Scuba Diving Article

Scuba Diving in the Caribbean

The Caribbean with it's 100's of Islands and coastal countries in both the Eastern and Western Caribbean literally has thousands of opportunities for Scuba Divers. Ask a dozen divers what are the best places to dive in the Caribbean and your are liable to get a dozen different answers. I guess it can be accurately said that there really isn't a bad place to scuba dive in the Caribbean, its all a matter of what you are looking for.

So what's the best dive location in the Caribbean? For several years running readers of Scuba Diving Magazine have selected Bonaire the best location in the Caribbean for diving. The readers do not stop at awarding Bonaire top honors overall. Professional divers and lay dive enthusiasts consistently rank the small island the premiere in the region for its uniquely plentiful and healthy marine life, many dive sights close to shore and accessible without a dive boat, a number one location for obtaining great underwater photographs, and a featured dive spot for beginning scuba divers. The island of Bonaire also continues to be given high grades for its diversity of undersea flora and fauna, and the possibility of close encounters with sea creatures both large and small, as well as its appeal to snorklers and skin divers. Many divers also agree that St. Lucia offers some of the best diving in the region. Located in the Eastern Caribbean St Lucia is one of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. Dive sites in St. Lucia include The Anse Chastanet Reef. The Anse Chastanet is mad up of sub-marine plateau with breathtaking slopes that fall away to a depth of more than 140 ft. and is an underwater neighborhood supporting more than 150 different species of fish. The diversity of fish and corals make Anse Chastanet a Caribbean favorite among underwater photographers and videographers.

The Cayman Islands also lays claim to being the "most popular dive spot in the Caribbean". If you read popular as "overrun by tourists" than that claim is probably true. Still if you do not mind the crowds Grand Cayman does offer some of the clearest and warmest waters in the reason, and the famous Stingray City is an experience that should not be missed by the beginner diver. You will find the dive almost as good and the crowds a little thinner on Little Cayman or Cayman Brac. On the other end of the crowd spectrum is Montserrat. Once the playground of the rich and famous this tiny island was devastated by Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and then almost wiped off the map by the eruption of Sufriere Hill Volcano in 1995, which took more than half of the Islands population. But it's remaining plucky populace welcomes divers to some of the most pristine waters in the area, without the hustle and bustle of many of the other islands. Of course once one of the best kept secrets in the Dive world the word is now out on Belize, which supports the largest barrier reef in the Caribbean and is the number two in the world, second only to Australia Great Barrier Reef. Belize is also home to the mysterious an awe inspiring Black Hole a 412-foot deep underwater "bottomless pit".

Aruba, Barbados, Bahamas, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Tobago, Turks and Caicos, and the Virgin Islands - the Caribbean reads like a virtual A-Z of Dive location with every one of them offering spectacular views of underwater life, shipwrecks, caves caverns and every other experience a Scuba Diver could dream of.