Thailand is home to three of the top 50 dive sites in the world-CNN

[vladimir]

Oh my. A funny list indeed. Should anyone tell them that Richelieu Rock's polarity changed many years ago. I feel awful when customers express disappointment that they didn't see a whaleshark at the site. They obviously have been reading the same reports that this author did because whalesharks are as rare as hen's teeth there. I also note that Raja Ampat made the list..... as a single dive site!!

In ~1995 though...I did have two of the best dives of my life there, both of which featured sustained contact with a whaleshark for just me and my buddy. We were pretty unpopular with the other guests after the first dive, but they got to see her on the second dive, separately from us. I also saw a whaleshark off a day-boat at Phi Phi back then, on a safety stop.

I've dived 5 of his top 10—back when they might have actually merited the distinction. Maybe I should just hang up the fins and quit while I'm ahead.

 

[clownfishsydney]

I have done about 12 of these dives. I agree that for sure he has not dive the SS President Coolidge as the description is not correct. Also amazed that not one of the Chuuk Lagoon wrecks has been included (for example, San Francisco Maru probably the best shipwreck in the world in my view) nor has any site in Papua New Guinea.

 

[Kevrumbo]

I've done 12 of these "top 50 divesites" so far:

Ulong Channel, Palau Micronesia
Blue Corner Wall, Palau Micronesia
Tubbataha Reefs, Palawan Philippines
The Canyons, Puerto Galera Philippines
Bloody Bay Wall, Little Cayman Island BWI
Darwin's Arch, Galapagos Islands Ecuador
Gordon Rocks, Galapagos Islands Ecuador
Bajo Alcyone, Cocos Island Costa Rica
Elephant Rock Head, Similans, Thailand
Kailua Kona, Hawaii, USA
Barracuda Point, Sipadan Malaysia
Raja Ampat, West Papua Indonesia.

No disagreements, no complaints so far (other than missing Richelieu Rock Thailand on two previous attempts due to weather). . .

 

[vladimir]

[h=2]1. Barracuda Point, Sipadan Island, Malaysia[/h][h=2]2. Yongala, Queensland, Australia[/h][h=2]4. Blue Corner Wall, Palau, Micronesia[/h][h=2]5. Richelieu Rock, near the Surin Islands, Thailand[/h][h=2]7. Great Blue Hole, Belize[/h][h=2]21. Liberty, Bali, Indonesia[/h][h=2]22. Bloody Bay Wall, Little Cayman, Cayman Islands[/h][h=2]23. Cod Hole, Great Barrier Reef, Australia[/h][h=2]25. Bajo Alcyone, Cocos Island, Costa Rica[/h][h=2]27. Batu Bolong, Komodo Island, Indonesia[/h][h=2]30. Ulong Channel, Palau, Micronesia[/h][h=2]31. Layang Layang, near Borneo, Malaysia[/h][h=2]37. La Dania's Leap to Karpata, Bonaire, Netherlands[/h]
13 for 50. I'd be happy to trade my Blue Hole and Karpata dives in exchange for dives in Galapagos or Raja Ampat further down the list. When I dived Sipadan and Richelieu Rock they were spectacular dives.

 

[bruges00]

happy to know that, despite being a real newbie (only 24 dives so far) i've already made 2 of them: elpehant rock and richelieu rock at similans
i found both really beautiful but i don't have enough experience to judge them

 

[Buadhai]

IMHO it's pretty hard to make a list like this that has universal appeal. My own opinion of what makes a great dive has changed over the last 30 years. My all-time favorite (Grotto, Saipan) isn't even on the list. But that preference is certainly influenced by the fact that I lived there for a quarter century and got to know the place fairly well.

 

[limbo]

IMHO it's pretty hard to make a list like this that has universal appeal. My own opinion of what makes a great dive has changed over the last 30 years. My all-time favorite (Grotto, Saipan) isn't even on the list. But that preference is certainly influenced by the fact that I lived there for a quarter century and got to know the place fairly well.

Same goes for me with Chaweng Beach, I'm about the only person on Koh Samui who loves to dive there and I find and see some great stuff there, things you don't see at the 'good' sites in the Gulf, it even beats Japanese garden on a good day, imho.

It's indeed difficult to make such a list a 'good' list, but by listing Japanese Garden in this list, the probably least valued dive site by experienced divers around Koh Tao and the Gulf in general, the whole list just looses all credibility. This is not just only stated by me but by various people with experience in diving that area of Thailand.

 

[supergaijin]

As someone stated above, it sounds like the reporter just looked at her OW logbook and wrote down the names.


It's annoying when a couple of sightings of say... hammerheads suddenly changes the divesite description to include hammerhead sharks. Yes they were seen in... 1994 and never seen since, but are still included in guide books.

Manta rays at Jackson Reef, Egypt? Congregating year round?

 

[lord khram]

IMHO it's pretty hard to make a list like this that has universal appeal. My own opinion of what makes a great dive has changed over the last 30 years. My all-time favorite (Grotto, Saipan) isn't even on the list. But that preference is certainly influenced by the fact that I lived there for a quarter century and got to know the place fairly well.

You are quite right. Personally I never take such lists too seriously, everyone has their own opinions of what is a great dive, and indeed as yourself my opinions and requirements from a dive have changed over the years I have been diving.
Many of my favourite dives have been in cold waters with the limited visibility that you get around the UK, and am sure they would never come close to featuring on such a list.

 

[mase]

This has to be the most ridiculous top 50 lists ever created. Happy to see Thailand get recognition but the descriptions of Richlieu Rock and Elephant head , 2 wonderful sites, are completely inaccurate. Further the inclusion of Japanese Garden is just laughable. Most diver on Koh Tao take a day off from diving if Japanese Garden is included in the days dive itinerary.