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Best Places To Scuba Dive For Beginners (10 Best Beginner Scuba Destinations)

Best Places To Scuba Dive For Beginners - The Best Beginner Scuba Destinations
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The best places to scuba dive for beginners where the diving is easy, fun and exciting

If you are looking for the best places to scuba dive for beginners this article includes the top 10 locations around the world. I remember back to when I was learning to scuba dive how I wanted to dive as much as I could. But as a beginner scuba diver you are restricted on depth, so you want to go to places that accommodate beginners.

The best places to scuba dive for beginners include:

  1. Bonaire.
  2. The Great Barrier Reef.
  3. Red Sea.
  4. The Maldives.
  5. Barbados.
  6. Antigua.
  7. Cayman Islands.
  8. The Bahamas.
  9. Florida Keys.
  10. Koh Tao, Thailand.

The best way to do more diving is to book yourself on a scuba diving liveaboard. You can check the latest and best deals on liveaboards using the following window:

What is it that makes the best places to scuba dive for beginners?

Before going into more detail of the above list of the best places to scuba dive for beginners, I want to run through what makes a place good for beginner scuba divers.

Dive sites for beginner scuba divers should satisfy the follow characteristics:

  • The depth should be shallower than 18-20 metres (60-66 feet).
  • There should be no strong underwater current (i.e. it must not be a drift dive).
  • The dive should not be a wall dive where good buoyancy control is a key requirement.
  • The dive must have a good points of interest, for example a shallow wreck or an interesting reef etc.
  • The visibility should be good.

The dive depth of the best places to scuba dive for beginners must be shallower than 18-20 metres (60-66 feet)

Beginner scuba divers that learn to scuba dive with PADI, SSI and NAUI are limited to 18 metres (60 feet) for the first certification level of scuba diver. Which means all the places they dive must be no deeper than 18 metres.

Beginner scuba divers who learn to dive with BSAC, SSA and SDI are restricted to depths of no more than 20 metres (66 feet).

Whichever scuba diving organisation you choose to learn to scuba dive with will affect how deep you can dive as a beginner diver. Until you progress to the next certification level, your first dives will be restricted, which means you must choose your scuba diving destination carefully.

Please read on as there are many great places to dive as a beginner scuba diver. Diving shallow doesn’t mean the dives are no good. This depth restriction is set for your own safety until you build your experience and confidence. But it won’t mean you can’t enjoy scuba diving.

Pro diver tip: Your best way to gain scuba diving experience as a beginner is to dive on a liveaboard. Below will be links to the best liveaboard places to dive as a beginner.

Liveaboard.com search worldwide destinations

The best places to scuba dive for beginners must not have underwater currents

Beginner scuba divers who have yet to be trained to drift dive can only dive where no strong underwater currents exist. Drift diving requires a bit more experience and additional training to know how to dive safely in a current.

The drift diving limitation isn’t a problem for beginner scuba divers, as there are many great places to dive where there are no currents at all.

The best places to scuba dive for beginners shouldn’t include wall-diving

Wall diving requires more buoyancy control than bottom diving. That’s why it’s not advisable for beginner scuba divers to scuba dive on a wall dive. It’s never a good idea to touch the bottom unless it’s a sandy bottom. This is especially important diving on a coral reef dive.

But at least if you’re diving along the bottom and if your buoyancy control is not as good as it should be, you’re not going to descend into the depths. You might like to read this article about how to achieve neutral buoyancy. The article includes 10 pro diver tips for beginners to master.

There are plenty of places to scuba dive that don’t involve wall or cliff diving. So this is a limitation will not stop you from finding many great beginner scuba diver destinations.

Best Places To Scuba Dive For Beginners - The dive destination must have a key interest of a shallow wreck or and interesting coral reef

The best places for beginner scuba divers must include interest of a shallow wreck or a vibrant coral reef

For the place to be a good beginner dive site there’s no point in diving a boring dive, right? Otherwise what’s the point of diving if there’s no key interest.

This ‘interest’ could be a wreck (shallow enough for beginner scuba divers of course) or it could be an interesting reef or another place of interest.

You’ll be pleased to know that there are plenty of great places around the world that are interesting. These are places that are also interesting to experienced scuba divers too. This is even despite the fact the dives are less than 18-20 metres (60-66 feet) deep.

Good visibility is best for beginner divers to gain confidence and experience

The best places for beginners divers are dive locations where the water visibility is good. It’s no fun diving with little or very poor visibility as an advance diver. But more importantly, poor visibility adds another layer of complexity to a dive that beginner divers have yet to master.

