Depth bands
Typical recreational envelopes — not certification limits.
Points 192
London Aquatics Centre
London, UK · Pool swimming · 50 m halls
The 2012 Olympic venue designed by Zaha Hadid; now a public and club 50-metre facility in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Open →Beijing National Aquatics Center
Beijing, China · Pool swimming · 50 m
The 2008 “Water Cube,” later converted in part for ice events; still the emblem of twenty-first-century Olympic swimming architecture.
Open →North Sydney Olympic Pool
Sydney, Australia · Pool swimming · 50 m outdoor
Harbour-side 50-metre pool opened in 1936 beside the Harbour Bridge — a municipal icon rather than a reef.
Open →Piscine Molitor
Paris, France · Pool swimming · historic basins
1929 Art Deco complex, closed in 1989 and later restored as a hotel-pool. Famous as much for fashion and the bikini myth as for laps.
Open →Gellért Baths
Budapest, Hungary · Pool swimming · thermal + plunge
A 1918 thermal bath with a wave pool added later — the Central European bath tradition that predates lap culture.
Open →Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center
Tokyo, Japan · Pool swimming · 50 m
A 1993 50-metre hall used for national meets and public sessions; typical of Japan’s serious municipal-sport infrastructure.
Open →Bondi Icebergs
Sydney, Australia · Pool swimming · ocean pool
The Bondi Icebergs Club pool (1929) sits on the rock shelf at Bondi — a saltwater ocean bath, not a chlorinated 50-metre hall.
Open →McCarren Park Pool
Brooklyn, USA · Pool swimming · public outdoor
A 1920s WPA-era giant outdoor pool in Williamsburg, restored and reopened in 2012 as municipal summer infrastructure.
Open →Shakespeare Beach / Dover
Kent, UK · Open-water swimming · surface swim
The classic English Channel start. Ratified solos remain a support-boat expedition, not a casual dip.
Open →Alcatraz crossing
San Francisco Bay, USA · Open-water swimming · surface
Alcatraz-to-Aquatic Park swims are a named current-and-cold problem; club events run with strict cut-offs.
Open →Lake Zurich
Switzerland · Open-water swimming · surface
Home of a famous marathon lake race; a model of European organised open water with feeding and boat cover.
Open →Waikiki Roughwater
Oahu, Hawaii · Open-water swimming · surface
A point-to-point ocean swim dating to 1970; swell and current make it a different sport from a lake 2 km.
Open →Serpentine
London, UK · Open-water swimming · surface
Hyde Park’s lake hosts the Serpentine Swimming Club (1864) and was the 2012 Olympic marathon venue.
Open →Lac St-Jean
Quebec, Canada · Open-water swimming · surface
A historic professional crossing and festival swim; cold Canadian lake water even in August.
Open →Paris Seine Olympic course
Paris, France · Open-water swimming · surface
The 2024 Olympic 10 km used the Seine after a long water-quality project — a river swim with current and bridges.
Open →Rottnest Channel
Western Australia · Open-water swimming · surface
The Rottnest Channel Swim is a mass crossing from Perth to the island, famous for boats, smacks of jellyfish, and heat.
Open →Municipal 25 m teaching pool
Most cities · Kids swimming · 0.8–1.2 m teach
The default classroom: warm, marked, with a movable floor in newer halls.
Open →Australian ocean baths (e.g. Dawn Fraser Baths)
Sydney, Australia · Kids swimming · shallow to deep
Tidal baths used for school and club swimming — still water behind a wall, not a surf lesson.
Open →Singapore public complexes
Singapore · Kids swimming · teach + 50 m
A dense public-pool network in a tropical city-state; swim skill is treated as ordinary civic infrastructure.
Open →Tokyo ward pools
Tokyo, Japan · Kids swimming · 25 m
Ward sports centres run school and public lessons with strict hygiene rules and caps.
Open →Y MCA / community pools (US)
United States · Kids swimming · shallow teach
A historic mass provider of Red Cross-style lessons alongside school programmes.
Open →UK leisure-centre teaching pools
United Kingdom · Kids swimming · 0.9 m typical
STA and Swim England staged lessons; often the only warm water in town.
Open →Seoul municipal pools
Seoul, South Korea · Kids swimming · 25 m
City sports complexes run high-demand children’s classes; wait-lists are a known urban fact.
Open →Mexico City public sports centres
Mexico City · Kids swimming · teach basins
Delegación sports centres offer low-cost lessons in a high-altitude megacity — access, not tourism.
