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UNDERWATER WONDERS
Cruise Ships Head to Some of the Best Scuba Sites in the World

Cruise ships can take scuba divers to some of the world’s best scuba destinations, where experience dive operators await with underwater wonders. Many cruise lines, including Princess and Windstar, now cater to divers with specific offerings onboard and ashore.

In fact, you don’t even need to be certified to try out some of these scuba sites while in port. Many ships and ports of call now offer short “resort courses” to get you underwater during your cruise--even if you’ve never tried scuba diving before. Plus, for those who don’t want to submerge themselves completely, dive sites typically offer world-class snorkeling as well.

Here are our top 10 places for underwater fun right off the ship:

CAYMAN ISLANDS

Quite simply, the Cayman Islands represent one of the top dive (and cruise ship) destinations in the world. Made up of Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac, visiting divers will find crystal-clear conditions and world-class wall diving.

Most ships dock or anchor in Grand Cayman’s George Town, where there are dozens of big-time dive operators and small and quiet places just a few miles from the cruise dock. From bustling Stingray City to wall dives for two, this is the place to try it all. While the other two islands are much more subdued on the surface, they're every bit as colorful below.

BELIZE

Belize is just now getting on the map with cruise lines, but it’s been on the radar of scuba divers for decades. This tiny country offers big-time diving, thanks to the second longest barrier reef in the world (behind the Great Barrier Reef).

Highlights of Belize include diving on reefs and walls, as well as caverns and world-famous sites like The Blue Hole, where curious bull sharks typically await. The Belizian reef is so special that it’s been declared a World Heritage Site.

THE BAHAMAS

More than 90,000 square miles of clear Caribbean and Atlantic waters, plus about 700 different land masses, make for great Bahamas diving. Lots of cruise ships visit New Providence (Nassau/Paradise Island) and Grand Bahama, which are both world-class dive destinations.

Shark and dolphin dives have becoming the drawing cards for divers on cruise ships, but there’s also great reef and wreck diving (including fun James Bond underwater film scenes). The quieter Out Islands (including several private islands) lead to virgin diving and snorkeling. Long Island, San Salvador, and Andros are three of many premier examples.

FLORIDA KEYS

There’s much more to the Florida Keys than Key West’s Duval Street and it has underwater wonders that could match anything Hemingway ever wrote while there. Diving throughout the protected waters of the Florida Keys can be rewarding, but most ships dock or anchor in Key West, where many great dives await.

Joe’s Tug and Sand Key Reef are just two of many popular sites with local Key West dive operators. Here and elsewhere the marine life is quite colorful, just like Hemingway.

COZUMEL & THE YUCATAN

Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and, particularly, Cozumel, is perfect for divers, with consistently clear conditions, world-class wall diving, and a surprising array of wrecks and inland cenotes (caves).

The popular port of Cozumel offers legendary sites like Palancar, Paraiso, Punta Sur, and the airplane wreck. Most of the trips are drift dives, making diving a bit like watching an underwater movie as you drift by the reefs and marine life. Over on the mainland, Cancun is becoming known as a wreck diving destination (check out the 150-foot C58 General Anaya) and the area south of Playa del Carmen has become popular for cenote diving in incredibly clear water.

AUSTRALIA'S GREAT BARRIER REEF

Located off the Queensland coast of northeastern Australia, the Great Barrier Reef is hard to beat for scuba divers arriving by cruise ship. At about 1,400 miles in length, it’s the longest barrier reef in the world and--with more than 30% enjoying highly protected status--it’s the largest marine park on earth.

Made up of more than 2,000 individual reefs, divers will find more than 1,500 different fish species. The area has also become known as a haven for sharks. It's the perfect place to see great whites and other toothy fish from the deep!

HAWAII

Pacific Ocean diving in the Hawaiian Islands is quite different from most of the rest of the world, with coral generally replaced by craggy outcroppings from volcanic eruptions, lava tubes and caverns, and lots of strange underwater formations. The growth in popularity of cruise ships calling in Hawaii means visiting divers can enjoy this unusual abundance.

Dive operations abound on the Big Island, Kauai, Maui, and Oahu, making it easy for cruise ship passengers to go diving. Once underwater, they’ll find lots of unique fish and possibly even some large pelagics.

THE UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS

The island trio of St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas offer a wide range of diving opportunities to cruise ship passengers. Wrecks, walls, and lots of colorful fish await both divers and snorkelers.

If dropping below the surface is more important than shopping ‘til you drop, the USVI oblige with underwater wonders only a small percentage of thousands of cruise passengers ever see while docked or anchored in these islands. This all-American dive destination is definitely world-class.

THE RED SEA

Moses may have made the Red Sea famous, but today’s cruise ship passengers find it appealing for its diving. The unusual marine environment between Arabia and the continent of Africa features lots of unique fish and coral formations rarely seen elsewhere, as well as a frontier feel to the entire dive experience.

Still relatively undiscovered, the most popular diving is in the north, around the Gulf of Aqaba (out of the resort city of Eilat). Over in Egypt, Ras Muhammad's reefs are reached from Sharm El Sheikh. In either of these two spots and elsewhere, diving is just becoming a viable option to visiting cruise ship passengers.

TAHITI

Tahiti is pretty far afield, but it’s definitely becoming more popular destination. French Polynesian islands like Tahiti, Raiatea, Bora Bora, and others are now appealing to cruise ships and divers alike.

The attractions include colorful reefs and marine life, unique lagoon diving, and lots of large fish sightings, including manta rays, sharks, and even passing humpback whales. It makes Tahiti well worth the trip.

Of course, this top 10 list is limited to cruise ship destinations. As mentioned, cruise lines now offer specific itineraries and services involving these and many other top scuba sites. Some other great destinations for the cruising scuba diver include: Bonaire; the British Virgin Islands; parts of the California coast; Fiji; the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastlines of Florida; the Galapagos Islands; Honduras; Puerto Rico; and the Turks & Caicos Islands. Hard-core divers should check out smaller live-aboard cruise options such as the Aggressor Fleet (www.aggressor.com) and Peter Hughes Diving (www.peterhughes.com).