Your list of lesser known dive destinations

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Every time I read lists of top-diving destinations in the world, they mostly happen to be places that are:

a) tropical
b) well-known and touristy

Raja-Ampat, Fiji, Red-Sea, Palau etc. My thoughts are that just because a dive-destination is generating a lot of diving tourism does not mean that it is the best. I am sure there are some great places to dive that have not made it in these official lists.

I thought there should be a thread on scubaboard where people can place lesser known dive destinations that are truly world class in terms of pure diving experience. These places may not be convenient and may not even have a dive shop nearby and may require a lot of logistics to dive but once you are in the water, they offer an experience that rivals highly marketed destinations. My own list that I intend to dive looks somewhat like follows:

1. Passamaquoddy Bay - Maine: I was skeptical about this ever since I read its mention in "Fifty Places to Dive Before you Die" and if you have been on this board long enough then you might even remember that thread that I started about diving it. After starting that thread, I was able to get in touch with some of the people who dive it and they call it one of the most thrilling cold water dives. Since there are no dive shops and fills are a problem this remains a hidden jewel.

2. Bell Island (New Foundland and Labrador): The wrecks there look awesome! There are not many places where you can dive near icebergs and run into humpback whales. There is also a whale bone graveyard there. All this should place it among some of the best dives in the world but cold water and drysuit means this will never be a spot for most vacation divers.

3. Hudson Bay / James Bay: I am still trying to figure out the logistics of how to dive there. This is the northern most part of Ontario and is accessible by a long drive on a lone road. Once you get there there is no where to fill tanks so a lot of tanks will have to be taken. Boats would probably have to be rented by the Cree people who have inhabited those lands since a long time now.

4. Sudan: From the reviews that I am reading Red Sea diving from Sudan beats Egypt in many areas. Yet Sudan does not have the pyramids and other topside attractions that Egypt offers so "tourists" prefer Egypt. Should Sudan be on this list? I would love to hear from people who have done Sudan and Egypt both. If diving is not remarkably different from what we see in Egypt then I will gladly take it off the list due to the problems of getting there etc.

5. Mozambique: Never seen a dive-shop advertise a trip to Mozambique! South Africa may be but never Mozambique. The coolest thing is that South Africa and Mozambique can both be done in the same trip but does Mozambique add value to a South Africa diving trip? If anyone has experience with both places then I would love to hear.

6. Iceland: The only two dives this place is really known for is Silfra and Strytan and the idea of going to one of the less accessible places to dive a crack in the ground that has no marine life does not sound appealing very much. Yet the dive ops there advertise a lot of other destinations such as Westfjords, Gardur, Davidsja etc. I have never met anyone who ever dived in these places and any attempt to obtain reviews over the internet has also not gotten me anywhere. If anyone can shed light on lesser known destinations in Iceland it would be appreciated.

7. Adriatic / Croatia: I could be wrong but from the reviews it seems like this place is up there with the Red Sea in terms of marine life and also has some wrecks. Yet most European divers prefer to go to Egypt and far east instead of this supposedly awesome dive destination which is dirt-cheap and in their immediate backyard. Whats up guys?

8. Channel Islands: There are not a lot of places where you can dive an underwater kelp forest. Yet this destination does not have a lot of fan f ollowing outside West coast diving community. I live in the DC area and I have never seen a local dive shop schedule a trip there. My LDS tells me that it is hard to fill a trip because it is still drysuit territory. Secondly the cost associated to traveling there and diving it make it into the same ball park as a cheap dive trip to Bahamas or Bonaire. This logic has never made sense to me but by the end of the day ever one is going to the Caribbean.

9. Alaska: I was really heart broken when Nautilus Swell went out of business. From the pictures that they put Alaska would have been a great place to dive. It had wild life encounters and dramatic underwater terrain but the costs were coming out to be the same as some of the expensive liveaboard like Fiji and Maldives etc. If a dive customer has to pay the same buck to dive Alaska or Fiji then they guess where most would go? Dive community traded one of the more unique diving experiences with the more typical ones and a liveaboard destination got closed.

