I am a travel agent in Maryland. We frequently have clients question us on the best places to dive. I am the only person in my office who has ever gone diving before and that was only twice.(oahu and jamaica) Since I have atleast dove before, I am considered our "expert" here. It might be nice to know the best places to go so I can answer questions better!! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Well, many consider, Cozomel Mexico and Astralia (barrier reef) to be two of the best places to dive.
Cozomel has great drift dives while bikini atol has the best wreck dives. The bahamas also has nice diving, and there are many others that I am sure will be mentioned by others

I like Playa Del Carmen MX the city has the same great diving as Cozumel but the city is much more laid back wth great little hotels (many under 50 rooms) and good resturants.

As a diver there is no bad diving just some is better than others.

May I recomend the Caribbean. The caribbean has some of the best dive sites in the world, with the clearest waters that I've seen and the oportunity to see some outstanding Marine Life and environments.

Bermuda is great for wreck-diving and sealife although tends to be an expensive destination. I recommend Bluewater divers as I've been out with them on a few occasions.

Puerto Galera (South Sea Divers) and Boracay Island in the Philippines are a little out of the way but also great places for the more adventurous travellers.

Rick

for drift diving and the big blue water on a budget expierience I have to say cozumel all hands down.
trey
texas diver

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Originally posted by bethh1:
I am a travel agent in Maryland. We frequently have clients question us on the best places to dive. I am the only person in my office who has ever gone diving before and that was only twice.(oahu and jamaica) Since I have atleast dove before, I am considered our "expert" here. It might be nice to know the best places to go so I can answer questions better!! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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The Red Sea could be the best but Barrier Reef in Australia great too. Thailand is also good as well as Belize. If you need specifics...call me at 512-728-2209 during day and I can give you more details...Rich

Hi Beth

Just returned from Bonaire, Netherland Antilles. This is a wonderful place to dive!! The whole reef around the island is considered a underwater marine park. The island caters to divers and there are many resorts and dive operations available. Even though its main focus is diving the island also offers snorkling, windsurfing, mountain biking (Washington Slagaai Park is incredible) hiking, sailing. Its safe and great!!!

cozumel is by far the best place to go for some of the best diving. it has a high quality of diving/cost ratio. it's in the caribbean and just south of cancun so you can always find deals. need help? i live here.

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Originally posted by bethh1:
I am a travel agent in Maryland. We frequently have clients question us on the best places to dive. I am the only person in my office who has ever gone diving before and that was only twice.(oahu and jamaica) Since I have atleast dove before, I am considered our "expert" here. It might be nice to know the best places to go so I can answer questions better!! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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I think the answer is "it depends". If you don't want to travel half way around the world, the best options lie in the Caribbean. From there, I think there are two big questions: (1) what kind of atmosphere do you want topside (2) what kind of diving do and diving activities do you like (walls, shore diving, drift, doing photography, etc.

I do underwater photography and have explored most of the Carribean. On my short list for best diving, quiet topside, safe and relatively disease free are Bonaire, Grand Turk, Saba, ST. Lucia and Cozumel. I notice a lot of people like Cozumel and I have a couple of comments about that. Travel to Cozumel is cheap so the high volume of divers to that location increases the likelihood of people responding liking Cozumel. If you don't travel a lot, you're likely to enjoy any place you go if the water is warm and the reefs are healthy. Cozumel just barely makes my short list for two reasons: (1) you can't drink the water and you're much more likely to have intestinal issues (2) it's drift diving that doesn't work well for most still photography. If you have any questions anytime about hotels, dive operations, feel free to email me. If I've been there lately, I'll offer my opinion...tom

I dove the Seychelles. Due to El Nino the water temperature rose and bleached the coral. It now looks like the seabed has been dynamited. The fish are still around though: great variety, colours and also snorkelled above a whale shark! Turtles and dolphins too! On Mahe I recommend Dive Seychelles at the Mahe Beach Hotel. Run by 2 S Africans with a Scandinavian DM as well as local DM and Boat skipper. It is the most professional outfit on the island.

The real bonus is that the Seychelles are a dream destination, beautiful uncrowded idyllic beaches, a friendly local population, excellent weather just the most beautiful place in the world for 2-3 weeks.

I'll chime in and vote for Grand Cayman and Bonaire. Usually more $$$ than cozumel, but a great experience!

Tough call, there are so many great places to go, combined with local flair - wow!! where to begin. Generally most divers would agree on Cayman, Bonaire and Honduras for top 3 in the Carribean.
For the rest of the world South Pacific and Barrier reef are all Goood!!