schools of fish.  And then there is Fakarava which not only is fun to say but has the best diving in Tahiti.  Here you drop down to a wall of sharks, hundreds, on each dive.  Schools of fish are so thick they cover the entire reef and you can drift through canyons that look like something out of Star Wars. 

5) Cozumel: The Caribbean does not have the variety of species found in other destination but Cozumel has a lot to offer for divers.  After a relatively short flight from the US, you can lounge at an incredible all-inclusive resort while enjoying 80 degree water with crystal clear 100 foot visibility.  Cozumel has both fun and challenging dive sites where you will come across unique critters such as the Cozumel splendid toadfish.  If you want to break up your ocean dives you can ferry over to Playa del Carmen for the freshwater cenotes or visit Mayan ruins.  Or if you travel in the summer you can swim with whale sharks north of Cancun.  There is a reason dive shops in the US go to Cozumel year after year, and it is because it offers the best value of any dive destination. 

Others I wanted to include are the Philippines, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Red Sea, Maldives, Guadalupe, Malaysia and Truk Lagoon.