Open →La Défense Arena (Paris 2024)
Paris, France · Competitive swimming · 50 m temporary
The 2024 Olympic pool inside a rugby arena — a reminder that elite racing is a pop-up as often as a monument.
Open →Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Tokyo, Japan · Competitive swimming · 50 m
Built for 2020/21; a contemporary 10-lane long-course hall.
Open →Indiana University Natatorium
Indianapolis, USA · Competitive swimming · 50 m
A US trials shrine — many Olympic teams were named in this tank.
Open →AIS / Canberra and Australian halls
Canberra / various · Competitive swimming · 50 m
Australia’s high-performance network; the public story is more Bondi, the race story is more AIS.
Open →European short-course arenas
Various EU · Competitive swimming · 25 m
The winter World Cup and championships keep 25 m racing culturally central.
Open →Mission Viejo / Nadadores tradition
California, USA · Competitive swimming · 50 m outdoor
A historic US club factory of the 1970s–80s still used as a shorthand for suburban excellence.
Open →Beijing Water Cube
Beijing, China · Competitive swimming · 50 m
2008’s architectural headline, later partly converted.
Open →Budapest Duna Arena
Budapest, Hungary · Competitive swimming · 50 m
A 2017 World Championships hall on the Danube — European championship infrastructure.
Open →Hanauma Bay
Oahu, Hawaii · Snorkeling · 1–4 m
A flooded volcanic crater and marine life conservation district; timed tickets now manage the crowd that made the bay famous.
Open →Lady Elliot Island
Great Barrier Reef, AU · Snorkeling · 1–6 m
A coral cay at the Reef’s southern end with house-reef snorkelling and a research station culture.
Open →Molokini Crater
Maui, Hawaii · Snorkeling · 2–10 m
A crescent tuff cone; the inner crater is the classic boat-snorkel, the back wall is a current dive.
Open →Menjangan Island
West Bali, Indonesia · Snorkeling · 2–8 m
A park island with wall-edge snorkelling from boats; temple and deer as much as coral.
Open →Cayo Coral / Hol Chan shallows
Belize · Snorkeling · 1–4 m
Hol Chan Marine Reserve’s shallows and nearby cayes are the textbook Caribbean snorkel park.
Open →Poor Knights Islands
New Zealand · Snorkeling · 2–8 m snorkel
A Jacques Cousteau-praised subtropical reserve; snorkeling sits above a famous scuba wall.
Open →Ilha Grande / Lagoa Azul
Brazil · Snorkeling · 1–5 m
A sheltered Brazilian island snorkel, crowded on holidays, still a real Atlantic tropical stop.
Open →Apo Island shallows
Negros, Philippines · Snorkeling · 2–8 m
Community-protected reef; snorkeling on the shallows, scuba on the drop. See the Philippines chapter.
Open →Hanauma Bay
Oahu, Hawaii · Reef etiquette · 1–4 m
The textbook managed snorkel: video brief, closed on Tuesdays, carrying-capacity experiments since the 1970s.
Open →Jellyfish Lake (Ongeim’l Tketau)
Palau · Reef etiquette · surface
UNESCO Rock Islands; fins and sunscreen rules are strict, and the lake has closed when jellyfish or drought required it.
Open →Tubbataha Reefs
Sulu Sea, PH · Reef etiquette · 5–30 m
A no-structure, permit-only UNESCO site; etiquette is the liveaboard brief and a ranger station.
Open →Great Barrier Reef (public pontoons)
Queensland, AU · Reef etiquette · 2–8 m
GBRMPA zoning: green zones, stinger suits in summer, and a pontoon model that concentrates impact.
Open →Bonaire National Marine Park
Bonaire · Reef etiquette · 2–20 m
A shore-tag system and a long no-anchor culture; the Caribbean’s etiquette laboratory.
Open →Raja Ampat marine park
West Papua, ID · Reef etiquette · 2–30 m
PIN entry and village rules; manta sanctuaries with distance codes.
Open →Ras Mohammed
Sinai, Egypt · Reef etiquette · 2–30 m
A national park at the Red Sea’s tip; the Yolanda wreck and reef both depend on no-take rules.
Open →Heron Island
GBR, AU · Reef etiquette · 1–6 m
A research-station island where etiquette is also science logistics.
Open →Great Blue Hole rim
Belize · Recreational scuba · 12–30 m rec.
UNESCO sinkhole; recreational dives stay on the rim. The deep interior is not a holiday OW dive.
