What to Expect
We have put together this guide of what you can expect from your diving holiday! Read up about our popular destinations, underwater marine life, accommodation choices, types of diving and our liveaboard boats. This is by no means a complete list but an insight in to what is available.
What can I expect to see?
Sharks
You either love them or hate them! For those that love them there are plenty of areas still where you can get your fix. If you are interested in going on a Great White Shark expedition, some of the best places to visit are in South Africa, Guadalupe or South Australia. Alternatively head to the Galapagos or the Cocos Islands for Hammerhead sharks. Mozambique, French Polynesia, Great Barrier Reef, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Sipadan, Layang Layang, Sea of Cortez, Costa Rica, Tobago, Cayman Islands and Sudan all offer great opportunities for observing these exciting and elegant creatures. We have more details of shark species here. To search for all our shark diving holidays click here.
Encounter the elusive Whale Shark with Dive Worldwide! Although not the easiest of species to encounter it is possible to increase your chances by choosing your destination and season carefully. During February to May is the best time in southern Thailand on one of our liveaboards that go to the Andaman Islands and Burma Banks. Head to the southern Kenya coast between November and February and your chances of a Whale Shark encounter is very high! Between August and mid October in Baja California there is a good chance of seeing these magnificent creatures! Whales
The first encounter with a whale is a memorable and moving experience for everyone. Now imagine being in the water as they swim beside or below you. The opportunity to encounter whales below the water is a rare experience and there are only a few places where this dream can be realised. One of these places is on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia where 2 of the liveaboards have licences to dive with the Minke Whales in July and August. It is also possible to interact in the water with Humpback Whales in Tonga and in the Turks and Caicos islands of the Caribbean. New Zealand has 39 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises. For our whale diving holidays, click here. If you are interested in whale watching holidays, please visit our sister company Oceans Worldwide.Dolphins
Dolphins can often be seen bow-riding or frolicking in the waters around dive boats almost anywhere in the tropics but a few special places where encounters are nearly guaranteed are New Zealand, Mozambique, Zanzibar and the Bay of Islands in Honduras. These playful creatures will often circle around a couple of times if you are in the water before heading once again into the blue. For our dolphin diving holidays, click here! . If you are interested in dolphin watching holidays, please visit our sister company Oceans Worldwide.Manta Rays
Manta Rays with wingspans as big as 20 feet look like huge birds gliding gracefully through the water and are high on any divers' wish list. Mantas prefer plankton-rich waters and are regular visitors to a few select locations. Cleaning stations are ideal places to encounter the Mantas and these can be found in Mozambique and Manta Ridge, Yap, Micronesia. From March through July, mantas visit the island of Tobago, feeding in the rich waters fed by the Orinoco estuary in South America. To search for all our manta ray diving holidays click here.
Where will I be staying?
Liveaboards
Many liveaboards provide the opportunity to dive remote and often otherwise inaccessible areas of the world; for those wishing to experience the largest number of dives in the shortest space of time then liveaboards are ideal. While most resort diving is limited to 2 or 3 dives a day, most liveaboards manage 4 to 5 a day. Other advantages include no heavy gear bags to pack and unpack, no hanging around between dives and all the facilities at close at hand. We have more details of liveaboard diving holidays here.Resorts & Hotels
Our speciality is in creating tailor-made diving holidays designed for each of our individual clients. It is the attention to detail that we provide when planning a diving holiday that is so important. With someone in the team having travelled and visited nearly every destination, we have been able to select the best accommodation choices for your tailor-made diving holiday.
Dive Worldwide offers the option of shared accommodation on our group departures. The smaller, dedicated dive resorts provide the opportunity not only to dive in company but also to be able to socialise with likeminded divers in the evening.
If you are a single traveller, cost is often the limiting factor since single room supplements can increase the holiday price dramatically. Dive Worldwide has negotiated with a number of resorts to offer some special rates for single travellers at specific times of the year, so do give us a call to discuss the options. If you are prepared to share a cabin then liveaboards can often provide the ideal solution.
What types of diving are available?
Shore Diving
Not everyone enjoys spending hours on boats but there are many areas in the world where you can just step off the beach into some fantastic dive sites. There is no doubt that Sipadan in Malaysia with its huge dropoffs offers some of the best shore diving in the world, often with immediate shark and turtle encounters! Bonaire in the Caribbean is another shore diving mecca with in excess of 60 marked sites. These are best accessed by means of a self-drive package but all resorts we feature have their own sites right in front of the properties. Other areas include Curacao in the Caribbean and Gozo in the Mediterranean. Remember as these areas are so close to the shore they are also ideal areas for snorkelling. There are even a few wrecks that are accessible from the shore like Tulamben, Bali and off the Portofino beach, Bonaire. Wreck Diving
Combine the eerie stillness of a sunken shipwreck with the teeming life of a coral reef. The lure of exploring sunken vessels, airplanes and automobiles is something most divers can't resist. There is nothing like seeing a wreck appearing from the depth as you descend the line. Underwater wrecks soon become encrusted with life to become veritable wonders of hard and soft corals and a safe haven for thousand of species. Wreck diving offers dramatic photographic possibilities and concentrations of marine life like no other dive sites on earth. Hot wreck spots of the world include Gibraltar, Sardinia, Truk Lagoon, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Malaysia at Labuan, Australia on the South Australian Coast and in Queensland the Yongala Wreck. These are only a few as there are many wrecks old and new throughout the world so please do call us if there is any one that you are particularly interested in seeing. Read more about wreck diving here. To search for all our wreck diving holidays click here.
What can I photograph?
Underwater Photography
With the introduction of digital cameras at affordable prices, underwater photography is becoming more popular with divers throughout the world. Neutral buoyancy is an essential skill to master so as not to disturb the reef when manoeuvring to capture your subject. We recommend enrolling on a course to learn the basics before purchasing all the necessary equipment. Cameras can be rented from a number of our featured resorts and liveaboards, many of which are equipped with modern equipment and facilities to help review and edit your images.
Read our Underwater Photography page here.
Spectacular Coral Reefs
Coral reefs are colonies of billions of tiny jelly-like individual creatures that have joined together to form colonies, which have been built up slowly over thousands of years. It is the living coral that gives the reef its colourful appearance. Shallow warm water is the ideal environment, with lots of water movement, plenty of light, salty water and low in nutrients. Healthy coral reefs teem with colourful fish and support an abundance of marine life. All over the world one can still find scenically spectacular reefs but some of the most scenic can be found in Australia - need we say more, Fiji - the soft coral capital of the world, Malaysia, Indonesia, French Polynesia and Micronesia.Macro Life
Macro life is often of keen interest to underwater photographers but who has not wondered in awe at the fascination of some of these tiny animals? So for those that want to take time to watch these intriguing tiny critters then Dive Worldwide can recommend a number of destinations around the world. For the Caribbean head for Bonaire and Dominica; for Asia try Kungkungan Bay, Manado possibly the best in the world or Kapalai near Sipadan, Malaysia. Further a field there is Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
How experienced do I have to be?
At Dive Worldwide we know how confusing it can be when faced with the array of dive courses and destinations around the world. Our experts are all qualified divers and can assist you in choosing the right course and destination for your first diving experience. Our specialist dive consultants are available to answer any diving, training or destination questions you may have. more information, click here.If you are a qualified diver, be sure to take your certification card and log book with you. Experienced divers are always looking for ways to improve their skills and perhaps, stay down longer or venture deeper to discover more of the underwater world. Technical diving is getting more popular and accessible to recreational divers throughout the world.
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