Caribbean Scuba Diving
Imagine the turquoise colored water as one leisurely cruise beneath the surface in virtually a wonderland of vibrant colors and marine miscellany. Caribbean scuba diving is one of the most excellent diving areas in the world; in fact, it is known as one of the top five diving destinations all over the globe, with the wreck of R.M.S. Rhone regarded as the best wreck dive in the Western Hemisphere.
Caribbean scuba diving is as varied as the many islands of the Caribbean itself. From the stunning Bahamas to the breathtaking Aruba, one can find never-ending scuba diving destinations which are constantly awe-inspiring. Caribbean scuba diving offers fantastic reefs found around most of the British Virgin Island anchorages, with over three hundred documented shipwrecks. Scuba diving in the Caribbean also provides a well-known visibility, as one dive from twenty to a hundred and twenty feet. The islands also offer countless operators and dive resorts that cater to the most popular activities in the Caribbean.
Some of the top pick for Caribbean scuba diving sites include:
Bonaire
Bonaire has highly accessible reefs surrounding it that is unspoiled from pollution or poaching, where the island’s diving industry is environmentally conscious and ensures that these reefs will remain unharmed. The island is an underwater mountain created from volcanic eruptions with edging reefs off the beach of each hotel on any part of the island.
Virgin Gorda
This Caribbean scuba diving site is home to the famed wreck of the HMS Rhone off Salt Island, and many divers plan their whole vacation around discovering and adventuring this royal mainstream that went down in 1867. This site is also the most celebrated in the Caribbean.
Grand Cayman
This world-class Caribbean scuba diving destination, facets thirty-four dive operators and a full range of professional diving services on hand including equipment rentals, repairs, and sales; underwater photography; video schools; and scuba diving instructions at all levels.
Saba
Saba brags with some of the Caribbean’s richest marine life, and is one of the foremost Caribbean scuba diving locations, with thirty-eight official diving sites. The unique setting of underwater features include black sand, lava flows, millions of fish, large strands of black coral, and underwater mountaintops sunken under twenty-seven meters of water.
Turks and Caicos Islands
The rich variety of fairly unexplored underwater sites that islands offer includes sea lanes where boaters and divers frequently see whales during April. The place also facets a collection of underwater wrecks such as Endymion, which sank in 1790 during a storm; it also features numerous kinds of multicolored marine life. Experienced divers enjoy the many miles of "drop-off" diving just right off Grand Turk, where the sea walls dramatically drop into the unexplored depths of blue holes more than two-thousand one hundred meters below sea level. Divers witness colonies of black coral, purple sponges, stunning gorgonian, thousands of fish, and endless forms of corals, as one descends.
Anguilla is one of best developed scuba diving Caribbean sites. Surprising as it may sound, it has been intentionally done for it to be competitive with the other neighboring islands such as Saint Croix. It was around the 1980’s where there were anonymous individuals who were smart enough to see the need to. If it were not developed, it could have just been one of the shallow spots that only beginners would enjoy and not the professionals.
Presently, there are about five vessels that have sunk several years ago. The biggest among the ships is called Sarah which have been frequented as a scuba diving Caribbean destination. There are three others that will still be developed where one, El Buen Consejo, is scheduled to be transformed into an aquatic park.
Culebra has coastlines offering superb grounds for aquatic activities. Most are domiciled along the western coast where the Impact Reef is separated into several sections along its length. It is conveniently accessed from Ensenada Honda via the split that divides the region.
Surrounded by rocks, most of the visited areas are surrounding the outlying islets. Aside from the aquatic fauna that can be spotted, there are also birds that have taken it as their dwelling place in their migrating season. From the boats, terns and boobies that have been nested are clearly seen. There are spots that are both for the beginners and professionals. There are some that are very challenging while there are also some that are easy.
Barbados is one of the best scuba diving Caribbean sites that has over twenty miles of barrier reef. Reaching up to within 40 to 60 feet of the surface, it has about nine locations that are favorite for tourists. At present, their government is serious in taking their tourism industry up to a higher notch. They have provided a main recompression chamber that assures the safety and security of their tourists who would want to explore the city underneath the sparkling seas.
Stavrontika is a scuba diving Caribbean place that has a very peculiar history. It is a name of a craftliner that is already twenty years old now. A 365- foot freighter, it sunk for only thirteen minutes which is very quick for such a huge vessel. The story goes that it was carrying loads of cement when a fire overwhelmed Stavrontika. It was immediately towed back to the shore where it remained idle in the port for two years. The government then decided to sink it for it be an abode of colonies of fish.
Caribbean scuba diving is like discovering a whole new underwater world that can become incredibly addicting as well as amazingly satisfying. |