So here is my list of lesser known, seldom dived places that I would love to dive someday. Feel free to add to this list so that the LDS's around the world could read this thread and realize that there are a lot more diving opportunities than the typical ones we see advertized every year.

Thanks -

CS

 

[Dhboner]

The south coast of the Dominican Republic in the town of Bayahibe. Great diving with a few amazing wrecks, no current and a half dozen really affordable AI's. The bonus is the best dive op I have used anywhere in the world, ScubaFun. For some reason the Dominican Republic never seems to be on divers' radar but it is really nice diving.

 

[robint]

1. There is a reason that places like Palau, Fiji, etc are listed the most... they REALLY are head and shoulders above other destinations as far as quality of diving. And with that, it becomes "touristy". Ditto Cozumel for the Caribbean....
2. Channel Islands.... it can also be very touristy is some respects. Having been there quite a few times, I can attest that it is amazing diving! There are dozens of dive boats that service the islands. Your dive shop is wrong, you do not have to book up a whole boat to go. As I said, been there, done that several times. Every trip was fantastic. You can stay in Long Beach CA, or up in Ventura, or down in San Diego. Or you can go over to Catalina and stay there (only island with hotels). Regardless, very worth going. Dry suit... not necessary half of the year. We have only used 7mm wetsuits and were fine. check out website: California Scuba Diving BBS forum, news, photos, videos, dive boats, stories, and weather for list of boats.

 

[drrich2]

I'm interested in trying southern California, & put in a downpayment on a live-aboard trip there later next year.

To your list, I would add North Carolina coastal diving. Seems to have a good regional draw, but not get talked about as much as a dive tourist destination, but it's worth the trip. Took me awhile to research it, then I went last August & posted a trip report to help others considering it get a handle on the logistics.

Like North Carolina, I found California to be a daunting research subject from a scuba tourist perspective, in fact more so, since California offers such a bewildering array of dive options (e.g.: shore vs. boat, day boat vs. live-aboard, Catalina Island vs. land-based), but more adverse conditions that the easier Caribbean diving (e.g.: I hear Monastery Beach is nicknamed Mortuary Beach&#8230. Even after researching it, I started the thread Southern California Brainstorm'in where a number of people helped me out with a lot of info. California Diver Magazine is online free & has a lot of articles.

Richard.

 

[RJP]

New Jersey.

Seriously.

 

[Russoft]

5. Mozambique: Never seen a dive-shop advertise a trip to Mozambique! South Africa may be but never Mozambique. The coolest thing is that South Africa and Mozambique can both be done in the same trip but does Mozambique add value to a South Africa diving trip? If anyone has experience with both places then I would love to hear.

The Mozambique coast consists of more sand dunes and long stretches of sandy beaches with the occasional reef. Most places in South Africa I've been have lots and lots of rock along the coast with the occasional beach. Water in Mozambique is generally warmer and the surf and surge are far lower. The Mozambique coast (the Mozambique channel) is sheltered by Madagascar so the water is much flatter and calmer than South Africa. I find the reefs to be far better preserved in Mozambique compared to other diving hot spots like the Red Sea or Cozumel. But that's just my subjective opinion. You'll almost certainly come across a whale shark going to or coming from a dive site (bring a snorkel). Tofo used to be world famous for Manta Reef, but apparently the Manta ray population has declined more recently. I haven't verified this personally.

As for differences diving between South Africa and Mozambique, I can't really comment. I've only dived in Mozambique. I love the diving there!

As for accommodations, you can really get lost in Mozambique. There are beach resorts in seemingly the middle of nowhere, but as the tourism industry grows, it becomes harder and harder to avoid the flocks of tourists who show up during high season. If you expect to go somewhere unreachable, Mozambique isn't it anymore. Mozambique has impressive 4G networks and these days their power grid is almost as reliable as South Africa (not due to any improvement in the power grid, but due to rolling black outs in South Africa). You'll be sitting on a beach in Mozambique and still be able to get onto Facebook and SB with a data plan that is a fraction of the price you'd pay elsewhere.

