All travelers will agree. The world has a lot of natural beauty to offer. From high mountain ranges to vast jungles. But all of the beauty below the surface has yet to be discovered.
You can see brightly colored corals, beautiful tropical fish, and exciting shipwrecks, but did you know that you can also visit a complete art museum or a junkyard from the 1950s below sea level?
Here are some great scuba destinations for 2020.
Great Barrier Reef, Australia
The Great Barrier Reef is a diving location that makes the list every year. And that is no surprise as the Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world. Actually, it is so big that you can see it from space.
Unfortunately, due to global warming and pollution, the barrier reef is quickly diminishing. Because of this, the life of thousands of sea turtles, sharks, rays and other marine wildlife is threatened. So we advise you to experience this wonder of the world while you still can.
The Underwater Museum in Cancun, Mexico
The largest underwater museum can be found off the coast of Cancun in Mexico.
Here you can find a sculpture park with more than 500 permanent life-sized and monumental sculpture at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea.
The former director of the Marine Park in Cancun once came up with the idea to place these sculptures here in order to create a new complex coral reef system and preserve nature.
Meanwhile, the park has become a tourist attraction; you can dive and go on snorkel trips or view the museum from a glass bottom boat.
The Great Blue Hole, Belize
The Caribbean Sea in Belize is home to one of the most photographed diving spots in the world: the Great Blue Hole.
The deep blue gaping hole is a 100-meter deep limestone cave with a diameter of 300 meters.
The blue water, the colorful coral and the many animals such as sharks, barracudas and tropical fish make the Great Blue Hole one of the most beautiful locations on earth to dive.
Most dives go up to 40 meters deep and are only suitable for advanced divers.
Wreck Valley, New York
You won’t find any coral reefs in the waters around New York, but that does not make this diving location any less spectacular.
The region has always been a busy sea route, so many ships have sunk here in the past.
Wreck Valley is full of shipwrecks in relatively shallow water. Nowadays, deprecated ships are still sunk here to create an artificial reef.
Summer is the best time to see this rich underwater history of New York.
Manta Ray Village, Hawaii.
The dive site off the coast of Kona in Hawaii is especially popular at night: using your dive lights with powerful beams to shine around in the water will attract plankton, making Manta Rays – the best-known species of rays – appear.
Their appearance is highly unpredictable. Sometimes you will see many, other times none at all, but diving during full moon seems to be the ideal moment to ‘hunt’ Manta Rays.
Header image credits: Sebastian Pena Lambarri