Dive sites: pelagic

A spotted whale shark seen head-on swimming in the deep blue, surrounded by about ten divers whose bubbles rise toward the surface.

PhilippinesPelagic

Tubbataha Reef

Palawan

5 to 40 mAdvancedFrom April to May

LiveaboardCurrent: strongVisibility 20 to 40 m

Tubbataha Reef brings together two atolls 150 km off Palawan, in the open Sulu Sea.

A diver just above a coral bottom watches two sharks pass very close to him, above a school of gray fish with yellow tails, in deep blue water

FrancePass

Tiputa Pass (Rangiroa)

French Polynesia

14 to 60 mAdvancedJune and from December to March

BoatCurrent: strongVisibility good on an incoming current, poor in the pass on an outgoing current

Tiputa Pass links the Rangiroa lagoon to the ocean over 950 m, in 14 to 60 m of water, less than 10 minutes by boat from the Avatoru dive centers.

A cluster of pink and yellow soft corals covered in orange anthias, on a Red Sea reef

EgyptCave or cenote

St. John's and Fury Shoals

Southern Red Sea, Egypt

5 to 40 mOpen WaterFrom April to November

LiveaboardCurrent: variableVisibility 25 to 40 m

St.

A white-spotted whale shark swims below three snorkelers at the surface, in dark blue water

MaldivesPelagic

South Ari Atoll (Maamigili)

Ari and Rasdhoo atolls

5 to 30 mOpen WaterFrom September to April

BoatCurrent: moderateVisibility 15 to 30 m

South Ari Atoll has been a marine protected area since 2009, and whale sharks are seen there all year along the outer reef.

A chevron barracuda with a silvery blue body, its flanks marked with V-shaped bands, darts diagonally to the right in the middle of its school, in blue water full of particles

ThailandPelagic

Sail Rock

Gulf of Thailand: Koh Tao

5 to 40 mAdvancedFrom March to September

BoatCurrent: variableVisibility 10 to 30 m, less in November and December

Sail Rock is a rock rising from open sea between Koh Tao and Koh Phangan, dropping to 40 meters.

Drone view of Roca Partida: a bird-whitened rock split into two peaks, pounded by a deep blue sea under a blue sky dotted with clouds

MexicoPelagic

Roca Partida

Revillagigedo Islands (Socorro)

10 to 40 mAdvancedFrom November to May

LiveaboardCurrent: strongVisibility 25 to 40 m

Roca Partida is a rock split into two peaks, alone in the Pacific about a hundred kilometers from Socorro, with walls that drop below 40 meters.

A wall of pink soft corals and an orange sea fan at Richelieu Rock, in front of a cloud of glassfish and a school of yellowtail fusiliers in the blue

ThailandPelagic

Richelieu Rock

Andaman Sea: Similan, Surin and Lanta

5 to 35 mAdvancedFrom November to April

LiveaboardCurrent: strongVisibility 10 to 35 m

Richelieu Rock is a horseshoe-shaped pinnacle that rises from 35 meters to the surface, in Mu Ko Surin National Park.

MaldivesPelagic

Rasdhoo Madivaru

Ari and Rasdhoo atolls

5 to 30 mAdvancedFrom December to April

BoatCurrent: strongVisibility 15 to 30 m

Rasdhoo Madivaru is the outer reef of Madivaru islet, and the site in the Maldives with the most scalloped hammerhead sightings over the year.

A mobula ray passes between divers holding the boat's line, in the deep blue of Princess Alice Bank

AzoresPelagic

Princess Alice Bank

Pico and Faial

30 to 40 mExperiencedFrom July to September

BoatCurrent: strongVisibility 20 to 40 m

Princess Alice Bank is a seamount that rises from 1,500 m down to 30 m below the surface, 45 nautical miles southwest of Faial.

Two divers kneeling on the sand watch a bull shark passing in front of them in turquoise blue water, off Playa del Carmen

MexicoPelagic

Playa del Carmen bull sharks

Yucatán and the Caribbean: Cozumel, cenotes, Playa del Carmen

18 to 25 mAdvancedFrom November to March

BoatCurrent: variableVisibility 15 to 30 m

The Playa del Carmen bull sharks are females, often pregnant, that gather on the sand at 18 to 25 meters from November to March.