Open →SS Thistlegorm exterior
Red Sea, Egypt · Recreational scuba · 16–30 m
A 1941 wreck; penetration belongs in the wreck chapter.
Open →Blue Corner
Palau · Recreational scuba · 5–30 m
Current, sharks, reef hooks. See Palau.
Open →Cape Kri
Raja Ampat, ID · Recreational scuba · 5–25 m
A 2012 fish-count celebrity reef. See Raja Ampat.
Open →Manta Point / Hanifaru
Maldives · Recreational scuba · 8–20 m
Baa Atoll UNESCO biosphere. See Maldives.
Open →Monterey Breakwater
California, USA · Recreational scuba · 6–12 m
A cold class-site kelp dive — recreational scuba is not only tropical.
Open →Poor Knights Islands
New Zealand · Recreational scuba · 8–25 m
A protected subtropical reserve Cousteau praised.
Open →Sodwana Bay
South Africa · Recreational scuba · 12–30 m
A continental African reef with seasonal whale sharks.
Open →SS Yongala
Queensland, AU · Wreck diving · 16–30 m
Sank 1911; a protected historic shipwreck on the GBR with dense fish. Typically dived as an exterior.
Open →SS Thistlegorm
Red Sea, Egypt · Wreck diving · 16–30 m
Sank 1941; cargo (trucks, BSA bikes) made it a mass wreck. Holds are overhead.
Open →USS Kittiwake
Grand Cayman · Wreck diving · 4–20 m
A purpose-sunk 2011 artificial reef, shallower and more planned than a war grave.
Open →Coron wrecks (Irako / Olympia Maru)
Palawan, PH · Wreck diving · 16–30 m
1944 fleet. Some wrecks are recreational exteriors; many penetrations are technical.
Open →SMS / Scapa Flow wrecks
Orkney, UK · Wreck diving · 12–45 m
The 1919 German fleet scuttle; cold, tidal, historic. Not a tropics holiday.
Open →USAT Liberty
Tulamben, Bali · Wreck diving · 4–30 m
A shore-accessible 1942 wreck that became a rec classic — crowded, current-prone, easy to silt.
Open →Fujikawa Maru (Truk/Chuuk)
Chuuk, FSM · Wreck diving · 8–34 m
Operation Hailstone 1944; Truk’s wrecks are a technical and historical pilgrimage.
Open →RMS Rhone
British Virgin Islands · Wreck diving · 6–24 m
Sank 1867 in a hurricane; a Caribbean rec wreck with a stern in shallower water.
Open →Kona manta night dive
Hawaii, USA · Night diving · 8–12 m
Lights on sand attract plankton, then reef mantas. Distance and no-touch rules are the point of the brief.
Open →Ras Mohammed night reefs
Sinai, Egypt · Night diving · 8–20 m
A classic Red Sea night: parrotfish in mucus tents, lionfish hunting.
Open →Anilao night muck
Batangas, PH · Night diving · 8–18 m
A critter-night culture: bobtail squid, mandarinfish at dusk. Lights must stay off eggs and eyes.
Open →Bonaire shore nights
Bonaire · Night diving · 6–18 m
Marked shore sites make a controlled first night possible — still a light-and-buddy problem.
Open →Poor Knights night
New Zealand · Night diving · 10–20 m
A darker, cooler night dive; tarakihi and flashlights on walls.
Open →Maldives house-reef nights
Maldives · Night diving · 8–16 m
Nurse sharks and crabs; still a boat-and-channel problem after dark.
Open →Monterey night kelp
California, USA · Night diving · 8–14 m
Cold, low vis, high skill — the anti-tropical night class.
Open →Jellyfish Lake is closed at night
Palau · Night diving · n/a
Listed here as a negative: Ongeim’l Tketau is a day snorkel with strict rules, not a night dive.
Open →Dean’s Blue Hole
Bahamas · Freediving · line / 200 m+ hole
A famous competition and record site; recreational visitors treat it as a lined, buddied dive, not a stunt.
Open →Dahab Blue Hole
Sinai, Egypt · Freediving · entry 6–20 m rec.
A beautiful and lethal site if treated as a scuba arch problem; freedivers use it with a plan and a buddy, or not at all.
Open →Tonga / Moorea whale water
South Pacific · Freediving · surface–15 m
In-water whale encounters are a regulated breath-hold product in some countries — distance rules apply.
