Best dive sites in the Caribbean

The Caribbean is an iconic vacation destination, promising picture-perfect scenery, welcoming people, and incredible scuba diving destinations and diving no matter where you go. But, committed underwater explorers and adventurers out there might be looking for a little more from their next scuba diving getaway. 

If this sounds familiar, you’re in the right place. We’ve selected the Caribbean’s very best dive sites, helping you to book your next trip with the sole intention of crossing word-class underwater experiences off your bucket-list.

Minutes from Cozumel’s coast, this plummeting wall is one of the Yucatan’s easiest to reach dive sites. It's also one of the most picturesque, boasting kilometres of hard and soft coral. In the shallows, this site features an incredible sun-soaked coral garden that quickly gives way to a dizzying drop-off and wall which plunges to depths of several hundred metres – making it a great place to spot passing pelagics. The site also features several stunning swim-throughs which allow divers to meander back and forth between sheltered sandy areas and the sheer rock face. 

This site north of Tulum in Mexico's Yucatan is actually two cenotes connected by a maze of caverns and tunnels, providing the inspiration for its name which translates as “Two Eyes”. The impressive size and multiple openings offered by Dos Ojos means several dives can be done here, typically starting and ending at the same place but exploring different areas along the way. Divers can opt to stick to the main chamber, where daylight illuminates the stunning stalactite formations, or embark on more challenging exploration of twisting tunnels and darker domes.

Close to Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker, Hol Chan is Belize’s oldest marine park, and offers several distinct areas for exploration, including pristine coral reef, turtle grass, and mangroves. The reserve is also home to the world-famous Shark Ray Alley – an expansive sand flat named after its most reliable residents. Here, nurse sharks and Southern stingrays gather in large numbers, often joined by vast schools of bait fish, surrounding visitors who come to swim or snorkel amongst the throng of activity.

Located in Lighthouse Reef off the coast of Belize, this impressive spherical sinkhole is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and protected Natural Monument. Juvenile reef fish and sometimes even sharks can be seen swimming near the surface, but once inside the blue hole, marine life can be scarce. Still, at 300-metres wide and 125-metres deep, this is one of the largest sinkholes on the planet, providing a once-in-a-lifetime experience regardless of what you see. The formation also features near-vertical walls, creating some spectacular scenery and a strange feeling of sensory deprivation as you descend deeper into the dark water.

Long Caye Wall is a spectacular dive situated on the southeast coast of Glover’s Reef in Belize, facing the deep waters of the Bartlett Trough. The most isolated and seldom visited of the country’s three atolls, Glover’s Reef is characterised by incredible coral cover, dramatic drop-offs, and vertical reef formations – and, as the name suggests, this site is no exception. Plummeting to almost 1,000-metres, the scenery at Long Caye Wall is breathtaking, with vibrant sponges clinging to the rock face and an array of tropical marine life swimming to-and-fro. And, lucky divers might even glimpse some bigger species such as manta rays, nurse sharks, and more.

Located on the northern side of Roatan in Honduras, this dive focuses on a series of mesmerising coral canyons offering a choice of routes with varying light penetration and surface access. While relatively simple to navigate, this labyrinth-like system of tunnels has occasionally been known to disorientate dolphins which have entered whilst on the hunt for silversides. In fact, the remains of unlucky individuals can still be found in the caverns – including a skull. Routes typically finish at the reef’s edge, allowing divers to peer out into the blue where dolphin pods occasionally pass by.

Raggedy Cay is a small, uninhabited island positioned off the western tip of Utila. The surrounding reefs and waters form a marine protected area, while the island itself is a designated bird sanctuary. All of this conservation makes Raggedy Cay a hotspot for wildlife, while the resident bird colonies often play a pivotal role in helping local operators spot whale sharks as they cruise along Utila’s northern coast. The corals here are healthy and colourful, attracting an abundance of critters and tropical reef fish, with larger species such as eagle rays and nurse sharks also making appearances.  

True to its name, Tiger Beach off the coast of Grand Bahama is a sandy-bottomed site delivering reliable encounters with some of the ocean’s most formidable fish. Located some 30-kilometres off the coast, this experience involves divers kneeling on the seafloor close to a crate of frozen fish and waiting for the show to begin. As you’d expect, Tiger Beach is famous for regular tiger shark appearances, though numerous other species can join the action, including great hammerheads, lemon sharks, nurse sharks, and Caribbean reef sharks. In other words, you simply never know what pelagic predators might turn up.

