Coral33 sites24 countries

Dive sites: Coral

Coral dive sites — depth, conditions, and required training level.

Australia

Cod Hole

Cairns · Queensland · Australia

A legendary Great Barrier Reef site where enormous, friendly potato cod approach divers for interaction on the pristine Ribbon Reefs.

Rowley Shoals

Broome · Western Australia · Australia

Three pristine coral atolls rising from deep ocean 300km off Broome, offering untouched coral gardens, dramatic walls, and powerful tidal channel dives.

Bangladesh

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Saint Martin's Island

Teknaf · Cox's Bazar District · Bangladesh

Bangladesh's only coral island where colourful reef life and rocky formations offer the country's best snorkelling and shallow diving in the Bay of Bengal.

Bonaire

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Bari Reef

Kralendijk · Bonaire · Bonaire

Bonaire's most popular house reef and arguably the best shore dive in the Caribbean, offering 24/7 access to a pristine coral slope with exceptional macro life, resident turtles, and the island's healthiest hard coral coverage.

China

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Weizhou Island

Beihai · Guangxi Province · China

A volcanic island in the Beibu Gulf with China's best-preserved coral reefs, unique geological formations, and warm waters teeming with colourful reef fish.

Wuzhizhou Island

Sanya · Hainan Province · China

Hainan's premier dive destination where tropical coral reefs, warm clear waters, and abundant marine life make it China's best recreational diving site.

Cook Islands

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Aitutaki Lagoon

Arutanga · Southern Cook Islands · Cook Islands

A triangular turquoise lagoon encircled by coral motus where giant trevally, reef sharks, and pristine coral gardens create a South Pacific paradise.

Egypt

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Sha'ab Samadai South Plateau

Marsa Alam · Red Sea · Egypt

The exposed southern plateau of the famous Dolphin House reef, where strong currents sweep a coral-encrusted slope bringing grey reef sharks, eagle rays, and pelagic fish to a site most visitors never reach.

Fiji

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Great Astrolabe Reef

Vunisea · Kadavu Province · Fiji

One of the world's largest barrier reefs encircling remote Kadavu, with pristine passes, manta rays, and untouched coral gardens.

Namena Marine Reserve

Savusavu · Namena Barrier Reef · Fiji

Fiji's largest marine protected area where pristine coral pinnacles, schooling hammerheads, and vibrant soft coral gardens create world-class reef diving.

India

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Kadmat Island

Kadmat · Lakshadweep · India

A remote coral atoll in India's Lakshadweep archipelago offering pristine coral reef diving in gin-clear lagoon waters, with manta rays, sea turtles, and sharks patrolling the outer reef drop-offs far from mainland tourist crowds.

Indonesia

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Sawai Bay

Masohi · Maluku · Indonesia

A remote coral bay on the northern coast of Seram Island where pristine fringing reefs meet mangrove-lined shores, offering encounters with reef sharks, giant trevally, and prolific hard coral coverage far from tourist infrastructure.

Biak Island Padaido Reef

Biak · Papua · Indonesia

A remote coral wilderness in Papua's Cenderawasih Bay where WWII relics lie among pristine reefs, whale sharks gather at fishing platforms, and the coral diversity rivals Raja Ampat with a fraction of the visitors.

Anambas Islands

Tarempa · Riau Islands · Indonesia

A remote archipelago in the South China Sea where crystal-clear waters surround untouched coral reefs, granite boulder formations create dramatic underwater landscapes, and isolation ensures virtually zero diver traffic.

Japan

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Amami Oshima Coral Reef

Amami · Kagoshima Prefecture · Japan

A subtropical island between Kyushu and Okinawa where pristine coral reefs thrive in the warm Kuroshio Current, supporting sea turtles, humpback whales in winter, and some of Japan's healthiest hard coral coverage.

Kenya

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Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Park

Shimoni · Kwale County · Kenya

Kenya's premier marine national park off the Tanzanian border where warm Indian Ocean waters harbour resident pods of spinner and bottlenose dolphins, humpback whale migrations, and pristine coral gardens on the outer reef slopes of Kisite Island.