With these points made, let’s take a look at some of the best places to scuba dive for beginners.

Where is Bonaire located in the Caribbean

1. Bonaire, Caribbean is one of the best places for beginner scuba divers – best for shore diving

Bonaire is one of the best scuba diving locations in the Caribbean for beginners. The island of Bonaire avoids most hurricanes and is a safe place to visit and scuba dive. Bonaire is a beautiful Caribbean Island with easy diving ideal for beginner scuba divers so you can’t go wrong with Bonaire diving.

https://youtu.be/8dNbhf5tT2Q
Bonaire Scuba Diving GoPro 4K
Scuba diving in Bonaire was some of the best I have done in the Caribbean and I will definitely make my way back there again one day! The amount of fish was like nothing we have seen in these waters and the abundance of sea life in general was astounding! I hope you enjoy this video and remember to like and share!

Bonaire is ‘house reef‘ island. A ‘house reef’ is a coral reef that separates the island and it’s lagoon from deeper water beyond the reef. Great for diving with turtles, eagle rays, bumphead parrotfish, the occasional whale sharks and vibrant coral reefs.

Bonaire dive site characteristics suitable for beginner scuba divers:

  • Shallow dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Dives without strong currents. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Shallow bottom dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Interesting dive sites. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Great visibility. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small

Bonaire offers the best scuba diving in Caribbean for beginners

The reason why Bonaire offers the best scuba diving in the Caribbean for beginners is its reputation for having the best shore diving in the world. Bonaire has been voted ‘Best Shore Dive Destination by the readers of Scuba Diving Magazine for 23 consecutive times, no less!

Not only does Bonaire have the best shore dives, but the diving is also cheap. Possibly the cheapest scuba diving in the world if you dive independently as a buddy pair.

But in order to get the best diving experience in Bonaire you need a dive buddy. Your buddy shouldn’t also be a beginner scuba diver too.

To enjoy Bonaire and its shore diving to its fullest:

  1. Be a confident self sufficient scuba diver.
  2. Hire a truck for transport and to carry your air tanks to the dive sites.
  3. Choose your dive site from the map of Bonaire dive sites and go diving.
  4. Choose your depth to suit your beginner diver status.
  5. Enjoy the scuba diving!

For a list of some of the best Bonaire dive sites from the map, please take a read of this article about the best Bonaire shore dives.

More ReadingDo empty scuba tanks float? (This depends on the material they are made from)

There are plenty of house reef dive sites with easy entrance and exit points. Most of which satisfy the beginner diver requirements.

You can dive Bonaire from an organised dive boat, but the majority of the good dive sites around the island can be dived from the shore. So there’s no need to spend the extra money on a dive boat trip – if you can find a buddy that is.

But if you are a single traveller or a pair of beginner scuba divers with less than 20-30 dives under your belt, you may be better diving from a boat under the supervision of a dive guide instead. Buddy Dive is one such organisation.

Finding a dive buddy in Bonaire

Once you’ve booked your trip to Bonaire, you can find a dive buddy from one of the following websites:

* Don’t worry that these Facebook groups are in Dutch, as most divers post in English. It’s in Dutch as Bonaire is a Dutch island, but they all speak English.

Also, ask at your hotel, in restaurants and bars and at the dive shops, as there are will be many other solo divers also looking for a dive buddy to dive Bonaire. But be careful who you choose if you are a beginner diver. You need to dive with someone who has more experience than you. This is for your own safety.

For example, I was approach by a French diver at my hotel in Bonaire who wanted to dive. He asked if he could join me on a dive. Of course I said yes. But on the dive I ended up having to help him to the surface, as his regulator mal-functioned so he couldn’t breathe.

What is the closest city to the Great Barrier Reef

2. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the best places for beginner scuba divers – best for shallow coral reef diving

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the best places in the world for beginner divers. Many dive sites on the Great Barrier Reef satisfy the characteristics for beginner divers making it an ideal destination, as it has clear warm water dives on vibrant coral reefs with great underwater activity.

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef | beautiful underwater nature | Scuba Diving the Ribbon Reefs HD
The Ribbon Reefs are a string of ten large reefs that together form the outer edge of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. One feature of the Ribbons is that they serve to shelter the inner reef from big storm damage.

