10 Exotic Warm Water Scuba Diving Destinations

Soft Corals
COZUMEL, MEXICO

Source: Flickr Chris

Soft Corals
I live in Northern California where there are plenty of scuba diving opportunities available, only they all involve very cold water. When I go somewhere warm I try to dive whenever I can. With that in mind I made sure I took the short ferry ride from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel to get a day of diving in. I was rewarded with these beautiful soft corals.

 

Mergulho em La Bufadora, Cabo San Lucas
CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO

Source: Flickr Ars Clicandi

Mergulho em La Bufadora, Cabo San Lucas

 

Feeding frenzy, Grand Cayman
Cayman Islands

Source: Flickr Dave C.

Feeding frenzy, Grand Cayman
Near Stingray City in North Sound. These fish were being fed by a snorkeling boat (you can see bits of food in the water). This was taken way back in 2002, and I suspect they may not even allow fish feeding on tour boats in Grand Cayman anymore. Normally, I don’t care for photos of artificial feeding aggregations, but this one is fairly colorful and shows a diversity of species. I see at least 9 species, including sergeant majors, schoolmaster snappers, gray snappers, blue tang, ocean surgeonfish, French grunt, bluestriped grunt, a stingray, and a scrawled filefish (hard to see in the background).

 

Lobster - Tobago
TOBAGO

Source: Flickr Martin Bedrock

Lobster – Tobago
Lobster photographed at Flying Reef, Tobago. GoPro Hero 2 with red filter

 

shoal shape in Bonaire coral reef
BONAIRE

Source: Flickr José Eduardo Silva

shoal shape in Bonaire coral reef
in Bonaire coral reef , Dutch Antilles, caribbean sea

 

Hawksbill sea turtles
PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA

Source: Flickr Lazaro Ruda

Hawksbill sea turtles
Scientist Larry Wood from the Comprehensive Florida Hawksbill Research and Conservation Program is studing the resident population of hawksbill sea turtles in West Palm Beach, Florida. His study suggest that most of the local population of hawksbill sea turtles spend their sub-adult life, around 15 years, near this rich coral reef system. The hawksbill’s attraction to this particular area might be the high concentration of sponges growing on these reefs which these sea turtles feed upon. Learn more about hawksbill sea turtles.

 

Cave Snorkeling
BAHAMAS

Source: Flickr Jim

Snorkeling through the shallow caves around the Islands of Nassau, Bahamas

 

Whale Fluke
SILVER BANK, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Source: Flickr cayman simon

Whale Fluke
Surface shots of Humpback Whales taken at the Silver Banks Whale Sanctuary, 100 miles out into the Atlantic Ocean from the Dominican Republic

 

Diving Fiji
FIJI

Source: Flickr Bill

Diving Fiji
Diving off the Warrick Resort with SPAD divers

 

Manybar Goatfish face off (Parupeneus multifasciatus)
OAHU, HAWAII

Source: Flickr Russell Gilbert

Manybar Goatfish face off (Parupeneus multifasciatus)
Two goatfish spar off of Kahe Point, Oahu, Hawaii.