Best marine reserve Dive Sites in the World
Explore top-rated dive spots tagged with marine reserve across multiple destinations.
Other Popular Tags
Australia
1
Belize
4Shark Point
San Pedro · Ambergris Caye · Belize
A sandy-bottomed channel on the Belize Barrier Reef where nurse sharks and southern stingrays congregate in crystal-clear shallows.
Half Moon Caye Wall
Belize City · Lighthouse Reef Atoll · Belize
A vertical wall plunging into the abyss with pristine corals, swim-throughs, and eagle rays in crystalline visibility.
Glover's Reef Atoll
Dangriga · Stann Creek District · Belize
The southernmost and most remote of Belize's three atolls, a UNESCO World Heritage site where pristine wall diving plunges from shallow coral gardens into the abyss along a ring of reef encircling a turquoise lagoon.
South Water Caye Marine Reserve
Dangriga · Stann Creek District · Belize
A UNESCO-protected marine reserve on the Belize Barrier Reef where pristine coral gardens, patrolling eagle rays, and resident nurse sharks thrive on a remote caye accessible only by boat from Dangriga.
Cuba
2Jardines de la Reina
Jucaro · Ciego de Avila · Cuba
Cuba's pristine marine reserve comprising 250 coral islands and mangrove cays, where decades of strict protection have created Caribbean diving with shark populations and reef health unseen elsewhere in the region.
María la Gorda
Sandino · Pinar del Río · Cuba
Cuba's westernmost dive destination on the Guanahacabibes Peninsula, where pristine walls plunge into the Caribbean beside black coral forests and vast sponge gardens far from any development.
Dominica
2Soufriere Pinnacle
Roseau · Saint Mark · Dominica
A volcanic pinnacle rising from deep water in Dominica's Soufriere-Scotts Head Marine Reserve, with geothermal vents, pristine coral walls, and the Caribbean's healthiest reef ecosystem thriving in nutrient-rich volcanic waters.
Soufriere Scotts Head Marine Reserve
Soufriere · Soufriere · Dominica
A volcanic crater turned marine reserve with dramatic pinnacles, sheer walls, and geothermal vents in Dominica's richest underwater ecosystem.
Ecuador
2Galera San Francisco Marine Reserve
Muisne · Esmeraldas Province · Ecuador
Ecuador's largest continental marine reserve, where warm Choco currents nurture vibrant coral reefs, whale sharks, and humpback whales along a wild Pacific coastline.
Isabela Island Los Tuneles
Puerto Villamil · Galapagos Islands · Ecuador
A surreal landscape of collapsed lava tunnels off Isabela Island where sea turtles, white-tip reef sharks, and seahorses inhabit a labyrinth of volcanic arches, bridges, and channels in the Galapagos marine reserve.
Fiji
3Shark Reef Marine Reserve
Pacific Harbour · Beqa Island · Fiji
Fiji's premier shark dive where up to eight species of sharks gather at a single site, including bull sharks at arm's length on an adrenaline-charged feed.
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.
Beqa Lagoon Shark Dive
Pacific Harbour · Viti Levu · Fiji
The world's premier multi-species shark dive, offering face-to-face encounters with up to eight shark species including bulls and tigers.
France
3Lavezzi Islands
Bonifacio · Corsica · France
A granite archipelago in the Strait of Bonifacio between Corsica and Sardinia, where powerful currents deliver exceptional visibility and support dense grouper populations in a strictly protected marine reserve.
Scandola Nature Reserve
Porto · Corsica · France
A UNESCO World Heritage volcanic peninsula where red gorgonian forests and huge groupers thrive in crystal-clear Corsican waters.
Le Sec Jaune
Saint-Leu · Reunion · France
The legendary dive of Reunion Island, a volcanic pinnacle rising from the deep with extraordinary fish mimicry, green turtles, and seasonal humpback whale encounters.
French Polynesia
1Israel
1Italy
4Punta Campanella Marine Reserve
Sorrento · Campania · Italy
A marine protected area at the tip of the Sorrentine Peninsula where ancient Roman ruins meet Mediterranean reef walls, offering dramatic diving beneath the cliffs that separate the Bay of Naples from the Amalfi Coast.
Portofino Marine Reserve
Santa Margherita Ligure · Liguria · Italy
The iconic Italian Riviera underwater, where the Christ of the Abyss statue guards walls draped in red coral and gorgonians.
Tremiti Islands
Foggia · Puglia · Italy
A tiny Adriatic archipelago off the Gargano coast where ancient Diomedes legend meets pristine Mediterranean marine reserve, featuring dramatic grottos, Posidonia meadows, and some of Italy's clearest water.
Ustica Island
Palermo · Sicily · Italy
Italy's oldest marine protected area, a volcanic island sheltering half the Mediterranean's marine species in crystalline waters.
Madagascar
1New Zealand
3Goat Island Marine Reserve
Auckland · Auckland Region · New Zealand
New Zealand's oldest marine reserve, where fearless snapper, blue maomao, and crayfish crowd the kelp-fringed rocky reefs just an hour from Auckland.
Tawharanui Marine Reserve
Auckland · Auckland Region · New Zealand
A pristine coastal marine reserve on the Tawharanui Peninsula where kelp forests, sandy flats, and sheltered rocky reefs support thriving populations of snapper and crayfish.
Poor Knights Islands
Tutukaka · Northland · New Zealand
Jacques Cousteau's pick for the world's top ten, a subtropical marine reserve where cathedral-sized caves, archways, and kelp forests teem with life.
Portugal
2Formigas Islets
Vila Franca do Campo · Azores · Portugal
A remote chain of rocky islets and submerged pinnacles in the eastern Azores, designated a marine reserve where mobula rays school in hundreds and blue sharks cruise the nutrient-rich mid-Atlantic waters.
Berlengas Islands
Peniche · Centro · Portugal
A remote UNESCO Biosphere Reserve off Portugal's central coast with crystalline Atlantic waters, granite reef walls, and abundant marine life thriving in a protected marine park.
Samoa
1South Africa
1Spain
5El Toro Marine Reserve
Santa Ponsa · Balearic Islands · Spain
A protected marine reserve off southwest Mallorca where huge barracuda schools patrol above pristine Mediterranean reef.
El Cabrón Marine Reserve
Arinaga · Canary Islands · Spain
A volcanic marine reserve on Gran Canaria's eastern coast where lava formations create an underwater landscape of arches, tunnels, and caverns teeming with Atlantic and Mediterranean species in warm, clear water.
El Hierro Mar de las Calmas
La Restinga · Canary Islands · Spain
The smallest Canary Island's volcanic southern coast creates a uniquely sheltered marine reserve where Atlantic mantas, whale sharks, and hammerheads pass through waters of extraordinary clarity above young volcanic reef.
Cabo de Palos Islas Hormigas
Cartagena · Murcia · Spain
A marine reserve off southeast Spain where submerged volcanic pinnacles attract the Mediterranean's largest aggregations of barracuda, eagle rays, and enormous dusky groupers, with dramatic underwater topography and exceptional visibility.
Columbretes Islands
Castellon de la Plana · Valencian Community · Spain
Remote volcanic archipelago 50 kilometres offshore with crystalline visibility and enormous groupers in a strict marine reserve.