Great Barrier Reef dive site characteristics suitable for beginner scuba divers:

  • Shallow dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Dives without strong currents. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Shallow bottom dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Interesting dive sites. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Great visibility. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world. It is composed of nearly 3,000 individual reefs. This is what makes it an ideal spot to find many places and reefs for beginner scuba divers:

  • Most of the reefs are shallow and less than 20 metres (66 feet).
  • Many of the dives sits have little to no currents.
  • There are plenty of great places to dive the Great Barrier Reef that’s not wall diving.
  • The diving is very interesting for any level of scuba diver.
  • The visibility is second to none.

The abundance of wild life on the Great Barrier Reef is almost impossible to beat.

The Great Barrier Reef has:

  1. Six of the seven sea turtles.
  2. Over 130 species of shark from reef sharks to hammerheads and tiger sharks.
  3. Manta rays.
  4. Sting rays.
  5. Dwarf Minke Whales.
  6. Humpback whales.
  7. Moray eels.
  8. Dugongs.

There are two choices for scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef.

  • Land-based diving out of Cairns each day. This limits you to two tank dives per day and you are limited to the inner reef system.
  • Dive from a liveaboard dive boat. The liveaboard option means you get to do more dives each day (up to 3-4 dives, including night dives). Plus you’ll get to venture further out into the Great Barrier Reef to the outer barrier reef system. Liveaboard diving is your best and cheapest way to build your experience and number of dives.

Great Barrier Reef dive liveaboards table

This list of Australia Great Barrier Reef liveaboards is in descending customer rating order, followed by Scuba Diving Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating, see below), so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating and the best SDE lux rating will be at the top of the list. If you want to change the list order, use the “Sort by” dropdown below.

Search
Sort by
Total Records Found: 6, showing 7 per page
Discover LiveaboardCustomer RatingSDE Lux Rating %Flexible BookingDive CoursesDietary RequirementsNitroxGear Rental
Review: MY Spoilsport; Book: MY Spoilsport 9.4 73% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: MY Spirit of Freedom; Book: MY Spirit of Freedom 9.3 83% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: Coral Sea Dreaming; Book: Coral Sea Dreaming 9.2 62% YES YES YES NO YES
Review: MY Pro Dive Cairns; Book: MY Pro Dive Cairns 9.2 52% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: Rum Runner; Book: Rum Runner 9 44% YES YES YES NO YES
Review: MY Ocean Quest; Book: MY Ocean Quest 9 40% YES YES YES YES YES

The Scuba Diving Earth Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating) is explained on each liveaboard review when you click the “Discover Liveaboard” link, and is my own Liveaboard Luxury Rating I’ve assigned to all liveaboards. Choosing between liveaboards is helped by customer scores, and if you get stuck choosing between two or three liveaboards, where each one has a high customer score out of 10, you can use the SDE Luxury Rating to help narrow down your choice.

Think about it like using Booking.com when searching for the best hotel. Booking.com also use a customer score where each customer rates hotels out of 10. This is similar to the liveaboard customer rating, which is also rated out of 10. But let’s say you only like to stay in hotels rated 8 and above on Booking.com, but you also want the hotel to have WIFI or parking, or to have a swimming pool etc. The features each hotel has is usually secondary to the score out of 10.

The Great Barrier reef is also a great place to learn to scuba dive too. It was the first place that I dived. There are many great scuba diver operators that teach scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef.

Dive the Great Barrier Reef by liveaboard as a beginner diver

The best way experience the Great Barrier Reef and to get loads of diving under your belt is to dive from a liveaboard. If you’ve not come across the concept of a liveaboard before, please take a read of this article about what is a liveaboard.

To find out more about Australia liveaboards on the Great Barrier Reef, please follow either of the following links:

The best place for beginner scuba divers is the Red Sea, Egypt

3. Egypt’s Red Sea is one of the best places for beginner scuba divers – best for cheap coral reef diving

The Red Sea is one of the best places for beginner scuba divers as it has shallow reef dives in warm blue waters with a good choice of resort or liveaboard diving. The Red Sea has vibrant coral reefs full of life, which includes turtles, rays, sharks, moray eels and an abundance of coral reef fish.

Red Sea / Rotes Meer / Scuba Diving / UHD 4K
Filmed in southern Egypt, May 2019 with the DJI Osmo Action in 4K 60fps. The corals in the Red Sea are still widely intact and stunningly beautiful.

Red Sea dive site characteristics suitable for beginner scuba divers:

  • Shallow dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Dives without strong currents. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Shallow bottom dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Interesting dive sites. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Great visibility. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small

Choose to dive from a shore base like Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh. Or choose one of the many liveaboard dive trips. Either way you are sure to find some of the best places to scuba dive for beginners.