Malaysia

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Sugar Wreck

Kuala Besut · Terengganu · Malaysia

A mysterious sugar cargo vessel resting upright at 20 meters off Perhentian Kecil, colonized by vibrant soft corals and home to resident hawksbill turtles.

Mayotte

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Passe en S

Dzaoudzi · Petite-Terre · Mayotte

An S-shaped channel cut through Mayotte's barrier reef where tidal currents funnel pelagic visitors into a tropical lagoon, creating one of the Indian Ocean's most accessible big-animal drift dives.

Mexico

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Punta Sur

San Miguel de Cozumel · Quintana Roo · Mexico

Cozumel's deepest and most thrilling wall dive features dramatic coral overhangs, the famous Devil's Throat swim-through, and spectacular drop-offs.

The Canyon San Cristobal

San Miguel de Cozumel · Quintana Roo · Mexico

A dramatic coral canyon on Cozumel's leeward coast where swim-throughs and overhangs shelter nurse sharks, turtles, and enormous sponges.

Micronesia

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Shinkoku Maru

Weno · Chuuk State · Micronesia

A coral-encrusted WWII Japanese oiler resting upright in Chuuk Lagoon, with world-class penetration and haunting artefacts.

New Caledonia

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Amedee Lighthouse Reef

Noumea · South Province · New Caledonia

A shallow coral platform surrounding a historic lighthouse islet on New Caledonia's barrier reef where crystal-clear Melanesian waters harbour sea snakes, nautilus, and pristine coral formations within a UNESCO-listed lagoon.

Oman

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Lima Rock

Khasab · Musandam Governorate · Oman

A spectacular rocky island in Oman's Musandam Peninsula with sheer underwater cliffs, vibrant coral gardens, and frequent encounters with whale sharks, turtles, and schooling pelagics.

Papua New Guinea

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Milne Bay

Alotau · Milne Bay Province · Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea's muck diving capital where bizarre critters, pristine reefs, and WWII wrecks converge in one of the most biodiverse marine regions on Earth.

Kimbe Bay

Kimbe · West New Britain Province · Papua New Guinea

The coral capital of the world, sheltering 60 percent of Indo-Pacific coral species on seamounts, walls, and pristine reefs.

Samoa

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Palolo Deep Marine Reserve

Apia · Upolu · Samoa

A protected reef hole just off Apia's shore where giant clams, sea turtles, and pristine coral formations thrive in warm Samoan waters.

Saudi Arabia

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Boiler Wreck

Jeddah · Makkah Province · Saudi Arabia

A century-old coal-fired shipwreck on Abu Madafi reef near Jeddah, named for its two surviving boilers, surrounded by coral caves with stunning light effects and rich marine life.

South Africa

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Sodwana Bay Nine Mile Reef

Sodwana Bay · KwaZulu-Natal · South Africa

The furthest and least visited of Sodwana Bay's numbered reefs, Nine Mile Reef rewards the longer boat ride with pristine hard coral formations, large pelagic visitors, and a genuine wilderness reef experience on South Africa's tropical Maputaland coast.

Taiwan

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Xiaoliuqiu (Lamay Island)

Donggang · Pingtung County · Taiwan

A small coral island off southwestern Taiwan famous for one of the world's densest populations of green sea turtles, where snorkelers and divers encounter dozens of turtles grazing on shallow reefs in warm, clear water.

Thailand

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Bida Nok

Koh Phi Phi · Krabi · Thailand

A dramatic limestone island south of Phi Phi with sheer walls plunging to 28 metres, famous for leopard sharks resting on sandy ledges and dense fields of sea fans on its vertical faces.

Twins Pinnacles

Koh Tao · Surat Thani · Thailand

Twin granite pinnacles rising from a sandy seabed off Koh Nang Yuan, beloved by new divers for shallow coral gardens and abundant reef fish in consistently warm, clear Gulf of Thailand water.