Personal Top Ten?

[mrbluefox]

Evening gang,

I registered here a long time ago before I went to Mexico to do my PADI OW. Unfortunately, I had a bad experience and SCUBA and I fell out before I managed to finish the course. Cut a long story short, I've been snorkelling since in Egypt and the Maldives twice since and went on a discover SCUBA dive and loved it. I've fallen back in love again!!

So, here I am again, I got some good friendly advice last time and am hoping to get the same again:

I truly loved the Maldives, the remoteness, snorkelling from the beach abundance of reef fishes and some of the pelagics such as Manta. But I don't want to restrict myself to there - of course we'll go back there to dive properly but where else should I be looking?

I've trawled the Internet looking for suggestions and whilst there are a load of "must dive before you die" books around they tend to cater for general tastes. So does anyone have any ideas for a list I want to create of places that...to coin a phrase...I must dive before I die?!

i know that must look like a rather blank canvass but tropical marine life is paramount - as is the quality of coral. Ideally some level of being castaway on a tropical island and with shore-based snorkelling should we be so inclined.

Obviously the coral triangle is a prime example but specific places to visit would take a lot of the stress out. Caribbean. Central America. Red sea. Oz/Fiji etc

Any input is gratefully received

Neil

 

[mala]

are you asking for top 10 snorkling places or diving places?

 

[koozemani]

My top 10 bucket list in no particular order and subject to change without prior notice is...

Palau
lembeh straits
truk
Gbr
sharm
maldives
bonaire
dominica
bali-Komodo
Bikini

 

[TSandM]

We saw beautiful corals in the southern Red Sea, and the sites there are quite remote, but they are not shore-accessible.

The reefs around Rangiroa are the most colorful, vibrant, and densely packed with life that I have seen yet.

The five days we spent in Lembeh were unforgettable, in terms of the variety and strangeness of the creatures we found. The house reef was shallow and also very much packed with life; that's one place where you could have supplemented the diving with snorkeling and been quite happy. There was virtually no coral, though.

 

[Deefstes]

Not sure I can give you a top 10 but I'll mention a few that I rank high.

- My home turf, Sodwana Bay (South Africa). No shore diving but most excellent diversity of micro- and macro fauna plus fantastic coral.
- Southern Mozambique
- Andaman Sea (Thailand)

 

[mrbluefox]

are you asking for top 10 snorkling places or diving places?

Preferably those that have both - ie from the shore. Somewhere that has great snorkelling that we could dip in and out of, when the mood took us.

However if someone were to say "this is by far the best place I've dived - and isn't only accessible via a liveabord - but has an idyllic, castaway feel to it on-shore" Then I'd be up for researching that too.

Ultimately, I'm not asking people to do all of the work for me as that's more than a bit cheeky. I'm happy to research but some pointers would help.

For instance, Tenerife and Malta are said to have good diving/snorkelling, but neither are the colourful reef I am looking for...

Does that paint it any better?

---------- Post added May 3rd, 2012 at 06:30 PM ----------

(oh and if anyone would like to shamelessly plug any albums of pics/vids they took whilst there, feel free to link - if that's allowed)

 

[Karo H]

Hi,

Some of my favourite options:
Raja Ampat - i did it as a live aboard, but also hear some good things about a new new Eco resort.
Lembeh Strait for muck diving - very little coral but amazing critters. Every resort has a house reef.
Solomon Islands: we did a live aboard (Bilikiki), but also spent a week on Uepi, a private island / dive resort
Bonaire: for me still the absolute best for shore diving and snorkeling. Good coral, but no large pelagic.
Osprey reef (great barrier reef): only possible as live aboard, and limited for snorkeling
Komodo: very good diving, amazing soft corals - current can be a bit tricky

 

[MarkHerm]

I'd recommend
- Dahab, Egypt: (almost) all dives are shore dives; good for snorkeling and diving and you'll have the typical colorful reefs
- Cabilao, Philippines: A small Island with only a handful of resorts/hotels. Diving is usually done by using a zodiac to go around the island but you can also just hop in and do some great snorkeling. I was really impressed by the underwater landscape and the healthy coral reef. Highly recommended.

Besides, Komodo is a awesome dive spot but not really suited for snorkeling.

 

[finbob]

General:
Delighted myself diving at Richelieu Rock & Sipadan.

Specialty:
Loved the dives: Mantas (Kona) & Sharks (Bahamas).
Enjoyed Snorkelling with Whale Sharks (4) - Oslob, Cebu

 

[Rich Keller]

My personal top 10 have always been the next 10. You might want to start in your own backyard first and get some hours in the water before you jump into sites you have never been to before. Not sure what your bad experience was but more hours in the water usually helps to overcome most issues.