Pro diver tip: The Red Sea is still a top scuba diving destination. This is despite the troubles that Egypt is experiencing.

The Red Sea is a divers paradise with the following benefits for beginner scuba divers:

  • An abundance of sea life.
  • Vibrant coral reefs.
  • Many ship wrecks shallow enough for beginner scuba divers.
  • You’ll see sea turtles, rays, sharks, moray eels, Napoleon Wrasse and many coral reef fish in abundance.
  • Plus you are very likely to see many dolphins.

If you want to learn to scuba dive in the Red Sea, there are plenty of land-based scuba schools to choose from.

You can get to the Red Sea in around 5 1/2 hours from the UK. This is what makes the Red Sea one of the best places for beginner divers to build up their diving experience and number of dives.

Dive the Red Sea by liveaboard

The best to not the Red Sea and to get loads of diving under your belt is to dive from a liveaboard. Which is because you get to dive multiple times per day, including the opportunity for night dives.

Red Sea dive liveaboards table

This list of Red Sea liveaboards is in descending customer rating order, followed by Scuba Diving Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating, see above), so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating and the best SDE lux rating will be at the top of the list. If you want to change the list order, use the “Sort by” dropdown below.

Search
Sort by
Total Records Found: 78, showing 7 per page
Discover LiveaboardCustomer RatingSDE Lux Rating %Flexible BookingDive CoursesDietary RequirementsNitroxGear Rental
Review: MY Hammerhead I; Book: MY Hammerhead I 10 71% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: MV Andromeda; Book: MV Andromeda 10 65% NO YES YES YES YES
Review: MV Ghani; Book: MV Ghani 10 50% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: MY Sea Friend; Book: MY Sea Friend 9.6 71% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: MY Aldebaran; Book: MY Aldebaran 9.6 67% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: MY Aphrodite; Book: MY Aphrodite 9.5 88% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: MY Seven Seas; Book: MY Seven Seas 9.5 87% YES YES YES YES YES

To find out more about Red Sea liveaboards, please follow either of the following links:

Liveaboard.com – Click here to find the perfect Red Sea liveaboard and to confirm prices and availability.

Dive-the-world.com – Click here to find the perfect Red Sea liveaboard and to confirm prices and availability.

The Maldives is one of the best places for beginner scuba divers

4. The Maldives is one of the best places for beginner scuba divers – best for whale sharks and manta rays

The Maldives is one of the best places for beginner scuba divers as most resorts offer house-reef diving. You have a great choice of resort or liveaboard diving in the Maldives with an opportunity to dive on vibrant coral reefs with whale sharks, turtles, manta rays, sharks and an abundance of reef fish.

MALDIVES- WHALE SHARKS– Adventures in Paradise- LUX* South Ari
Hope you guys enjoy our latest video! Swim with whale sharks and mantas in the most pristine turquoise waters in the nicest of settings at LUX South Ari Resort in the Maldives. This was the most ROMANTIC vacation destination ever! Enjoy the experience! Tony and Ruby

Maldives dive site characteristics suitable for beginner scuba divers:

  • Shallow dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Dives without strong currents.* Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Shallow bottom dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Interesting dive sites. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Great visibility. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small

The Maldives is one of the top dive destinations loved by scuba divers of all certifications. This is because

  • Most of the resorts and islands in the Maldives feature ‘house reefs.’ Great for diving and snorkeling.
  • With great visibility of up to 30 metres (100 feet).
  • Year-round warm waters of 27-29°C (81-84°F).
  • The perfect place to learn to scuba dive or for beginner scuba divers to enjoy.
  • There are many PADI dive schools in the Maldives.
  • The sea life in the Maldives is to die for, which includes manta rays, whale sharks, an abundance of coral reef fish, turtles and beautiful corals.
  • Great liveaboards or resort based diving.

* Be aware of which dives or liveaboard you choose as a beginner scuba diver, as you may find some of the dives have strong currents. You don’t want to be sitting out of any of the dives.

If you want to truly experience the Maldives to its best from a liveaboard, build up your experience on one of the other beginner diver locations, take your Advanced Open Water and dive all the great dive sites.

The Maldives is located within a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, which makes it an undeniable first class dive destination.

