Dive sites

Cave or cenote Pass Pelagic Reef Shore dive Wall Wreck See the map

Panorama of the two ocher tuff islets of Madalena on a dark blue sea, the long flat Ilhéu Deitado on the left and the upright Ilhéu em Pé on the right, with the white town of Horta and the green hills of Faial behind

Ilhéus da Madalena

BoatCurrent: variableVisibility 15 to 30 m

The Madalena islets are two tuff rocks 930 m from the harbor, the remains of an underwater volcano whose flooded crater forms a sheltered bay 20 m deep, home to groupers, morays and stingrays,...

A Moorish idol striped black and yellow, its long white dorsal filament stretched out, in front of a wall covered in red sponges and soft corals at Hin Daeng

ThailandPelagic

Hin Daeng and Hin Muang

Andaman Sea: Similan, Surin and Lanta

8 to 40 mAdvancedFrom December to April

BoatCurrent: variableVisibility 10 to 30 m

Hin Daeng and Hin Muang are two offshore rocks south of Koh Lanta: Hin Daeng, the red rock, is covered in soft corals, and Hin Muang, the purple rock, rises from 65 to 8...

A diver in a black wetsuit, lying on a sandy bottom between two rocks covered in brown algae, writes on a white slate, with the outlines of kelp standing out in the blue behind him.

FranceReef

Glénan Islands

Brittany and the Atlantic coast

5 to 30 mOpen WaterFrom June to September

BoatCurrent: variableVisibility clear, with turquoise glints over the white sand

The Glénan Islands are an archipelago of granite and white sand off Concarneau, where clear water hides kelp forests, walls and about ten wrecks.

A cloud of orange anthias above a hard coral reef, in clear blue water

EgyptReef

Giftun Islands

Central Red Sea, Egypt

5 to 30 mOpen WaterFrom March to November

BoatCurrent: variableVisibility 20 to 30 m

Giftun Kebir and Giftun Soraya are two desert islands off Hurghada, ringed by reefs less than an hour and a half away by boat.

A sea anemone with raised white tentacles and a pink base, with a blurred diver in yellow fins in the background, in the Njao channel

TanzaniaPass

Fundu Gap

Pemba

5 to 40 mAdvancedFrom July to October and from December to February

BoatCurrent: strongVisibility 20 to 40 m

Fundu Gap is a channel between Fundo Island and the reef, on the west coast of Pemba, with coral walls that drop past 40 meters and Napoleon wrasse, eagle rays and trevallies holding in...

A slender white lighthouse with a red door stands on the low, rocky islet of Formigão, its dark rocks fringed with brown algae, above a gray, rough sea under an overcast sky

AzoresReef

Formigas and Dollabarat

Santa Maria

5 to 50 mAdvancedFrom July to September

BoatCurrent: strongVisibility 20 to 40 m, sometimes more

The Formigas and Dollabarat form an isolated rocky bank 43 km from Santa Maria, a nature reserve since 1988, where you meet bold groupers, tuna, barracuda and mobulas in the clearest water in the...

A gray reef shark swims above a wall covered in black coral bushes, with a second shark in the background in blue-green water

MaldivesReef

Fish Head (Mushimasmingili Thila)

Ari and Rasdhoo atolls

8 to 30 mAdvancedFrom November to April

LiveaboardCurrent: strongVisibility 15 to 30 m

Fish Head is a pinnacle in North Ari Atoll, with a plateau between 8 and 15 meters and sides that drop to 40 or 50 meters.

FrancePass

Fakarava South Pass (Tumakohua)

French Polynesia

20 to 30 mOpen WaterFrom June to July

BoatCurrent: moderateVisibility no figure available, better on an incoming current

Fakarava South Pass, 200 m wide, is part of a UNESCO biosphere reserve and home to 600 gray reef sharks on average, joined by more than 17,000 camouflage groupers that come to spawn around...

An oceanic whitetip shark with white-edged fins swims below the surface, surrounded by striped pilot fish

EgyptPelagic

Elphinstone Reef

Southern Red Sea, Egypt

12 to 40 mAdvancedFrom April to December

BoatCurrent: strongVisibility 20 to 40 m

Elphinstone Reef is a 300 meter reef in the open sea, 12 kilometers from Marsa Alam, with soft coral walls dropping into the blue.

A beige zebra shark covered in black spots swims toward the camera just above a coral reef, its long tail raised, in a cloud of small silver fish, with white sand on the left and blue water above

ThailandReef

Elephant Head Rock

Andaman Sea: Similan, Surin and Lanta

5 to 40 mAdvancedFrom November to April

BoatCurrent: strongVisibility 10 to 30 m

Elephant Head Rock is three granite boulders southwest of Similan Island 8, forming an underwater maze of arches and canyons between 5 and 40 meters, and it is the best-known site in the park.