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Top 100 2015: Best Advanced Diving

By Brooke Morton | Published On February 7, 2015
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Top 100 2015: Best Advanced Diving

For the 22nd year in a row, our readers weighed in on their favorite dive sites around the world — from North America to the Caribbean and Atlantic to the Pacific and Indian Oceans — to bring our 2015 Top 100 Reader's Choice Awards to life.

For variety, we have selected one destination in each region (Caribbean and Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, and North America) to write about. Not all selections are the first-place winners in the Best Advanced Diving category.

Here's a complete list of Top 100 Readers Choice winners for Best Advanced Diving category:

BEST ADVANCED DIVING CARIBBEAN AND ATLANTIC

1. Bonaire

2. Mexico (Cozumel)

3. Cayman Islands

4. Saba

5. Bahamas

BEST ADVANCED DIVING NORTH AMERICA

1. British Columbia

2. North Carolina

3. California

4. Florida

5. Washington

BEST ADVANCED DIVING PACIFIC AND INDIAN OCEANS

1. French Polynesia

2. Micronesia (Chuuk)

3. Palau

4. Indonesia

5. Galapagos

Thousands of subscribers and Web users rated their experiences at dive destinations in a variety of categories on a scale of one to five. Final scores are an average of the numerical scores awarded. A minumum number of responses was required for a destination to be included in these ratings.

scuba diving cayman islands

Cayman islands

Iskander Itriago

It’s easy to see how the Cayman Islands ranked in Best Advanced Diving, since these three islands offer some of the best diving in the world. But there are specifics that make this one a natural: wrecks like Cayman Brac’s Capt. Keith Tibbets, a spooky Russian destroyer, and Grand Cayman’s USS Kittiwake (pictured), a favorite for wreck training. Add to that deep dives on Grand Cayman’s North Wall and Little Cayman’s Bloody Bay Wall, where there’s no sign of a bottom.

GO NOW: /caymanislands

scuba diving cayman islands

Cayman islands

Joseph C. Dovala

It’s easy to see how the Cayman Islands ranked in Best Advanced Diving, since these three islands offer some of the best diving in the world. But there are specifics that make this one a natural: wrecks like Cayman Brac’s Capt. Keith Tibbets, a spooky Russian destroyer, and Grand Cayman’s USS Kittiwake (pictured), a favorite for wreck training. Add to that deep dives on Grand Cayman’s North Wall and Little Cayman’s Bloody Bay Wall, where there’s no sign of a bottom.
GO NOW: /caymanislands

scuba diving cayman islands

Cayman islands

FOTOGRAFEREN.NET/ALAMY

It’s easy to see how the Cayman Islands ranked in Best Advanced Diving, since these three islands offer some of the best diving in the world. But there are specifics that make this one a natural: wrecks like Cayman Brac’s Capt. Keith Tibbets (pictured), a spooky Russian destroyer, and Grand Cayman’s USS Kittiwake, a favorite for wreck training. Add to that deep dives on Grand Cayman’s North Wall and Little Cayman’s Bloody Bay Wall, where there’s no sign of a bottom.
GO NOW: /caymanislands

scuba diving north carolina

North carolina

Michael Gerken/SEAPICS

Wind, current, depth and sometimes-long, open-ocean boat rides are a rite of passage for divers seeking adventure off North Carolina’s Outer Banks, but the payoff for the intrepid diver is huge: world-class wrecks like the artificial reef USCG _Cutter Spar, _patrolled by sand tigers and more.
GO NOW: /northcarolina

scuba diving chuuk

Chuuk

Brandon Cole

World War II wrecks like the Nippo Maru (pictured) and Yamagiri Maru — part of a Japanese fleet sunk by the Americans during an epic battle in February 1944 — make Chuuk Lagoon legendary among advanced wreck divers.
GO NOW: /micronesia

scuba diving chuuk

Chuuk

Joseph C. Dovala

World War II wrecks like the Nippo Maru and Yamagiri Maru (pictured) — part of a Japanese fleet sunk by the Americans during an epic battle in February 1944 — make Chuuk Lagoon legendary among advanced wreck divers.
GO NOW: /micronesia

For the 22nd year in a row, our readers weighed in on their favorite dive sites around the world — from North America to the Caribbean and Atlantic to the Pacific and Indian Oceans — to bring our 2015 Top 100 Reader's Choice Awards to life.

For variety, we have selected one destination in each region (Caribbean and Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, and North America) to write about. Not all selections are the first-place winners in the Best Advanced Diving category.

Here's a complete list of Top 100 Readers Choice winners for Best Advanced Diving category:

BEST ADVANCED DIVING CARIBBEAN AND ATLANTIC

1. Bonaire

2. Mexico (Cozumel)

3. Cayman Islands

4. Saba

5. Bahamas

BEST ADVANCED DIVING NORTH AMERICA

1. British Columbia

2. North Carolina

3. California

4. Florida

5. Washington

BEST ADVANCED DIVING PACIFIC AND INDIAN OCEANS

1. French Polynesia

2. Micronesia (Chuuk)

3. Palau

4. Indonesia

5. Galapagos

Thousands of subscribers and Web users rated their experiences at dive destinations in a variety of categories on a scale of one to five. Final scores are an average of the numerical scores awarded. A minumum number of responses was required for a destination to be included in these ratings.