Open →Jeju haenyeo coasts
Jeju, Korea · Freediving · 5–15 m work
A living working culture, not a tourist depth game. See Jeju.
Open →Kona / Kealakekua walls
Hawaii · Freediving · 8–20 m
Clear water and boats — a typical rec freedive bay when buddied.
Open →Cenote Dos Ojos (cavern line)
Quintana Roo, MX · Freediving · 5–10 m
Some freedivers visit cavern-like cenotes; overhead plus breath-hold is a specialist combination, not a holiday default.
Open →Villa Leiva / not — Pico Island
Azores, PT · Freediving · 10–25 m
Atlantic volcanic walls; a European rec freedive destination with boat traffic.
Open →AIDA competition lines (various)
Global · Freediving · set course
The sport’s real “site” is a line, a lanyard and a safety team — more important than a pretty reef.
Open →Club pool with a line
Many cities · Freedive safety · 0–5 m
The correct first safety site: warm, marked, instructor present.
Open →AIDA / club open-water line
Various coasts · Freedive safety · 10–30 m set
A lanyard, a safety diver, a board. The sport’s proper classroom.
Open →Dean’s Blue Hole (with team)
Bahamas · Freedive safety · lined
Safe only as a staffed site. A holiday solo is the wrong story.
Open →Dahab Blue Hole
Sinai, Egypt · Freedive safety · deep hole
A site that has punished untrained scuba and casual apnea alike. Treat as advanced or stay on the shallow rim with a buddy.
Open →Jeju working coasts
Jeju, Korea · Freedive safety · work depths
Haenyeo safety is a boat and a sisterhood — a different, older model. Tourists should not copy the work.
Open →Quarry clubs (e.g. European inland)
Europe / US · Freedive safety · 5–20 m
Unglamorous and often safer than a famous hole because a club owns the plan.
Open →Kona rec bays
Hawaii · Freedive safety · 8–15 m
Boat traffic is the safety problem; a float is not optional.
Open →Competition platform (any worlds)
Rotating · Freedive safety · set
The most staffed water in the sport — and still not a reason to copy warm-ups alone at a hotel.
Open →Waikiki / Canoes
Oahu, Hawaii · Surfing · broken 0.5–1.5 m
The classroom that exported surfing. Crowded, friendly, still an ocean.
Open →Malibu First Point
California, USA · Surfing · point 0.5–1.5 m
A historic longboard point; crowds are the hazard.
Open →Superbank / Snapper
Gold Coast, AU · Surfing · point/sand 1–2 m
A modern point machine; localism and crowds.
Open →Pipeline (Banzai)
North Shore Oahu · Surfing · reef 2–6 m+
The television reef. Not a school. Shallow, heavy, famous for a reason.
Open →Teahupo’o
Tahiti · Surfing · reef slab
Paris 2024 Olympic site; a slab that punishes depth mistakes.
Open →Jeffreys Bay
South Africa · Surfing · point 1–3 m
A long right point on the world tour map.
Open →Hossegor / La Gravière
France · Surfing · beach-break 1–3 m
European power beach-break; not a first soft-top.
Open →Mundaka
Basque Country · Surfing · bar 1–3 m
A famous left off a river bar; sand and swell dependent.
Open →Waikiki / Canoes flats
Oahu, Hawaii · Stand-up paddle · surface
The standing-board classroom that the modern sport cites. Crowded, friendly, still an ocean with a reef and a channel.
Open →Hanalei Bay (calm days)
Kauai, Hawaii · Stand-up paddle · surface
A wide bay that hire shops use; trade wind and river mouth are the real conditions.
Open →Lake Tahoe east shore
California / Nevada, USA · Stand-up paddle · surface
A high-altitude lake with cold water even in August; clarity is the draw, wind is the hazard.
Open →Queenstown / Lake Wakatipu
New Zealand · Stand-up paddle · surface
A scenic hire lake with katabatic afternoon wind that ends sessions early.
Open →Biarritz Chambre d Amour flats
France · Stand-up paddle · surface / small
A European surf-town SUP option on small days; rips still exist.
Open →Byron Bay The Pass (small)
New South Wales, AU · Stand-up paddle · surface / small
A point that longboards and SUPs share; localism and turtles are both real.
Open →Amsterdam canals (permitted)
Netherlands · Stand-up paddle · surface
Urban SUP as a bylaw problem: some canals allow it, many do not. Check the gemeente, not a postcard.