Located some 16-kilometres east of Nassau, the Lost Blue Hole is a large underwater sinkhole measures around 25-metres wide and descends well below recreational limits. The sheltered, current-free habitats found both inside and outside the walls of this sinkhole play host to a surprising diversity of marine life, ranging from some of the Bahamas’ best macro subjects to a handful of interesting larger species. Seasonal aggregations of silky sharks can also be found close-by, and between May and August the blue hole becomes a breeding ground for blacknose sharks which can sometimes be seen circling in schools up to 100 strong.

Located on the south side of Nassau – close to Stuart Cove’s dive operation and the Ray of Hope wreck – The Arena is the Bahamas’ iconic shark diving experience. In actual fact, this site is just one of several in the area where similar shark encounters take place, the others being Shark Wall, Shark Wall North, and The Runway. During dives at The Arena, expert local operators use a combination of bait and hand feeding to attract dozens of Caribbean reef sharks into the proximity of onlooking groups, creating an exciting and action-packed exhibition.

Dive sites names around French Cay are well-known for their deliberate double entendres and Double-D doesn’t disappoint. The site centres around two large underwater mounds – of course – which are carpeted with innumerable colourful coral species. This aquatic oasis is absolutely teeming with life, including schools of jacks, snapper, grunts, and black durgons. Double-D is also a good spot for spotting reef sharks cruising slowly in the water column, while French Cay as a whole is famous for its annual aggregation of nurse sharks.

Running between Providenciales and West Caicos, the Sandbore Channel is a deep passage that serves as a superhighway for marine life. Land of the Giants lies within this channel and is so named as a result of this ‘highway’ and its ever-present possibility of passing pelagics. Divers can expect shoals of colourful reef fish being hunted by larger species, as well as chance sightings of manta rays, eagle rays, dolphins, reef sharks, and the occasional hammerhead. The gorgonian sea fans which cling to the walls here are equally impressive and the barrel sponges are some of the biggest in the Turks and Caicos. 

Located on the northern shores of Little Cayman, the Bloody Bay Marine Park is home to at least two dozen dive sites, and any one of them could be considered world-class. The awe-inspiring wall here stretches along the coast and plummets for hundreds of metres, displaying a seemingly endless carpet of coral in all directions. Marilyn’s Cut occupies a roughly central position within this protected area and is popular because of its chimney-like swim-through. Sponges and sea fans cling to almost every surface, providing shelter for all manner of marine life, and you never know when the deep blue will decide to deliver a surprise. 

The USS Kittiwake is a Chanticleer-class submarine rescue ship that now lies off the northern end of Grand Cayman’s Seven Mile Beach. Scuttled in 2011, this 77-metre long vessel is a wreck diver’s delight, featuring multiple dedicated penetration routes cut right into its structure. Thanks to its shallow depth, divers can enjoy plenty of bottom time while visiting the Kittiwake, allowing in-depth exploration of its five decks. Suitably certified divers can probe the mess hall, hospital, propulsion rooms, recompression chambers, and ammunition lockers, although the propellers, smokestack, and other external areas are equally intriguing. 

Located near George Town on the west coast of Grand Cayman, Devil’s Grotto is a visually stunning dive that is often grouped together with the neighbouring Eden Rock site. These two shallow sites lie just a short swim from the shore and are famous for their spectacular topography. Craggy coral heads rise vertically towards the surface from the sand below, creating a mini labyrinth of canyons, tunnels, and tubes. Shafts of sunlight filter through various gaps and cracks overhead, creating beautiful beams of colour that bounces off the resident tarpon, silversides, and barracuda. 

Once said to be “unsinkable”, the RMS Rhone sank during a hurricane in 1867 off the western tip of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands. Despite being badly broken up, this 95-metre Royal Mail steamer still holds its own as one of the most popular dives in the archipelago. With the stern and mid-section situated a short distance from the bow, this site needs at least two dives to explore in its entirety – along with a further night dive if you wish to discover the full spectrum of resident marine life. Divers can also find what is thought to be the world’s oldest bronze propeller partially embedded in the rock.

Situated on the island’s southwest coast, Salt Pier is exactly what it says on the tin – a jetty used to load and transport salt. Over the years, an impressive assortment of marine life has chosen to seek shelter amongst the pier’s pillars, creating one of Bonaire’s very best artificial reefs. Alongside schools of fish – such as silversides, barracuda, tarpon, snapper, and grunts – Salt Pier is a haven for some of the island’s smaller and more cryptic species. Eagle-eyed divers are in with a chance of spotting various sought-after subjects, including cleaner shrimp, seahorses, frogfish, nudibranchs, and more.