Your starting point for scuba diving: learn to dive, choose your gear, and find your next dive destination.
Region guide · 10 destinations
Caribbean scuba diving is where most divers learn, and where many keep coming back: warm water, good visibility, healthy reefs close to shore and dive centers on almost every island. Head west to the Pacific coast of Latin America and the diving changes character, with cooler currents and big animals.
At a glance
Across most of the Caribbean, the water stays warm enough for a 3 mm wetsuit or a shorty for much of the year. Visibility is often very good, and many reefs start in shallow water, so a single trip can mix easy reef dives with walls that drop away into deep blue. The marine life is typical of the tropical western Atlantic: parrotfish, angelfish, turtles, eagle rays, nurse sharks and reef sharks, and large sponges and sea fans on the walls.
The main thing to plan around is the weather. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June to November, with the peak usually from August to October. Diving goes on through those months, and prices are often lower, but storms can cancel days or whole trips, so flexible bookings and travel insurance make sense. The islands of the southern Caribbean, such as Bonaire, lie outside the usual hurricane track and are a common choice in the autumn.
Further south and west, on the Pacific side of Costa Rica and around the Galápagos, the water is cooler and richer in nutrients. The reefs are less colorful, but the big-animal encounters are some of the most famous in diving.
The destinations
Bonaire is famous for shore diving. Most of the island's reefs are protected as a national marine park, dive sites along the coast road are marked with painted yellow stones, and many divers rent a truck and tanks and dive on their own schedule. It is calm, shallow and a classic first trip.
Bonaire scuba diving guideOff Mexico's Yucatán coast, Cozumel is known for drift diving. The current carries you along reefs such as Palancar while the boat follows your bubbles. The drifts are relaxing once you are used to them, and its reefs are protected as a national park.
Cozumel scuba diving guideThe Caymans are synonymous with wall diving, above all Bloody Bay Wall off Little Cayman. Grand Cayman adds Stingray City, a shallow sandbar where southern stingrays gather, and the USS Kittiwake, a former navy ship sunk as an artificial reef.
Cayman Islands scuba diving guideThe Belize Barrier Reef is part of the Mesoamerican Reef and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Divers come for the offshore atolls, including Lighthouse Reef and the Great Blue Hole, as well as easy reef dives from the cayes.
Belize scuba diving guideThe largest of Honduras' Bay Islands sits on the same Mesoamerican Reef as Belize. The reef runs close to shore, boat rides are short, and the island is a popular place to learn and to take further courses.
Roatán scuba diving guideStrictly speaking the Bahamas are in the Atlantic, but they dive like the Caribbean. They are best known for shark diving, including tiger sharks at Tiger Beach off Grand Bahama, and for blue holes, the Andros barrier reef and the deep Tongue of the Ocean.
Bahamas scuba diving guideBarbados is a good wreck island for every level. Carlisle Bay Marine Park has several shallow wrecks close together, ideal for newer divers, while the freighter Stavronikita, sunk off the west coast as an artificial reef, is a deeper dive.
Barbados scuba diving guideFar out in the Atlantic, Bermuda has some of the northernmost coral reefs in the world, and centuries of ships have run aground on them. It has a wealth of wrecks, from sailing ships to the Civil War-era Mary Celestia. The water is cooler than in the Caribbean, so diving is best in summer.
Bermuda scuba diving guideCosta Rica's best diving is on its Pacific side. The Bat Islands are known for bull sharks and the Catalina Islands for rays. Far offshore, Cocos Island National Park is a liveaboard destination famous for schooling hammerheads.
Costa Rica scuba diving guideThe Galápagos are a bucket-list trip for experienced divers. Sea lions, marine iguanas, turtles and schooling hammerheads are the draw, especially around the remote islands of Darwin and Wolf. Currents and cooler water make it a trip for divers with some experience, usually on a liveaboard.
Galápagos scuba diving guideChoosing
Bonaire, Roatán, Barbados and Cozumel's gentler reefs are all good choices. Each has calm, warm water, shallow sites and plenty of dive centers used to new divers. Bonaire's shore diving is especially good for building confidence at your own pace. If you are still deciding whether to get certified, our guide on how to learn to scuba dive explains the courses, and many of these islands are popular places to take them.
The Cayman Islands, Belize's atolls and Cozumel offer dramatic drop-offs. Walls make it easy to drift deeper than you meant to, so watch your depth gauge or computer and keep to the plan you made with your buddy. Our scuba diving safety guide explains why depth and ascent discipline matter.
The Bahamas, Costa Rica's Pacific islands and the Galápagos are the region's big-animal destinations. Expect currents and open water, and choose operators with strong briefings and experienced guides.
Bermuda, Barbados and the Caymans' Kittiwake are the standouts. Penetrating a wreck, going inside it, needs specialist training. Diving around a wreck's outside does not.
In most of the Caribbean, a 3 mm wetsuit or shorty, reef-safe sunscreen and your own mask, fins and computer are enough. For Costa Rica's Pacific coast, the Galápagos and Bermuda outside high summer, bring more warmth: often a 5 mm or 7 mm suit and a hood. The scuba gear guide has more detail.
Questions
December to May is the most popular season across most of the Caribbean, with calmer weather and no hurricane risk. June to November is hurricane season. Diving continues and prices often drop, but storms can disrupt trips, so book flexibly. The southern islands, such as Bonaire, are usually outside the hurricane track.
Yes. Warm, calm water, shallow reefs and a large number of dive centers make much of the Caribbean ideal for learning and for first trips. Some places, such as strong-current drift sites or deep walls, are better once you have more experience.
Most divers wear a 3 mm wetsuit or a shorty for protection and warmth, because even warm water cools you down over several dives a day. Divers who feel the cold often prefer 5 mm, especially in the winter months.
See the reefs of the Indo-Pacific, the wrecks of the Red Sea and more.