Open →Bow River / Banff (calm reaches)
Alberta, Canada · Stand-up paddle · surface
A mountain-town hire reach; cold water and current make a PFD non-optional.
Open →Municipal lesson pool
Many cities · Water safety · 0-2 m
The correct first safety site: warm, marked, instructor present. See kids-swimming.
Open →Bondi Beach flagged zone
Sydney, Australia · Water safety · surface
SLSA most photographed patrol. The flags move. The rip does not care about the postcard.
Open →Waikiki lifeguard towers
Oahu, Hawaii · Water safety · surface
A dense tower system on a crowded export beach; channels and boards are the local hazards.
Open →Bournemouth / RNLI beaches
England, UK · Water safety · surface
An RNLI lifeguard model on a tidal, cold-water coast: flags plus a different thermal reality.
Open →Copacabana / Rio towers
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil · Water safety · surface
A famous urban beach with a documented rip and undertow problem; swim where the post says.
Open →Chicago lakefront (guarded beaches)
Illinois, USA · Water safety · surface
A Great Lakes city that learned, repeatedly, that a lake is not a pool. Swim at guarded beaches only.
Open →Home-pool fencing (statute model)
Various statutes · Water safety · 0-2 m
The site is a backyard that meets four-sided fencing law: unglamorous and decisive.
Open →Open-water event with safety craft
Various · Water safety · set course
A World Aquatics or club marathon with kayaks and feed stations: organised water, still not a solo dawn dip.
Open →Lady Elliot Island house reef
Southern GBR, AU · Great Barrier Reef · 1-8 m
A coral cay with a research-station culture, a lighthouse, and a genuine house-reef snorkel at the Reef southern end.
Open →Heron Island shallows
Capricornia, AU · Great Barrier Reef · 1-6 m
A research and resort cay; etiquette is also science logistics. Walking the cay is a bird-and-turtle problem.
Open →Ribbon Reefs / Cod Hole
Far North Queensland · Great Barrier Reef · 8-25 m
Outer-shelf walls and the famous potato-cod site. Usually a liveaboard, not a first pontoon day.
Open →SS Yongala
off Cape Bowling Green, AU · Great Barrier Reef · 16-30 m
Sank 1911; a protected historic wreck with dense fish. Typically an exterior. See wreck-diving.
Open →Agincourt Reef pontoons
Port Douglas shelf, AU · Great Barrier Reef · 2-15 m
The mass outer-reef day product: platforms, helmet dives, and a concentrated impact that parks try to manage.
Open →Hardy Reef / Heart Reef look
Whitsundays, AU · Great Barrier Reef · 2-12 m
A Whitsunday outer-reef pontoon area; Heart Reef itself is a overflight icon, not a walk-in snorkel.
Open →Michaelmas Cay
off Cairns, AU · Great Barrier Reef · 1-5 m
A bird sanctuary cay with a roped snorkel; the cay is closed to wandering. Terns are the residents.
Open →Osprey Reef (Coral Sea)
Coral Sea, AU · Great Barrier Reef · 10-40 m
A Coral Sea atoll often sold beside GBR trips: walls, sharks, and a longer crossing. Not the same park as the inner reef.
Open →Blue Corner
Ngemelis, Palau · Palau · 8-25 m typical
A reef point dived on incoming current, often with a reef hook as briefed. Pelagics are the reputation; the skill is the hook and the exit.
Open →Jellyfish Lake (Ongeim'l Tketau)
Eil Malk, Palau · Palau · surface
A UNESCO Rock Islands marine lake. Snorkel only, strict fins and sunscreen rules, and a history of management closures when jellyfish or drought require it.
Open →German Channel
Ngemelis area, Palau · Palau · 8-20 m
A blasted boat pass that became a manta and reef-fish site. Traffic and current are the real conditions.
Open →Ulong Channel
Rock Islands, Palau · Palau · 8-20 m
A drift through a channel with soft corals and a resident shark reputation. Tide timing is the brief.
Open →Big Drop-off (Ngemelis Wall)
Ngemelis, Palau · Palau · 2-30 m+
A classic wall that starts shallow enough for a look and drops into blue. Cousteau-era fame; still a buoyancy exam.
Open →Chandelier Cave
near Koror, Palau · Palau · 3-12 m
An overhead limestone cave with formations. Guided, lights, exit discipline. Not a snorkel and not a casual swim-through.
Open →Peleliu Express
Peleliu, Palau · Palau · 10-25 m
A fast drift off the 1944 battlefield island. Longer boat, sharper current, a different mood than a Koror house reef.