Dive the Maldives by liveaboard as a beginner diver

The best way to experience the Maldives and get loads of diving under your belt is to dive from a Maldives dive liveaboard. To find out more about Maldives liveaboards for beginner divers, please follow one of the following links or search in the window below:

Table of Maldives liveaboards

This list of Maldives liveaboards is in descending customer rating order, followed by Scuba Diving Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating, see above), so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating and the best SDE lux rating will be at the top of the list. If you want to change the list order, use the “Sort by” dropdown below.

Search
Sort by
Total Records Found: 53, showing 7 per page
Discover LiveaboardCustomer RatingSDE Lux Rating %Flexible BookingDive CoursesDietary RequirementsNitroxGear Rental
Review: MV Scubaspa Yang; Book: MV Scubaspa Yang 9.6 87% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: MV Emperor Explorer; Book: MV Emperor Explorer 9.6 63% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: MV Theia; Book: MV Theia 9.5 85% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: MY Princess Dhonkamana; Book: MY Princess Dhonkamana 9.5 79% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: MV Scubaspa Ying; Book: MV Scubaspa Ying 9.4 87% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: MV Sachika; Book: MV Sachika 9.4 83% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: MV Emperor Serenity; Book: MV Emperor Serenity 9.4 60% YES YES YES YES YES

Liveaboard.com – Click here to find the perfect Maldives liveaboard and to confirm prices and availability.

Dive-the-world.com – Click here to find the perfect Maldives liveaboard and to confirm prices and availability.

Barbados has the best scuba diving in the Caribbean for beginners

5. Barbados has the best scuba diving in the Caribbean for beginners – best for shallow dives on coral reefs

Barbados is one of the best scuba diving locations in the Caribbean for beginners. It’s a favourite Caribbean Islands that’s safe to visit and scuba dive. One of the best shallow beginner dive sites is the Cement Works where you find seahorses. Barbados is also great for turtles, eagle rays and vibrant coral reefs.

Corinne & Tina – Cement Plant
Barbados – Scuba Diving Site: Cement Plant

Barbados dive site characteristics suitable for beginner scuba divers:

  • Shallow dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Dives without strong currents. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Shallow bottom dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Interesting dive sites. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Great visibility. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small

There are plenty of great places to scuba dive for beginners. Plus if you want to see seahorses on a dive site that’s like an octopuses garden, then you can’t go wrong with Barbados.

The Cement Works dive site in Barbados is the perfect dive site for beginner scuba divers. It’s shallow at between 6-10 metres (20-33 feet).

Barbados Cement Works dive site sea life:

  • Seahorses (in large numbers).O
  • Octopuses.
  • An abundance of lobsters.
  • Turtles.
  • Puffer fish.
  • Moray eels.
  • An abundance of reef fish coral sea life.

Pro diver tip: The Cement Works makes for a great second dive site. Dive with Phil from Reefs and Wreckers and tell him Russell recommended this site for seahorses. He will make sure you find the seahorses.

Barbados island is a fabulous place to visit to, which a bonus to the great scuba diving. The Barbadians are very friendly and welcoming people. The food and eating out is expensive but this Caribbean Island includes some of the best restaurants in the world.

Antigua offers the best scuba diving in the Caribbean for beginners

6. Visit Antigua for the best scuba diving in the Caribbean for beginners – best for pristine reefs and shark diving

Antigua is one of the best scuba diving locations in the Caribbean for beginners as it has well-preserved shallow reefs with great visibility. Antigua is a great scuba diving destination if you want to scuba dive with sharks. You can also enjoy wreck diving and sea life that includes turtles and rays.

https://youtu.be/L4lcb85HSk0
Jolly dive, Antigua
Antigua is good for relaxed diving, shallow long bottom times and minimal currents. Oh and warm tropical waters.

Antigua dive site characteristics suitable for beginner scuba divers:

  • Shallow dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Dives without strong currents. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Shallow bottom dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Interesting dive sites. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Great visibility. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small

Antigua is known for its sharks around its coastline, so if you like the idea of shark diving Antigua is a top spot. But it’s not just about diving with sharks in Antigua, as there are also many other sea creatures to experience and enjoy.

Many of these dive sites are perfect for beginner scuba divers too. With visibility from 18-30 metres (60-100 feet). Plus the waters are tropical and warm between 26-28°C (79-82°F).

Antigua doesn’t have liveaboards so it’s resort-based diving only. But as Antigua is completely surrounded by well-preserve coral reefs it makes this the perfect resort-based dive destination for beginner divers.