 

[tomfcrist]

Jersey definitely has its merits RJP.

Grenada is nice, with good wrecks and fun resorts.

The funny part is that locals in most "dive tourism" areas get bored with what they have and travel to other locations for "new" experiences. Take the Florida keys for example.... Diving the same reefs gets old after a while.

A lot depends on what interests you. Do you like reefs??? There are 2000+ places to vacation and do some dives. Wrecks more your speed, there are millions of places..don't like cold water? Go south. Tired of 100'vis and 90 deg surface temps?....go to Jersey.

 

[drrich2]

Tell us more about the diving out of New Jersey. When I was diving in North Carolina, I spoke to somebody from Jersey on the boat (fellow diver), and from him I got the impression it was cold, rather low viz. & tended to attract people hunting (I don't recall for what). New Jersey has wrecks; so does N.C.,which has the option for warmer water & lots of sand tiger sharks.

What is it about New Jersey that would convince a tourist diver to buy a plane ticket & book a hotel, rental car, etc….to come dive there?

Oh, one place that's often been posted about on the forum but doesn't seem to be a big target for LDS-based tourist diving from afar…Puget Sound. Made me think of TS&M. They got shore diving there, too, if memory serves. Giant Pacific octopus. Aaaand cold, limited viz., currents can be an issue IIRC...

Richard.

 

[mikeycanuk]

One has to ask is it worth the cost to get there? I'm sure there a whole lot of local dive destinations that are worth diving but is it a vacation destination as well? I've met a few people and read that BC has great diving. But from here I can get to Cozumel in less time and save huge $$$$ and warm water diving.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[drrich2]

I thought there should be a thread on scubaboard where people can place lesser known dive destinations that are truly world class in terms of pure diving experience. These places may not be convenient and may not even have a dive shop nearby and may require a lot of logistics to dive but once you are in the water, they offer an experience that rivals highly marketed destinations.

Bold emphasis mine, & on content that may be hard to specifically define but would benefit from it.

For example,

2. Bell Island (New Foundland and Labrador): The wrecks there look awesome! There are not many places where you can dive near icebergs and run into humpback whales. There is also a whale bone graveyard there. All this should place it among some of the best dives in the world but cold water and drysuit means this will never be a spot for most vacation divers.

I have no desire to dive near icebergs! Are these whale bones in recreational depths, & easy to find & see? What are your odds of seeing a whale on your dives, as opposed to just from a boat & hearing them?

There are somewhat warmer places in the world where you can see whales. What would make someone go to this one?

6. Iceland: The only two dives this place is really known for is Silfra and Strytan and the idea of going to one of the less accessible places to dive a crack in the ground that has no marine life does not sound appealing very much. Yet the dive ops there advertise a lot of other destinations such as Westfjords, Gardur, Davidsja etc. I have never met anyone who ever dived in these places and any attempt to obtain reviews over the internet has also not gotten me anywhere. If anyone can shed light on lesser known destinations in Iceland it would be appreciated.

What is it about these sites that's appealing? Are they wrecks? You can get wrecks elsewhere.

What I'm saying is, there are many scuba diving destinations, and probably none of us will hit all of them (most of us won't hit 10% in our lives, I'd guess). So we must prioritize to get the maximum bang for our buck/time. A lot of places would be far more popular if their nearest competitor(s) didn't exist - imagine how much more popular Curacao would be for shore diving if Bonaire didn't exist! If not for Little Cayman, I wonder how many people would post on SB claiming Cayman Brac had the best diving in the Caribbean (instead of 'almost as good')?

This is an interesting thread & I'm glad it was started. I'm just approaching the content skeptically. After all, if a destination has great diving, and it's nearly unknown, you've got to ask yourself…there's gotta be a reason. So, why?

Richard.