Open →Siaes Tunnel
west of Koror, Palau · Palau · 18-30 m
A swim-through / tunnel in a wall, briefed as an overhead-adjacent site. Depth and light discipline matter.
Open →HP Reef (Helengeli Pinnacle)
North Male Atoll · Maldives · 12-30 m
A classic North Male pinnacle that trained a generation of safari divers. Crowded, current-prone, still a real thila.
Open →Banana Reef
North Male Atoll · Maldives · 5-20 m
One of the first named recreational reefs in the country; a classroom site with a banana-shaped profile in the lore.
Open →Maaya Thila
South Ari Atoll · Maldives · 8-25 m
A famous pinnacle, including night dives with nurse sharks in the reputation. Lights and silt manners matter.
Open →Fish Head (Mushimasmingili Thila)
North Ari Atoll · Maldives · 10-30 m
A grey-reef-shark thila in older guidebooks. Current and depth make it a briefed circuit, not a snorkel.
Open →Hanifaru Bay
Baa Atoll · Maldives · surface-8 m
UNESCO biosphere feeding bay for manta rays and sometimes whale sharks. Time slots, no scuba, distance rules. Closures happen.
Open →Kandooma Thila
South Male Atoll · Maldives · 12-30 m
A long, current-swept thila near a well-known resort name. A drift exam, not a first thila.
Open →Rasdhoo Madivaru
Rasdhoo Atoll · Maldives · 10-30 m
An oceanic-edge site with a hammerhead reputation in season. Early starts, blue water, no guarantees.
Open →Fuvahmulah harbour / oceanic
Gnaviyani, south · Maldives · 5-30 m+
A single-island atoll with a sharper oceanic reputation than a central house reef. Not a first-lagoon week.
Open →Cape Kri
Dampier Strait, Waigeo · Raja Ampat · 5-30 m
The 2001 Allen fish-count site. A point with current, a wall, and more species than a brief can list. Not a first checkout if the strait is running.
Open →Melissa's Garden
Fam Islands · Raja Ampat · 2-20 m
A soft-coral garden on a shallow plateau, also dived on scuba. Knees are the hazard. One of the kinder famous names.
Open →Manta Sandy
near Arborek · Raja Ampat · 5-15 m
A sandy cleaning station with distance rules for snorkel and scuba. No chase, no blocking. Closures and time limits appear.
Open →Blue Magic
Dampier Strait · Raja Ampat · 12-30 m+
A current-swept seamount / pinnacle with a pelagic reputation. SMB, brief, and the right to skip it.
Open →Sardine Reef
Dampier Strait · Raja Ampat · 5-25 m
A rounded reef in current, famous for fish density. A Dampier classic beside Cape Kri.
Open →The Passage (Fam)
Fam Islands · Raja Ampat · 5-20 m
A channel through karst, dived and snorkelled on tide. Scenery is the point; current is the condition.
Open →Arborek Jetty
Arborek village · Raja Ampat · 1-8 m
A village jetty that became a night-and-day fish nursery icon. Homestay culture; manners toward the village matter.
Open →Misool / Fiabacet area
South Raja Ampat · Raja Ampat · 5-30 m
A remoter southern product: walls, caves, and a conservation-area story. Not a Dampier day-boat.
Open →Shark Reef and Yolanda
Ras Mohammed, Sinai · Red Sea · 8-30 m
The park's signature drift: a wall, a current, and the Yolanda freighter's cargo on the reef. Crowded, famous, still a real sea.
Open →SS Thistlegorm
Sha'ab Ali, Egypt · Red Sea · 16-30 m
Sank 1941; trucks and BSA bikes made it a mass wreck. Holds are overhead. Typically a liveaboard or long day.
Open →Dahab Blue Hole
Dahab, Sinai · Red Sea · entry 6-20 m rec.
A beautiful hole with a lethal arch folklore. The rim is a snorkel; the arch is not a first Red Sea plan. Also a freedive site with a buddy.
Open →Jackson Reef
Tiran Strait, Egypt · Red Sea · 8-25 m
A Tiran classic with current and a wrecked freighter in the site lore. Wind cancels the strait.
Open →Elphinstone
off Marsa Alam, Egypt · Red Sea · 18-40 m
An offshore wall with a pelagic reputation. Not a house reef. Current and depth.
Open →Brothers Islands (Big / Little)
offshore Egypt · Red Sea · 10-40 m
A marine-park pair of walls and wrecks (Numidia, Aida in the lore). Weather is the gate.