7. Visit the Cayman Islands for the best scuba diving in the Caribbean for beginners

The Cayman Islands offers diving with little currents, shallow dive sites and clear blue waters with 18-30 metres (60-100 feet) visibility, making it one of the best scuba diving locations in the Caribbean for beginners. The Cayman Islands offers an opportunity to see spotted eagle rays and turtles.

Cayman Islands dive site characteristics suitable for beginner scuba divers:

  • Shallow dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Dives without strong currents. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Shallow bottom dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Interesting dive sites. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Great visibility. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small

The most visited island by scuba divers is Grand Cayman. This is the larges of all the islands of the Cayman’s. Most of the dive sites are not too far from the shore, which makes them easy to access and easy to dive.

Plus you have Stingray City, which is one of the most famous dive and snorkel sites in the world. This dive site is only 3-5 metres (10-16 feet) deep.

Whilst many of the dive sites in the Cayman Islands are probably too deep for beginner scuba divers, there are probably more than 20 dive sites that are 18 metres (60 feet) or shallower. Perfect for beginner scuba divers.

Pro diver tip: The Cayman Islands has some devilishly deep drop-offs which require excellent buoyancy control. For example, Grand Cayman’s North Wall plunges to the Cayman Trench which is 7,925 metres (26,000 feet) deep. That’s the deepest point in the Caribbean Sea. The Cayman North Wall can be accessed from as little as 91 metres (300 feet) from the shore! The walls are vertical and immediately plunge to 1800 metres (5905 feet). But this presents a wonderful opportunity to see reef sharks, nurse sharks, turtles, eagle rays, tarpon and vibrant corals fed by up-rising currents.

Eagle Ray Pass, Diving the Drop Off – Grand Cayman
In 2014, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to spend some time working at Cathy Church’s Photo Centre in Grand Cayman. Cathy kindly let some of us take her own boat out on our day off to go where ever we wanted. We headed north to one of Grand Cayman’s premier sites, Eagle Ray Pass. Located on the north wall it has a dramatically steep and breathtaking drop off to the main wall with a stunning natural archway. It was incredible to look down into the deep blue depths suspended over thousands of feet of water. We enjoyed amazing visibility that day and the whole dive site to ourselves apart from a couple of Eagle Rays swimming past.

You might want to get a few more dives under your belt and perfect your buoyancy control. Then book yourself on a scuba dive along the North Wall.

Pro diver tips for your first wall dive:

  • Watch your depth: Your depth affects your air consumption and no-stop decompression time. Wall diving can be quite disorientating because of the depths of blue water below. Don’t follow a topographical feature of the wall as this may be on a downward angle taking you deeper.
  • Expect currents: Always dive with the current, but be aware that some currents on walls may be down-currents. If you have to swim against the current, begin your dive swimming against the current, so the current is with you on the second half of your dive. Read this article about how to deal with down currents.
  • Dive the deepest part of your dive first: Dive to the deepest part and then come back up the wall slowly to decompress. Read this article about how deep you can dive without decompression.
  • Keep off the wall: This will help you to orient yourself on the dive and avoid any coral damage. But this also allows perspective and a sense of scale of the wall dive. Keeping off the wall also helps with down-currents.
  • Look out into the blue: Always keep half an eye out into the blue, don’t just stare at the wall. Otherwise you may miss something truly amazing, like sharks, manta rays or eagle rays.

Dive the Cayman Islands by liveaboard

One of the best ways to experience the Cayman Islands and to get loads of diving under your belt is to dive from a Cayman’s liveaboard. To find out more about Cayman Islands liveaboards please search in the window below or follow one of the links:

Cayman Islands dive liveaboards table

This list of Cayman Islands liveaboards is in descending customer rating order, followed by Scuba Diving Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating, see above), so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating and the best SDE lux rating will be at the top of the list. If you want to change the list order, use the “Sort by” dropdown below.

Search
Sort by
Total Records Found: 1, showing 7 per page
Discover LiveaboardCustomer RatingSDE Lux Rating %Flexible BookingDive CoursesDietary RequirementsNitroxGear Rental
Review: MV Cayman Aggressor IV; Book: MV Cayman Aggressor IV 9.3 71% NO YES YES YES YES

Liveaboard.com – Click here to find the perfect Cayman Islands liveaboard and to confirm prices and availability.

Dive-the-world.com – Click here to find the perfect Cayman Islands liveaboard and to confirm prices and availability.

