Which island has the best diving?

[kalekainxx]

Out of all the islands in the Caribbean, which one has the most life? And the least damaged from all the cruise ships and tourists?

Thanks.

 

[scubadobadoo]

That's a hard one to answer but a good case could be made for Bonaire. Honestly though, opinion will play a huge factor in the answers you get. It's easier to name the places that are better to avoid than it is to name THE very best.

For example, I would pass on the Bahamas for the most part.

 

[kalekainxx]

ok, then which islands should i avoid?

 

[DeputyDan]

Your question is - the most life.

Do you mean people, plant life, fish, reef life, lizards or birds?

Your question is not defined enought to be answered!

 

[jd950]

Out of all the islands in the Caribbean, which one has the most life? And the least damaged from all the cruise ships and tourists?

Thanks.

Maybe Navassa?

 

[kalekainxx]

Your question is - the most life.

Do you mean people, plant life, fish, reef life, lizards or birds?

Your question is not defined enought to be answered!

haha, ok, i'm sorry, my bad. I mean which area in the caribbean has the most fish and reef life? Also nice sandy beaches, not jagged volcanic cliffs.

 

[Codyjp]

haha, ok, i'm sorry, my bad. I mean which area in the caribbean has the most fish and reef life? Also nice sandy beaches, not jagged volcanic cliffs.

Well that isn't Bonaire then.

 

[jd950]

I think the sandy beaches bit leaves Navassa out, too.

 

[caymaniac]

My opinion is Little Cayman is the best, the second best I've been to is west Caicos.
Bonaire used to be one of the best until it was hit by surge from a hurricane and Klien Bonaire was trashed (except for part of the south side), this surge also hit a lot of the shallows on the west side of Bonaire reducing the really good shallow diving areas by destroying a lot of coral. Bonaire is still definitely good and it's the best shore diving in the Caribbean but after the big surge I no longer believe you could call it the best.

west Caicos

Bonaire - salt pier

Little Cayman

Little Cayman

Little Cayman

Bonaire - the way it used to be

 

[robint]

haha, ok, i'm sorry, my bad. I mean which area in the caribbean has the most fish and reef life? Also nice sandy beaches, not jagged volcanic cliffs.

Sandy beaches? you do realize that sandy beaches are not where fish hang out, right? If there are gorgeous, sandy beaches, there are going to be tourists, too, and lots of them with huge resorts... not conducive to great diving either.

Bonaire ranks very high in my book.... 24/7 diving on reefs that are right next to shore (not sandy beaches). You can see almost every fish that lives in the Caribbean there shore diving. Not much topside to do, I go there to dive dive dive.
one of my videos:
[vimeo]3273329[/vimeo]

Roatan is another.... gorgeous healthy reefs, CoCoView Resort on the southside has a great dive operation that makes it possible to dive 24/7. Once again, no beach but every room is oceanfront and no kids... peaceful and quiet and dive dive dive.
watch video on their website: http://www.cocoviewresort.com/video.html

Little Cayman has great diving, too. Nothing to do there but dive. Stay away from Grand Cayman though as it is a tourism mecca and expensive.

Belize out islands are another option. There are a couple of all-inclusives on Turneffe that do have beaches and are close to best diving in Belize.
http://www.turnefferesort.com/

I say stay away from places like Jamaica, Cancun, and Bahamas....too many people and resorts make for lousy diving and poor reef condition. Cozumel is headed this direction in my opinion, waaaay too many people and dive boats, mediocre reefs in many cases due to hurricane damage and too many divers. (the exception to Bahamas is a liveaboard where you can get away from crowds and to pristine dive sites)