Open →Abu Dabbab seagrass
Marsa Alam, Egypt · Red Sea · 5-15 m
A seagrass bay known for turtles and, at times, dugong sightings. Distance rules; this is not a chase product.
Open →Canyon (Dahab)
Dahab, Sinai · Red Sea · 10-30 m
A shore-accessible canyon/reef site that is a Dahab craft classroom: buoyancy, a guide, and a map, not a Hole dare.
Open →Hanauma Bay
Oahu · Hawaii · 1-4 m
A flooded volcanic crater and MLCD. Timed tickets, a video brief, and closed days manage the crowd that made the bay famous.
Open →Molokini Crater (inner)
Maui · Hawaii · 2-10 m
A crescent tuff cone. The inner crater is the classic boat-snorkel; the back wall is a current scuba site, not a first snorkel.
Open →Kealakekua Bay
Hawaii Island · Hawaii · 2-15 m
A MLCD with a monument shore, reached by boat or a steep trail. Clear water, boats, and heat on the land route.
Open →Two Step (Honaunau)
Hawaii Island · Hawaii · 1-8 m
A lava-ledge entry near Pu'uhonua o Honaunau. Ankles and urchins are the local tax; coral is close.
Open →Cathedrals (Lanai)
Lanai · Hawaii · 10-20 m
Lava caverns and light rays, typically a Maui-or-Lanai boat scuba. Overhead-adjacent; a guide and a brief, not a snorkel.
Open →Shark's Cove
North Shore Oahu · Hawaii · 1-6 m
A rocky tide-pool and cove that is a summer snorkel and a winter close-out. The name is folklore; the swell is not.
Open →Kahe Point (Electric Beach)
West Oahu · Hawaii · 3-12 m
A power-plant outflow that concentrates fish and snorkellers. Current and a working-industrial shoreline; not a wilderness bay.
Open →Kona manta night sites (Garden Eel / Keauhou)
Hawaii Island · Hawaii · 8-12 m sit
Lights, plankton, mantas. A sit-dive or snorkel product with tightening no-touch codes. Wind cancels. See night-diving.
Open →Hol Chan cut and shallows
Ambergris Caye, Belize · Caribbean · 1-8 m
A 1987 marine reserve at a reef cut. The textbook Caribbean snorkel park; Shark Ray Alley is a nearby, more argued add-on.
Open →Palancar (gardens / caves / horseshoe)
Cozumel, Mexico · Caribbean · 10-30 m
A drifted reef complex on the Yucatan current. Gardens are kinder; deeper walls are a later exam. Marine-park rules.
Open →Bloody Bay Wall
Little Cayman · Caribbean · 5-30 m+
A wall that begins in snorkel-shallow water and drops into blue. A Caribbean buoyancy classroom with a famous name.
Open →USS Kittiwake
Grand Cayman · Caribbean · 4-20 m
A purpose-sunk 2011 artificial reef, shallower and more planned than a war grave. Still a wreck: cutters, lights, no souvenirs.
Open →Bonaire Salt Pier
Bonaire · Caribbean · 5-15 m
A working pier that is also a fish-and-light site, closed when a salt ship is in. The park tag still applies. Shore culture.
Open →Stingray City sandbar
Grand Cayman · Caribbean · 1-2 m
A habituated ray sandbar. Ethics and rules have tightened; it is a manners exam, not a grab-and-grin.
Open →Tobago Cays Marine Park
St. Vincent and the Grenadines · Caribbean · 1-8 m
A Grenadines park of cays and turtles. Anchoring and turtle-distance rules; a sailing-week snorkel more than a scuba wall.
Open →Devil's Grotto
Grand Cayman · Caribbean · 5-12 m
A shore-accessible coral-canyon site near Georgetown, also dived on scuba. Boats, entries, and a reminder that Cayman is not only walls.
Open →Munseom (Moon Island)
Seogwipo, Jeju · Jeju · 8-25 m
A Seogwipo islet and a headline Korean recreational dive: walls, soft coral in season, boat traffic. Not a winter first ocean day.
Open →Beomseom (Tiger Island)
Seogwipo, Jeju · Jeju · 8-25 m
Paired with Munseom on the same boat map. Current and swell decide; the name is the postcard, the harbour is the truth.
Open →Udo shallows / Hagosudong area
Udo, Jeju · Jeju · 1-5 m
A ferry island with sand-and-rock snorkel water. The cow-island beaches are the mass product; swell closes the pretty side.