The Bahamas offers the best scuba diving in the Caribbean for beginners

8. The Bahamas offers the best scuba diving in the Caribbean for beginners

The Bahamas offer some of the best scuba diving in the Caribbean for beginners with shark diving top of the list. Tiger Beach is one of the top dive sites of the Bahamas and you’re in luck as a beginner as the depth is under 18 metres (60 feet). Shark diving also includes hammerhead and reef sharks.

The Bahamas is another favourite Caribbean Island for many scuba divers who love shark diving. The Bahamas is surrounded by crystal clear blue water with almost perfect visibility and minimal currents.

https://youtu.be/6FnZ3O16Yvk
Bahamas Diving Trip
First annual international scuba diving trip of Scuba Blue to Bahamas. Dives included shipwrecks and Shark Adventure

Bahamas dive site characteristics suitable for beginner scuba divers:

  • Shallow dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Dives without strong currents. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Shallow bottom dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Interesting dive sites.* Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Great visibility. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small

* Even the tiger shark dive on the Bahamas Tiger Beach dive is shallow and suitable for beginner scuba divers. The Tiger Beach dive certainly falls into the “interesting” category of dive!

Pro diver tip: The Caribbean Seas around Antigua have a proliferation of sharks. Antigua was one place where I was literally surrounded by reef sharks. Bahamas is one of the leading places in the world where tiger sharks are spotted regularly. Please read this article about where you can dive with tiger sharks.

Dive the Bahamas by liveaboard

The best way to experience the Bahamas to get loads of diving under your belt is to dive from a liveaboard. Please take a read of this article about two Bahamas tiger shark diving liveaboard.

To find out more about Bahamas liveaboards please search in the window or follow one of the links:

Bahamas dive liveaboards table

This list of Bahamas liveaboards is in descending customer rating order, followed by Scuba Diving Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating, see above), so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating and the best SDE lux rating will be at the top of the list. If you want to change the list order, use the “Sort by” dropdown below.

Search
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Total Records Found: 7, showing 7 per page
Discover LiveaboardCustomer RatingSDE Lux Rating %Flexible BookingDive CoursesDietary RequirementsNitroxGear Rental
Review: Cat Ppalu; Book: Cat Ppalu 9.9 50% YES YES YES NO YES
Review: MY Aqua Cat; Book: MY Aqua Cat 9.3 81% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: Blackbeards Sea Explorer; Book: Blackbeards Sea Explorer 9.3 48% YES NO YES NO YES
Review: MV Bahamas Master; Book: MV Bahamas Master 9.2 73% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: Blackbeards Morning Star; Book: Blackbeards Morning Star 9.1 52% YES YES YES NO YES
Review: MV Bahamas Aggressor; Book: MV Bahamas Aggressor 8.6 67% NO YES YES YES YES
Review: Phoenix; Book: Phoenix 8 60% YES YES YES NO YES

Liveaboard.com – Click here to find the perfect Bahamas liveaboard and to confirm prices and availability.

Dive-the-world.com – Click here to find the perfect Bahamas liveaboard and to confirm prices and availability.

9. Florida Keys, United States is one of the best places to scuba dive for beginners

Florida Keys is one of the best places to scuba dive for beginners as it has crystal clear blue waters, exotic marine life, and historic dive sites. With 192 kilometres (120 miles) of Florida Keys to dive, starts with Key Largo known as the Diving Capital of the World, all the way down to Kay West.

The best way to enjoy Florida Keys is by renting a car and driving from one end to the other. Don’t forget to stop at Key Islamorada on your way to Key West.

Scuba Diving in Key Largo, Florida: Molasses Reef, French Reef, Benwood & Spiegle Grove dive sites
The most frequently visited dive site in the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary, and likely the world, is known as Molasses Reef. During World War II, near midnight on April 9th, 1942, the Norwegian merchant freighter Benwood was on a routine path from Florida to Virginia, transporting a load of phosphate rock. It was running with no lights to avoid being spotted by German U-boats, which was common for ships throughout the war. The Spiegle Grove ship is enormous and much larger than any natural reef structure in the Keys. In fact, at the time of its sinking, the Spiegel Grove was the largest ship ever intentionally sunk to create a new reef for divers, and it remains one of the largest ships ever scuttled for that purpose.

Florida Keys dive site characteristics suitable for beginner scuba divers:

  • Shallow dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Dives without strong currents. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Shallow bottom dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Interesting dive sites. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Great visibility. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small

Enjoy the beautiful drive along the Overseas Highway all the way down to Key West, whilst scuba diving along the way. There are plenty of great dive sites perfect for beginner scuba divers.

