What are your top 7 dives and where?

[TSandM]

I've opened this thread a couple of times, but each time, I've realized that when I think about the top 7 dives I haven't done yet, most of them are because there's something about the dive that I don't WANT to do. I'd love to dive with whale sharks in the Galapagos, but I don't like that much current. I'd love to see the giantism in the Antarctic, but it's too far and too cold. I'd love to see the big pelagics in Palau, but there's that current thing again . . . the one dive that is DEFINITELY on my bucket list is the Crystal Caves of Abaco, but I think it will have to wait until I'm diving sidemount, in order to get the most out of it.

 

[mantagirl]

Hi TSandM,

You crack me up...you're an ER doc, cave diver and you dive in Puget sound but you don't like to dive in cold water or in current? Oh, my you would SO LOVE the whale sharks in Galapagos!!!!

For all my 24 years of diving I missed fantastic diving because I hated cold water then in Feb. I came to Seattle (and stayed with my friends who are horse lovers in Woodinville by the way!) and did my dry suit cert. Now, cold water look out here I come!

I came home and thought a lot about it and wrote a blog about not waiting for your dreams. Check it out if you'd like, Don’t Wait for Your Dreams

Funny thing is....you'll never get me in a cave! Guess we all have our passions huh?

One of the 7 summits of diving could definitely be a cave dive!

 

[ezywalker]

Great thread, i am now developing a bucket list I dive mostly around S.E Asia and have not heard of most of the dives you are talking about. Will get too goolging!

 

[mantagirl]

Hey Ezywalker,

Awesome! I'll bet you have a great top 7 if you dive mainly SE Asia, do tell!

 

[TSandM]

Oh, I dive cold water, but there's a difference between 43 and 32! And a lot of our dive planning in Puget Sound is how NOT to dive in heavy current

Different passions, indeed . . . I am giving a talk on cave diving tonight, and I'm hoping to convey some of my passion for it to the audience.

 

[SeaHound]

I think the OP wanted to know best dives in each continent. If I have gotten that part right then the list would look as follows:

1. Antarctic or Arctic
2. Galapagos (South America)
3. Komodo Island (Asia)
4. Raggies in South Africa (Africa)
5. Great Barrier Reef (Australia)
6. Californian Kelp forest (USA)
7. Europe???? (Hmmm ... It would either be Croatia or Iceland)

I have already done North Carolina wrecks so Kelp is in my "to do list." If someone has not done NC wrecks then they should come above Californian kelp?

 

[robint]

yes, SeaHound, I should have put California's kelp forests on my list. I have done them quite a bit and they are still some of my favorite dives anywhere.

robin

 

[sierra23]

Thanks for some of the ideas. Vanuatu has some great wreck dives - catch it on your way in or out of the Soloman Islands. Each place I have dove has a particular quality - even the Monk Seals in Ni Ihau were a treat. 50 ft whale shark, hammerheads, eagle rays all on one dive in the Galapagos is hard to beat, tons of nudibranchs and thriving corals in Raja Ampat - sweet eye candy, creepy stuff in Lembeh, mantas in Kona, great stuff in Palau. How can any of these destinations not be fantastic? I find my interests change on every trip. I use to go for the big stuff, now the little stuff has caught my fasination. Just keep on diving!!

 

[mantagirl]

Thanks sierra23! Yes, it seems that as you progress in diving, at some point you go "small". Please tell me about the Monk Seals in Ni Ihau, that's a new one to me!

How's the diving in Wasila, Alaska! Are you DMing up there?

 

[Teamcasa]

... Please tell me about the Monk Seals in Ni Ihau, that's a new one to me!

Here is some video I shot in 2008 while diving Niihau - the best diving in all of Hawaii IMHO
At 4:58 into this video you will see our monk seal encounter on Niihau.