... divers would naturally seek out healthier systems to vist. That would shift the load increasingly to the Pacific sites, thus putting THEM under more and more stress. It's a frightening cycle....
It's not a cycle, it's a linear graph, only declining. The only thing that will save any paradise will be lack of air service and dive infrastructure. Bikini survived multiple atomic blasts, but the passage of 50+ years of silence seems to had helped. Most readers here will not be able to know- the world economy trend looks very protective for the likes of Bikini. When Chuuk was called Truk, near shore reefs looked a lot different underwater (and certainly felt a lot different above water).
In the Caribbean, we have Los Roques, currently unserved after the long-ago cessation of services from the Hughes Antares III- it is a smorgasboard of shallow wooden wrecks from the days of pirates and privateers- I have seen 40+ wrecks- but the shallow sandy current keptr the volume too low for a liveabaord to survive- that and the crapola of having to operate in Venezuala- so maybe the government there did do some good.
Also largely untouched are the NW Barrier islands off of Grenada- nothing at all like the comparatively mediocre stuff they have off of the SE and usual dive sites. It's just very expensive and grueling to get all the way to the opposite end of "civilization".
Tobago, at least the North end, is relatively unaffected by sedimentation, but the insane currents are 90% of the reason for the cleansing. Three years ago, we watched an 85' ketch drop anchor off shore. Within an hour, we were diving the reef it had moored "next to". In this short period, the chain had sawed through about 6+ meters of Coral.
I was always told by my mentors that Cuba had absolutely decayed before 1970. They were referring to the florid reefs close to the Northern shores. As they continued to dive into the "newly" opened zones of the South- they were indeed inviting, but not the same delicate structures once enjoyed near the bigger population centers.
These and other sites will be accessed because of the front page of
your favorite magazine full of advertising, you know the ones (all of them)... they have a splashy headline that touts, "
Dive Travel- the next big thing". It's what they do, it's what we want. In the 1070's the dive mags were full of exotica including the Bahamas and Key West. They're j
ust trying to find a dive location that can afford to advertise in their magazine so they can "write and article" about it.
Huh. I have to say, as someone who dives reasonably regularly in both the Caribbean and the Pacific, I hadn't actually noticed any great difference. Must pay more attention to the background and less attention to the fish next time I am in the "big pond".
You have a lot of dives, but you have hair, so I suppose
you're kind-of 
young (?) I'm referencing the differences since 1970's.
In the 70's the florida Keys were remarkable- hell- Fort Lauderdale was, too.
Grand Cayman, just South of Georgetown- that was
the place for visitors to shore dive and interact with an 8' Moray named Snaggletooth (of famed image with bikini clad diver gals) and A Grouper the size of my Grandma's Couch... he was named Buggsy. This was just off-shore the now-long-gone, perfect diver-dump that was located 1 door further South of the still extant Sunset House.
In the era when the Oro Verde placed-wreck was still intact, newly plopped into Georgetown Harbour- the Cruise ships increased in their capacity and ran shuttle boats in to drop passengers. Tourist flocked to buy Black Coral from Bernie Passman and to eat at Chef Tell's Grand Old House.
Then, a stop-light appeared at the T intersection right near the cruise ship tender landing. The roads squeezed through residential properties and cemetery walls. The place simply had no forward looking urban planning. All of those tires that are worn away from rental cars- all that rubber has to wind up somewhere.
I was listening to an FM station one afternoon. There was a traffic report being radioed in from an aircraft. Bernie started buying and importing finished Black Coral pieces from a "Cayman Cousin" in Roatan.
Later, Julia Roberts and Denzel showed up and filed the Pelican Brief, it Cayman Went. The Cayman Triange gobbled up the Barefoot Man (and the Holiday Inn). Tom Cruise got "Firm" there, read more at
http://www.compasscayman.com/observer/2011/02/20/CAYMAN--IN-THE--MOVIES/
The last time I was in Cayman, I dove with Chris Lexau (rip). As they say, "You can't go home anymore".
I'm not trying to ignite a debate about whether other zones of Cayman (or it's sister islets) have survived. the point I make is that: Success kills.
It's kin of an analogy to the famous movie line (from a Robert Redford Movie): "
Always marry a virgin- that way she won't know to be disappointed". This explains why so many glowing reports come from divers who charter with Club Dread.
