My Scuba Diving Bucket List

I started to keep a bucket list of my dream diving destinations from the day I started diving. Dive guides, instructors, and friends would tell me their incredible stories of these places, and I would research them and be in absolute awe of the photos. These are the ten places on my scuba diving bucket list.

1- Great Barrier Reef, Australia

The Great Barrier Reef was the first place I ever put on my scuba diving bucket list. It is one of the seven wonders of the natural world, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and is home to many ecological systems and marine life. With its 2,900 individual reefs and hundreds of islands, you can have numerous diving experiences. The PADI website provides a lot of information on planning this diving adventure.

2- Great White Wall, Fiji

As the name suggests, the Great White Wall is a massive reef wall in the Somosomo Strait (between Vanua Levu and Taveuni in Fiji). It is considered one of the best dive sites in the world. The pictures I have seen look unbelievable. Diving is the icing on the cake when considering Fiji’s culture and other attractions. This Taveuni Dive Guide is one of the top resources I found for information.

3- Great Blue Hole, Belize

Located in Belize, the Great Blue Hole is a giant marine sinkhole off the country’s coast and lies near the center of the Lighthouse Reef. The hole is 984 feet across and 410 feet deep. I am not a technical diver, at least not yet, so the 100-foot mark is an appropriate stopping point for me. This site has some interesting facts about this dive site.

4- Sun Island, Maldives

First and foremost, I am obsessed with the Maldives in general. I look forward to the day that I can explore everything Male has to offer and then head to one of the many stunning islands. The fact that I can add diving to the mix is a dream. Based on my research, there are plenty of dive sites. The one that has popped up for me a few times is diving at the Sun Island Resort. The resort and spa offer scuba diving experiences for divers of all levels.

5- Silfra Fissure, Mid Atlantic Ridge

The Silfra is one of the most fascinating locations on earth. It is a fissure between two tectonic plates and has the clearest water in the world. According to the dive site Dive.is, “the rift was formed in 1789 by the earthquakes accompanying the divergent movement of the two tectonic plates.” This is where the two continents meet and the only place you can scuba dive between two continents. Mind blown. I first learned about Silfra on YouTube, and one thing that stuck in my mind was how cold the diver said the water was. While the water doesn’t freeze, it’s usually between 35.6 and 39.2 degrees. Something significant to note is that Dive.is requires that divers on the Silfra Diving Tour “must have dry suit diving certification OR 10 logged dry suit dives within two years of the Silfra tour date, which must be confirmed with written proof from a diving instructor.” I need to work on my dry suit certification.

6- Tofo, Mozambique

Tofo Beach is a coastal town in the southeastern area of Mozambique. From what I’ve researched, this is where you want to dive if you are into manta rays, dolphins, and whales, which I am. When I lived in Sierra Leone, I heard stories about people who scuba-dived in Mozambique. My interest was piqued, so I searched online and found everything I’ve read so far sounds incredible. This website has some good information.

7- Cenderawasih Bay Diving, Indonesia

Cenderawasih Bay is a hard-to-reach destination on the east coast of Indonesia’s West Papua region. The only way to access the dive site is via a liveaboard experience. According to bluewaterdivetravel.com ‘Diving here is limited to five months each year, and the dive sites remain unspoiled and reasonably unexplored.” This destination is a divers paradise if you are into big fish like the whale shark. Diving near a whale shark is a dream; it seems like this is the place to do it. I’ve been learning more about it on the Liveaboard website. Pictures were hard to find. I took a screenshot of its location from Google maps and then found a second modified photo.

8- Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

The Galapagos was the second destination to make my bucket list. The volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean is home to some of the most incredible wildlife on earth. Whitetip and Blacktip reef sharks, dolphins, pilot whales, and seals are just some of the year-round marine life sightings. The Padi website features El Arco because it is “renowned as one of the best dives in the world.”

9- Succoro Island, Mexico

My very first dive instructor was amazing. He was a cave diver from Mexico, and his diving stories were epic. He shared that Mexico was one of the best places to dive on earth and had the pictures to prove it. When I started researching the best diving places in Mexico, Succoro came up time and time again. Sharks, barracuda, tuna, and bottlenose dolphins are just a few of the marine life you might see on a dive. The Girls that Scuba website has excellent information on how to prepare.

10- Red Sea, Egypt

My obsession with Egypt is not limited to above ground. Diving in the Red Sea has become a mission of mine in the past three years. I know people that have dived there, and their pictures were unbelievable. The coral reefs are some of the most vibrant I’ve ever seen. The Red Sea also has shipwrecks and sharks, two of my favorite things. The Padi website has a lot of information about the various dive sites, shops, and best times of the year to go.

What are your dream dive destinations? What did I miss from this list? I would love to read your thoughts in the comments.