Are there no virgin dive locations left?

[SeaHound]

Hello

I am having this discussion with my neighbor everytime we sit together. He is not a diver but he liked boats and islands. He has money and was looking to invest in something "fun"

I was looking at the map of the caribbean and also pacific between Australia and USA and all the little islands. I was telling him that he should buy an island / dive location somewhere where no one has gone before. The place should put a new dive destination on the map that no one has ever known before. I was confident there would be unexplored dive locations where people do not dive not because there is no good diving but more because there is no dive operator.

My neighbor believes that all the good diving on the planet has already been discovered. He thinks that there is no unexplored dive site that would match Belize, Bonaire, Micronesia and these other places that have been advertised as "top dives".

"If there was a tropical dive heaven someone would already be there running a dive shop" kind of an attitude.

Who is right in this debate? Me or him?

 

[fstbttms]

20 years ago, virtually nobody had heard of, much less ridden, "Maverick's", the big wave break at Half Moon Bay. But now it is one of the most famous surf spots on the planet. The world is a pretty big place and I don't think it's safe to assume that every potentially amazing dive location has been found and exploited.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Sad to say but I think I have to side with him. If all you want is an island that you can get in the water from and that has no people living on it, I am sure there are many. If you want an island that would be a feasible business opportunity (cost of transportation of equipment and supplies, cost of travel for tourists, ease of travel for tourists)......I would think that will be tough if not impossible to find today.

But hopefully I am wrong and I can visit the new dive location when it opens.

 

[Thalassamania]

I can think of lots of places that I've dove, where the diving world class and where there still is no development. Most all of them are a tad hard to get to, which is why they've not been developed ... the one week vacation diver is not usually interested in tow to three days of travel each way.

 

[fire_diver]

You would have to get far away from anything commercial to have a chance. I'm sure there are place in Pacific islands that have never seen a scuba diver. There are places in the war-torn areas of africa that have probably never been dove.

 

[TSandM]

Tropical? I don't know. But one has but to read the threads entitled, "OE2X on a Mission" to realize that there are plenty of places in the Northwest which, although they have undoubtedly been dived at one time or another, are dived very seldom, and are in essentially pristine condition. Difficult access, advanced skills needed, cold water and chancy weather keep them protected.

 

[DeputyDan]

What about the Midway Islands.
Too far away from anything to have recreational divers but
lots of opportunity.

 

[Thalassamania]

A live aboard for French Frigate Shoals (legality?) would be incredible.

 

[ColoDale]

By chance I visited my father today and he had mentioned being stationed on Palmyra atoll at the end of WWII (USN). It’s not really a tourist or dive destination though someone probably has dived it. Sailing vessels go there but is has few residents.

Finding a location that no one has never been is probably not likely and but finding one that very few have dived is much more likely due to remoteness and lack of infrastructure. In the example of Palmyra, it seems, by reports, that there is a high shark population that discourages swimming in lagoons, high levels of Ciguatera and historical reports of the place being cursed (historically and presently). However my father never mentioned any of these things but being 17 years old at the time, might not have cared.

To answer the question, I must believe that there are many small Pacific islands and atolls that are great places to dive but have no infrastructure. Other parts of the world shold have the same. I don’t think they will be massive reefs like Australia’s GBR though. So I think you are right.

Island environment, remoteness, and political obstacles might discourage commercial development but still have something to offer for adventurers. Diving vacationers would probably avoid them as they exist now.

If someone has enough money, influence and/or luck/insight, then I suppose any island property could be developed. Malcolm Forbes spent quite a bit to develop a resort and infrastructure on Laucala Island, Fiji, but had problems, including and importantly, the political situation at the time. His estate later sold it at a significant loss.

 

[Kilili]

Well, if you think you can't find such a place, you surely won't.