IslaScuba.com: an independent guide to the islands divers travel to, from the Caribbean to the Coral Triangle.
The Caribbean Sea is warm all year, visibility is often excellent, and most reefs sit within recreational depth. Many islands rise steeply from deep water, which gives the region its famous walls: coral and sponges on the lip, then a vertical face that drops into blue. Others have broad, shallow reefs that are perfect for long, relaxed dives and for new divers.
Compared with the Pacific or the Coral Triangle, the Caribbean has fewer species of coral and fish. What it offers instead is easy access. Many islands are a direct flight from US cities, dive centers are well established, and English is widely spoken. Some islands, Bonaire above all, are set up for shore diving, so you can rent tanks, drive to a marked site and dive on your own schedule.
Typical encounters include turtles, eagle rays, nurse sharks, moray eels, barracuda, schools of grunts and snapper, and plenty of colorful reef fish. Caribbean reef sharks appear at many sites, and the Bahamas are known for organized shark dives. The invasive lionfish is now common across the region, and some islands run culling programs.
Island by island
Bonaire is the shore-diving capital of the Caribbean. The whole coastline is part of the Bonaire National Marine Park, set up in 1979, and dive sites along the road are marked with painted yellow stones. Divers pay a nature fee, rent tanks by the day and drive from site to site. The sheltered west coast is calm most of the year.
Off the coast of the Yucatán, Cozumel is famous for drift diving. A steady current carries divers past towering coral formations on reefs such as Palancar and the Santa Rosa Wall, and the boat picks you up at the end. The reefs are part of a national marine park and of the wider Mesoamerican Reef.
Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac each have a different feel. Little Cayman's Bloody Bay Wall is one of the best-known walls in the Caribbean. Grand Cayman has the Kittiwake, a former US Navy submarine rescue ship sunk as an artificial reef in 2011, and Stingray City, a sandbar where southern stingrays gather in shallow water.
The Bay Islands sit on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the largest reef system in the Western Hemisphere. Roatán has healthy reefs, walls and wrecks close to shore. Utila is known for low-cost dive courses and for the chance of seeing whale sharks in the open water off its north side.
Bonaire's larger neighbor also has a dry climate and plenty of shore diving along its south-west coast. Divers know it for its reef slopes and for small wrecks such as the Tugboat near Caracasbaai, which sits in shallow, clear water and is a favorite with photographers.
Hundreds of islands and cays spread across shallow banks next to deep ocean. The Bahamas are known for shark diving, for blue holes such as Dean's Blue Hole off Long Island, and for the reef along Andros, the largest island in the chain.
Belize is on the mainland, but most of its diving happens from small islands called cayes. Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker are the main bases. The Belize Barrier Reef is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Great Blue Hole at Lighthouse Reef atoll is a deep marine sinkhole on many divers' wish lists.
Dominica is a steep volcanic island where Champagne Reef has warm volcanic bubbles rising through the water. St. Lucia's best reefs lie near the Pitons around Soufrière. Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos has a wall that starts close to shore along its west coast.
The water is warm all year, so the main question is weather. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, with the most activity usually from August to October. Many divers still travel in those months because flights and rooms are cheaper, but it is worth buying travel insurance and keeping the plan flexible. December to April is drier and busier.
The southern islands of Bonaire, Curaçao and Aruba sit near the southern edge of the hurricane belt and are hit less often than islands further north, which is one reason they are popular for late-summer trips. No island is completely safe from storms, though.
If you are new to diving, see our guide to the best islands for beginner divers, several of which are in the Caribbean. For flights, gear and dive insurance, read the island dive trip planning guide.
Caribbean reefs have been hit hard by coral bleaching and disease in recent years, so good buoyancy matters. Most marine parks ask divers not to touch or stand on coral, not to wear gloves, and not to feed fish. Some islands charge a park or nature fee, and several have restricted sunscreens that contain chemicals linked to reef damage. A mineral sunscreen, a rash guard and a hat cover most of it.
Questions
Bonaire is the best-known shore-diving island, with dozens of marked sites along its west coast. Curaçao is a close second.
Most divers wear a 3 mm wetsuit or a shorty. The water is warm, but several dives a day for a week can leave you chilled, and a suit also protects against stings and scrapes.
Yes. Nurse sharks and Caribbean reef sharks are seen at many sites, and the Bahamas offer organized dives with reef, lemon and tiger sharks at certain sites.
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