Many of the dive sites are extremely shallow. With vibrant coral reefs and the chance to spot the unusual Caribbean Sea manatee of the Keys. Plus you may see Goliath grouper which is a resident fish of the Florida Keys.

There are many PADI dive schools in the Florida Keys to learn to scuba dive. Making Florida Keys one of the best places to learn scuba diving for the first time.

Koh Tao, Thailand is one of the best places to scuba dive for beginners

10. Koh Tao, Thailand is one of the best places to scuba dive for beginners

Thailand’s Koh Tao is one of the best places to scuba dive for beginners because it has shallow coral reefs that are teaming with marine life. Combine this with crystal clear warm waters and the chance to scuba dive with whale sharks, turtles, sea snakes and trigger fish.

Two Whale Sharks at Shark Island – Koh Tao, Thailand 20th February
Whale Sharks are being seen everywhere at the moment! We were lucky to see one yesterday at Chumphon Pinnacle and two this morning at Shark Island. And for the first time in 3000+ dives I got a shot of two together!

Koh Tao dive site characteristics suitable for beginner scuba divers:

  • Shallow dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Dives without strong currents. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Shallow bottom dives. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Interesting dive sites. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small
  • Great visibility. Scuba Diving Earth Check Mark small

One of the best things about Thailand is the exchange rate for the Brits, the Canadians and for the Americans. This makes Koh Tao a great value for money dive destination. But cheap is not always bad, as Koh Tao has some of the best scuba diving in the world.

There’s plenty of dive sites to satisfy all of the requirements for beginner scuba divers. But also if you want to learn to scuba dive in Koh Tao, there are over 50 scuba diving operators in a 12-square mile patch to choose from.

Koh Tao is in the Andaman Sea, with one of the best ways to experience the beauty is by Thailand dive liveaboard.

Dive the Thailand by liveaboard

The best way to experience Thailand and get loads of diving under your belt is to dive from a liveaboard. To find out more about Thailand liveaboards please search the window below or follow one of the links:

Thailand dive liveaboards table

This list of Thailand liveaboards is in descending customer rating order, followed by Scuba Diving Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating, see above), so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating and the best SDE lux rating will be at the top of the list. If you want to change the list order, use the “Sort by” dropdown below.

Search
Sort by
Total Records Found: 26, showing 7 per page
Discover LiveaboardCustomer RatingSDE Lux Rating %Flexible BookingDive CoursesDietary RequirementsNitroxGear Rental
Review: MV Smiling Seahorse; Book: MV Smiling Seahorse 9.3 85% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: Merdeka 1; Book: Merdeka 1 9.3 77% YES YES YES NO YES
Review: MY Marco Polo; Book: MY Marco Polo 9.3 67% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: MY Sawasdee Fasai; Book: MY Sawasdee Fasai 9.2 56% YES NO YES YES YES
Review: MY Giamani; Book: MY Giamani 9.1 65% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: The Junk; Book: The Junk 9.1 63% YES YES YES YES YES
Review: The Phinisi; Book: The Phinisi 9.1 52% YES YES YES YES YES

Liveaboard.com – Click here to find the perfect Thailand liveaboard and to confirm prices and availability.

Dive-the-world.com – Click here to find the perfect Thailand liveaboard and to confirm prices and availability.

I hope you enjoyed this article about the best places to scuba dive for beginners

I’d love to hear from you. Tell us about your adventures of diving and snorkeling, in the comments below. Please also share your photos. Either from your underwater cameras or videos from your waterproof Gopro’s!

If this article hasn’t answered all of your questions. If you have more questions either about snorkeling or scuba diving (or specifically about the best places to scuba dive for beginners), please comment below with your questions.

There will also be many more articles about scuba diving (and snorkeling) for you to read and learn about these fabulous sports.

Have fun and be safe!

Best Places To Scuba Dive For Beginners (10 Best Beginner Scuba Destinations)

Article written by Russell Bowyer who has been a scuba diver since diving on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia in 1989. After his first dive he trained as a BSAC diver in the UK. He attained his Diver Leader certification with BSAC. He then went on to become a scuba diving instructor, teaching others how to dive and was voted as Diving Officer and Treasurer for the Saffron Walden BSAC club too. Russell has dived all over the world, including the UK, on liveaboards in the Red Sea, the Caribbean, South Africa and the USA. Russell is experienced in all dive types, including drift diving, deep dives that involved decompression stops and recreational dives too.

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