Hanauma Bay
Oahu, Hawaii · 1–4 m · park · ticketed days
The textbook managed snorkel: video brief, closed on Tuesdays, carrying-capacity experiments since the 1970s.
Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
Accessibility82
Skill ceiling34
Gear load14
Risk22
Seasonality32
Wow factor46
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Last reviewed Sources & creditsMedia creditsMethodology
Quick answers
Which local rescue or training agency should I check first?
Use the local lens: coastguard/federation norms and the shop briefing for that bay — not a blog visibility claim.
Is touching coral always illegal?
Often yes in a park, and always a bad idea. A glove does not make a polyp tougher.
Why do Hawaii and Palau restrict sunscreens?
Statutes target ingredients such as oxybenzone. The science and the politics are both live; long sleeves work regardless.
Can people take a shell?
In many countries, even empty shells and sand are restricted. Assume no souvenir.
How far from a turtle?
Many parks specify 2–3 metres or more, no blocking the surface path. If the animal changes direction, the person is too close.
Is feeding fish kind?
It changes behaviour and is banned in serious parks. The bread-ball boat is a failure mode.
These sites are famous because they had to invent management. Typical rules below are historical patterns, not today’s permit sheet.
Go where a ranger talks. The silent “secret reef” is often a trampling experiment.
Points
Jellyfish Lake (Ongeim’l Tketau)
Palau · surface · lake · often closed/rotated
UNESCO Rock Islands; fins and sunscreen rules are strict, and the lake has closed when jellyfish or drought required it.
Tubbataha Reefs
Sulu Sea, PH · 5–30 m · park · Mar–Jun season
A no-structure, permit-only UNESCO site; etiquette is the liveaboard brief and a ranger station.
Great Barrier Reef (public pontoons)
Queensland, AU · 2–8 m · park · year-round, stinger season
GBRMPA zoning: green zones, stinger suits in summer, and a pontoon model that concentrates impact.
Bonaire National Marine Park
Bonaire · 2–20 m · often good · year-round
A shore-tag system and a long no-anchor culture; the Caribbean’s etiquette laboratory.
Raja Ampat marine park
West Papua, ID · 2–30 m · park · Oct–Apr common
PIN entry and village rules; manta sanctuaries with distance codes.
Ras Mohammed
Sinai, Egypt · 2–30 m · park · year-round, windy days
A national park at the Red Sea’s tip; the Yolanda wreck and reef both depend on no-take rules.
Heron Island
GBR, AU · 1–6 m · research cay · year-round
A research-station island where etiquette is also science logistics.
Tips
- Pay the PIN / tag — It is the park’s budget for rangers.
- Ask about closures — Jellyfish Lake and turtle beaches close. That is success.
- Night photos — No strobe in a turtle’s face. Parks are writing this down now.
- Village briefings — In Raja and Palau the “park” may be a community. Listen twice.
The famous etiquette sites are famous because they were damaged first. Pay the tag.