Least Crowded Dive Sites

Niihau, Hawaii's privately owned 'Forbidden Island,' offers some of the clearest water in Hawaii with visibility regularly exceeding 40 metres. Access is strict...

Aldabra is the world's largest raised coral atoll and a UNESCO World Heritage Site hosting 100,000 giant tortoises above water and pristine coral ecosystems bel...

Tuvalu is one of the world's least-visited nations, a string of coral atolls in the central Pacific where diving the Funafuti Conservation Area means sharing pr...

The Dahlak Archipelago is Eritrea's chain of 209 islands in the southern Red Sea — one of the last truly untouched dive frontiers on the planet. Soviet-era ship...

A Conservation International survey found Atauro Island holds the world record for reef fish diversity at a single site — 643 species in one hour. These pristin...

Milne Bay is a macro photographer's dream where bizarre critters — hairy frogfish, mimic octopus, ornate ghost pipefish — hide in volcanic black sand against a...

Kosrae is arguably the least-dived island in Micronesia, where near-100% hard coral coverage creates underwater gardens of staggering beauty. No bleaching event...

The Juan Fernández archipelago — inspiration for Robinson Crusoe — lies 670km off Chile in the Pacific, with over 90% marine endemism. The endemic fur seal popu...

Jardines de la Reina is one of the Caribbean's last great marine wilderness areas, protected as a no-take zone since 1996. Dozens of Caribbean reef sharks circl...

Salt Cay is a tiny, time-capsule island in the Turks where humpback whales pass within metres of divers between January and April. The 7,000-foot wall drops off...

The Quirimbas archipelago stretches along northern Mozambique's coast with 32 coral islands, many uninhabited. The national park protects pristine reefs where w...

Sanganeb is the Red Sea's only atoll, a UNESCO World Heritage Site rising from deep water 25 km offshore of Port Sudan. Schooling hammerheads, grey reef sharks,...

The Suakin Archipelago lies near the ruined Ottoman port city of Suakin, one of the most atmospheric ghost towns in the world. Underwater, the reefs are virtual...

Mohéli Marine Park protects the waters around the Comoros' smallest island, where coelacanths — living fossils once thought extinct — dwell in deep caves. Green...

The Banda Islands are Indonesia's original Spice Islands, where vertical walls plummet into deep blue water with some of the Coral Triangle's healthiest hard co...

Morotai was a major WWII staging base for MacArthur's Pacific campaign, and its waters still hold Japanese and American aircraft wrecks slowly being consumed by...

The Togean Islands are a Coral Triangle sleeper hit, home to a non-stinging jellyfish lake (like Palau's but virtually unknown) and a sunken WWII B-24 bomber. G...

Christmas Island is an Australian territory rising from deep Indian Ocean waters, where sheer walls drop thousands of meters just offshore. The annual red crab...

The Rowley Shoals are three coral atolls rising from 400-metre depths in the open Indian Ocean, 300 km west of Broome. Tidal exchanges of up to four metres flus...

Lake Izabal is Central America's largest lake, where rare freshwater manatees glide through murky green waters fed by jungle rivers. Diving here is pure explora...

Niue is a single raised coral atoll in the South Pacific with some of the clearest water on Earth — 60-metre visibility is routine. Shore-entry dives drop into...

Kiribati spans 3.5 million square kilometres of Pacific Ocean, with the Phoenix Islands Protected Area ranking as one of Earth's largest marine reserves. Diving...

São Tomé is a volcanic island straddling the equator in the Gulf of Guinea, where humpback whales calve from July to October and unexplored dive sites await aro...

Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the heart of the Sulu Sea, is accessible only by liveaboard during a narrow March-to-June season....

Cocos Island lies 340 miles off Costa Rica's Pacific coast, accessible only by a 36-hour liveaboard crossing — but the reward is arguably the planet's greatest...