Best Caribbean island for abundant marine life

[StayWet]

If you do go to Roatan, try the Aggressor there. I just did 2 weeks aboard her in January. It's a great boat with an amazing crew. And the French chef makes some of the best food that you will ever eat on a live-aboard!
Yes, the fish life is a bit light, but the reef structures are excellent.

 

[Diving_Parrot]

Not sure I got the joke about Cuba. Jibacoa was cool until the Portuguese man of war blew in on our last day. Far less hassle at the airport than going to the U.S. Obviously.

 

[ReadyTo Dive]

Grenada was much “fishy-er” than we expected. Pilot whale(s) were spotted by others diving with us (but I never saw them personally). Amazing wreck diving as well. You may look into it, it’s definitely high on our return list.

 

[birdman27]

Maybe it is the haze of time, but I really enjoyed the two days of diving I did in St. Lucia with my wife on our honeymoon. Lots of color, good amounts of fish, neat topography. We didnt stay or dive with Anse Chastanet, but rather stayed at a place up the hill from Soufriere, and dove with Chester at Action Adventure Divers. Overall, I loved that island topside as well. Just my $.02.

 

[Snoweman]

Maybe it is the haze of time, but I really enjoyed the two days of diving I did in St. Lucia with my wife on our honeymoon. Lots of color, good amounts of fish, neat topography. We didnt stay or dive with Anse Chastanet, but rather stayed at a place up the hill from Soufriere, and dove with Chester at Action Adventure Divers. Overall, I loved that island topside as well. Just my $.02.

Just curious. Did you stay at La Bagatell?

 

[halocline]

I have been told that Cuba is the place to go for abundant fish. It was explained to me that it is so abundant because it hasn't been fished - because whenever there's a boat big enough to fish from, people pile in and set off for Miami.

Whoever told you that was wrong. I dove in Cuba a month or so ago, at Isla de la Juventud, and I would not return. The diving was nothing to write home about and booking the dive turned out to be a problem. It's not worth the effort of getting there. The other two places that are popular for diving in the south of Cuba are Maria La Gorda and Jardines de la Reina. The north shore of Cuba just took a major hurricane hit, so I suspect that's in really rough shape.

I love Cuba, I've been there three times in the last year and a half, I have good friends there and Havana is really a great city to visit. But I'll likely never dive there again, it's just not worth the hassle and expense when there are so many way better options.

 

[KathyV]

Whoever told you that was wrong. I dove in Cuba a month or so ago, at Isla de la Juventud, and I would not return. The diving was nothing to write home about and booking the dive turned out to be a problem. It's not worth the effort of getting there. The other two places that are popular for diving in the south of Cuba are Maria La Gorda and Jardines de la Reina. The north shore of Cuba just took a major hurricane hit, so I suspect that's in really rough shape.

I love Cuba, I've been there three times in the last year and a half, I have good friends there and Havana is really a great city to visit. But I'll likely never dive there again, it's just not worth the hassle and expense when there are so many way better options.

Maybe a liveaboard would be the best way to dive Cuba?

 

[halocline]

Maybe a liveaboard would be the best way to dive Cuba?

I've heard from a dive instructor in Cuba that the liveaboards in Jardines de la Reina cost $3000 a week. And I bet they're mostly empty. Tourism in Cuba is strange money-wise. Some things are really cheap and others are crazy expensive.

As much as I love Cuba, I would not recommend it for diving. For music, culture, meeting great people, architecture, it's wonderful. But my advice to someone in Cuba who wants to go diving for a few days would be to hop on the daily flight to Cancun (which is pretty cheap) and take the exploding ferry to Cozumel. It's exciting!

 

[pepperbelly]

I have very limited experience in ocean diving-2 cruises with 2-3 dive rxcursions each, but Roatan seemed to have the most fish and coral. Belize had the best soft coral.
Cozumel had the best mix. Coz is really underrated. It’s honestly world class. I need to go spend a week there.

 

[AZNetEng]

Ive logged 75 dives in the last two years on Roatan (channel side) and the reef is great, the fish life abundant. Lots of lobster and crab, lionfish, tarpon, turtles and all kinds of smaller fish life. We are going to stay dive the other side this year just to see what it is like.

Cayman is nice, and we really enjoyed Belize (Aggressor III) as well last year. The Roatan airport is fine. No different than most places in the region.