Best Island Reefs Around the World

Few new travel experiences are as grand and amazing as slipping into warm, tropical waters and finding a whole new world. A world full of life, beauty, power, and grace, with colors that are out of this world.

This simple act has turned into a lifelong interest for a lot of people, and hearing about the amazing things that happen underwater makes a lot of people want to try it for themselves. So put on your fins and seal your goggles, and let’s go explore some of the best island reefs in the world.

List of Best Island Reefs around the World:

Raja Ampat

Raja Ampat, also called “the Four Kings,” is a group of over 1,500 small islands and cays off the northwest tip of the island of New Guinea. Conservation International says that marine studies show that the Raja Ampat islands have the most diverse marine life anywhere on Earth. The incredibly low number of people living there is one reason why there is such a huge amount of sea life.

Andros Island

The third-largest barrier reef in the world is on Andros, the biggest island in the Bahamas. The island reef is just over 230 km (140 miles) long and has many places where you can see the most beautiful sea life.

The side of the reef near the shore is calm, quiet, and about 2.5 meters (8 feet) deep. Ideal for a first-time diver. The ocean side of the reef, on the other hand, is anything but calm and should only be tried by a pro.

Mahe

Mahe is the biggest island in the Seychelles chain. It is in the Indian Ocean and has a lot of beautiful underwater scenery to offer divers. Mahe has several marine parks where you can dive and see hawksbill turtles, bottlenose dolphins, Whale sharks, lobsters, and Moray eels. The Ste Anne Marine National Park is one of the best places to go scuba diving in the Indian Ocean. It is 5 kilometers from the main city of Victoria.

Little Cayman

Some of the best places to dive in the world, like Bloody Bay and Jackson Point, are on the small island of Little Cayman. With about 50 different dive spots, a diver can get an experience that is hard to find elsewhere. There are sea plumes, coral gardens, and many kinds of tropical fish on this island.

Taveuni

Taveuni is the third biggest island in the group of islands called Fiji. People often call the island “Garden Island” because it has so many flowers and plants, but the name could also be used to describe the amazing, colorful scenes under the water.

The beautiful Rainbow Reef is on Taveuni. It is known for being a great place to dive and swim. The reef is made up of white coral that glows in the dark, and you can see the Blue Ribbon Eel, barracudas, white-tip reef sharks, and leopard sharks there.

Boracay

Boracay is a tropical island 315 kilometers (200 miles) south of Manila. It has long white-sand beaches that are just as nice as the best beaches in Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. At the north and south ends of the island, there are nearly two dozen places to dive.

For example, the Camia wreck is a man-made reef that has a lot of fish and is easy to see. The two walls of Yapak are the most interesting places to dive around the island, but only experienced divers should go there because the water is rough and there are strong currents.

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Cozumel Island

Cozumel is a famous place to go scuba diving and snorkeling because it is close to the Yucatan Peninsula. Jacques Cousteau found the underwater world around Cozumel in 1959. He said it was one of the best places to dive in the world. Since then, Cozumel has been turned into a National Marine Park to protect the beautiful coral reefs and amazing range of tropical fish that live there.

The marine park has some of the clearest water a diver could hope to find. Most of the time, you can see at least 30 meters (100 feet) away. The Splendid Toadfish, a brightly colored fish species that can only be found in this place, is maybe the most unique thing about it.

Roatan

Roatán is an island in the Caribbean Sea that is part of the Honduras Bay Islands. It is one of the most popular places to go scuba diving because it is close to the biggest barrier reef in the Caribbean and the second-largest barrier reef in the world.

Some diving spots are great for beginners because they are full of marine life and don’t change much with the weather. The Open Water classes on the island of Utila, which is close by, are the cheapest in the Caribbean.

Koh Tao

Koh Tao, which means “Turtle Island,” is a small island in the Gulf of Thailand. It is close to the eastern coast. Around 7,000 new divers get certified on Koh Tao every year, making it one of the most famous places in the world to learn to dive and a popular tourist destination in Thailand. Diving around the island reefs is easy and fun, and you can see a wide range of marine life, such as coral, turtles, lots of small fish, and barracudas. There is also a very small chance of seeing a whale shark. On average, you can see about 15–20 meters.

Bonaire

This Dutch island is also in the Caribbean, and reefs can be seen for miles in any direction. Bonaire has almost no sandy beaches, so scuba swimmers and snorkelers are almost the only people who go there. Most places to dive around the island are easy to get to. Bonaire is the best place in the world to go shore diving because all of its more than 80 dive spots are right off the coast.

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