Open →Seopseom
Seogwipo, Jeju · Jeju · 8-20 m
Another Seogwipo islet on the Munseom-Beomseom circuit. Same craft: checkout, swell call, no knees on living cover.
Open →Hamdeok beach (calm days)
North Jeju · Jeju · 1-3 m
A popular sand beach with a small islet look. Wind and crowds are the conditions; it is a classroom, not a wall.
Open →Seongsan Ilchulbong coast
East Jeju · Jeju · 1-6 m
The sunrise tuff cone's shore water, used for look-and-snorkel when swell allows. Geology and a working harbour sit beside it.
Open →Jungmun / Daepo columnar shore
South Jeju · Jeju · 1-4 m
Columnar joint coast near the resort strip. Entries cut; swell makes it a lookout, not a swim.
Open →Chagwido / Suwolbong area
West Jeju · Jeju · 5-20 m
A remoter west-coast / islet option with a geological park on land. Wind is the gate; not a first Seogwipo checkout.
Open →Apo Island shallows and drop
Negros Oriental · Philippines · 2-25 m
A community-protected volcanic island. Snorkel on the shallows, scuba on the drop. The sanctuary brief is the point.
Open →Coron wrecks (Irako / Olympia Maru area)
Busuanga, Palawan · Philippines · 16-30 m
1944 fleet. Some wrecks are recreational exteriors; many penetrations are technical. Graves and silt. See wreck-diving.
Open →Tubbataha Reefs
Sulu Sea · Philippines · 5-30 m
A no-hotel UNESCO park. Liveaboard only, ranger station, walls and a short season. Etiquette is the liveaboard brief.
Open →Monad Shoal
Malapascua, Cebu · Philippines · 12-25 m
A seamount known for thresher sharks on early dives. Current, blue water, no chase. Not a first ocean day.
Open →Apo Reef (Mindoro)
Occidental Mindoro · Philippines · 5-30 m
A separate, large atoll park from Apo Island. Walls and a park brief; do not confuse the two names when booking.
Open →Anilao reefs / muck
Batangas, Luzon · Philippines · 8-25 m
A Manila-weekend coast famous for critters and a dense shop culture. House reefs and piers, not a Sulu Sea wall.
Open →Puerto Galera (Verde Island Passage)
Mindoro · Philippines · 8-25 m
A long-standing recreational town on a busy, biodiverse passage. Channel current and boat traffic are the conditions.
Open →Balicasag Island
Panglao, Bohol · Philippines · 5-25 m
A sanctuary islet with a wall, a day boat from Panglao. Snorkel on the shallows, scuba on the drop; the brief is the sanctuary.
Open →Kerama Islands (Zamami / Aka area)
Kerama NP, Okinawa · Okinawa · 2-20 m
A 2014 national park west of Naha. Boat snorkel and scuba, turtles, clarity. Wind is the gate; Zamami is a common gateway.
Open →Ishigaki Manta Scramble / Kabira points
Ishigaki, Yaeyama · Okinawa · 8-20 m
Boat sites where manta rays are seen in season. Distance rules, current, no chase. Not a first Maeda hour.
Open →Blue Cave (Cape Maeda)
Onna, Okinawa Island · Okinawa · 3-8 m
A limestone sea cave entered from shore. Overhead-adjacent, crowded, swell-sensitive. A mass product, not a cavern course.
Open →Yonehara Beach
Ishigaki · Okinawa · 1-5 m
A sand-and-reef beach snorkel when conditions allow. The classroom contrast to a manta boat.
Open →Miyako / Irabu limestone sites
Miyako Islands · Okinawa · 5-25 m
Shore and boat caves and drops on a limestone plateau. Guided overhead-adjacent sites; a different map from Naha.
Open →Minna Island
Motobu, Okinawa Island · Okinawa · 1-6 m
A small island day-trip with beach and glass-bottom culture. A gentle main-island option when Maeda is a scrum.
Open →Cape Maeda open-water (outside the cave)
Onna, Okinawa Island · Okinawa · 5-15 m
The same cape's open reef, used for checkout and intro dives. Stairs and swell still rule; the cave is optional.
Open →Yonaguni (including the monument area)
Yonaguni Island · Okinawa · 8-25 m
A remote western island with strong current and a famous submerged rock formation. Advanced, optional, not a first prefecture dive. This atlas will not adjudicate origin theories.
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