Big Blue Hole, Belize
Belize is not yet listed in the shortlist of diving destinations – which explains the low popularity of the country in the tourist market, the well—known exoticism and the high cost of tours. For those who are not deterred by this, Belize has prepared a lot of hidden treasures, including one of the most amazing dive sites on Earth — the Big Blue Hole. In aerial photographs, the site most resembles the pupil of the eye — the ocean depression seems so dark against the background of the serene turquoise water surface. A few facts: UNESCO list, 400 m in diameter and 145 m in depth.
But that’s not all: underwater divers are waiting for fascinating landscapes of 15-meter sea stalactites. But there are almost no cold—blooded inhabitants here – however, it is not customary to complain about their absence, the underwater landscapes are so magnificent. You can go to the Hole from any resort in Belize — divers are waiting for numerous dive clubs offering day trips and overnight boat tours.
Manta Ray Village, Hawaii
The most sunny resort and idly attractive state in the USA, Hawaii is famous not only for flower garlands, bright shirts and modest charm of the bourgeoisie, but also for the magnificent dive site Manta Ray Village, “manta ray village”. Located near Kona Beach on the Big Island of Hawaii, the site, as the name suggests, boasts a record number of “underwater birds” — manta rays. Diving takes place at night, from a boat: Hawaiians consecrate the water with bright lanterns, and plankton immediately begins to swirl around, in turn, attracting stingrays (in turn, attracting divers). The best “bite”, they say, is on the new moon — on other days the rays are windy and can easily not come “on a date”.
Sipadan Island, Malaysia
“Slow down, please” is the motto of diving on the island of Sipadan, in colorful Malaysia. The thing is that the main subject of underwater interest here is a lot of sea turtles. These unhurried creatures, whose size easily exceeds a couple of meters, plentifully dissect the ocean depths off the coast of Sipadan.
There are two main species — the green turtle and the bissa, but their number easily makes up for the not too significant biological diversity. Of the additional “chips” — a cemetery of turtles, a 22-meter depression, chock-full of tortilla skeletons. If this does not seem enough to the diver, you can go to Cape Barracuda, where these skinny fish like to gather in flocks resembling tornadoes, or swim to the Cliff — there the gently sinking ocean floor suddenly goes to a depth of 600 meters.
Ras Mohammed National Park, Egypt
Located at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, Ras Mohammed National Marine Park is rightly considered the best dive site in the entire Red Sea – there are as many as 20 magnificent dive sites, one better than the other! The pearls of the park are Yolanda Reef and Shark Reef. In addition to the crazy variety of underwater inhabitants, the main attraction of Yolanda Reef is the rack of the same name, but not some sunken schooner, but a merchant ship with a cargo of toilet bowls and even one BMW! How such different goods managed to get on the ship, history is silent. Shark Reef, as the name suggests, is home to a decent number of sharks — so diving here can be classified as extreme.
Coconut Island, Costa Rica
The island with the exotic name Coconut, which lies 600 km from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, seems to have teleported in our time from the Jurassic period – not some frivolous fish swim under the water here, but real “heavyweights” and long—livers of the oceanic depths – hammerfish. The number of these mastodons is off the scale — the sunlight fades in front of another diver, and not from fear (although this sometimes happens), but from giant hammer-shaped shadows scurrying somewhere above his head.
Among other things, white-fronted reef and whale sharks can be seen here. The largest number of ocean inhabitants appears before the diver’s eyes in the period from June to November, but you need to be prepared for a rough sea. From December to May, the abyss does not boil, but there are much fewer hammerfish in sight.