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Bonaire

Best Macro Diving in the Caribbean and Atlantic

Think you have to book a flight to Indo to see exotic nudis, seahorses and frogfish by the handful? That ticket might be considerably less expensive than you think, for North American divers, if you aim for the island of Bonaire instead. Decades of institutionalized protection and loving management of its pristine reefs have helped to preserve an environment where nearly 400 species have been documented, most of it the small stuff beloved by underwater photographers. Looking to capture a particular subject in a specific situation? Bonaire also offers the ultimate freedom to plan your own dives 24/7, instead of waiting for the dive boat or competing with other photographers looking for the same stuff you are. Many of its resorts’ house reefs are literally alive with critters, so you don’t even have to crank up your rental truck — just fall off the dock and start shooting. — Mary Frances Emmons

Bonaire

Macro finds include teardrop craps in this Caribbean Island.

Bonaire

Tiny squat shrimp are often found by sharp-eyed divers in Bonaire.

Bonaire

Macro photographers love Bonaire’s critters like this spotted eel.

Bonaire

These crazy critters are not glow sticks, but bearded fireworms shot under blue light at night.

Bonaire

Gobies find shelter in colorful tube sponges.

Indonesia

Best Macro Diving in the Indian and Pacific Oceans

Sure, Lembeh Strait is the world’s epicenter of macro div- ing, with enough crazy critters — hirsute frogfish, microscopic seahorses, kaleidoscopic nudibranchs and more — to fill a logbook, but don’t overlook the enchanted islands of Komodo, Bali and Wakatobi. With their eagle-eyed guides, you might not need a magnifying glass to find it all, but you will need more logbooks. — David Espinosa

British Columbia

Best Macro Diving in North America

Decorated warbonnets, grunt sculpins and candystripe shrimp are just a few highlights to spotlight while shooting in Canada’s westernmost province. Browning Passage, a legendary site near Port Hardy, hides so many macro treasures the challenge is not finding cool subjects but deciding which ones to skip and save for the next tank. So many pictures to make, not enough bottom time. — Brandon Cole

British Columbia

Nudibranchs are a favorite of macro photographers; this Hermissenda is praying on stinging hydroids.

Atlantic spotted dolphins are one of the many big animals beloved by divers in the Bahamas

Bahamas

Best Big Animal Encounters in the Caribbean and Atlantic

Everyone likes a sure thing. Thus the Bahamas continues to rate so highly for big animals. Unlike ultra-remote locales requiring liveaboards and overnight motors before day one begins, here, hammerheads or Caribbean reef sharks mug for your lens just as soon as you unpack and assemble gear. Plus, the variety of species calling these islands home or waypoint is incredible. The hammerheads of Bimini. Oceanic whitetips of Cat Island. Tigers off Grand Bahama. And the place that helped the nation become synonymous for sharks: Nassau. Hopscotch between a few spots and you’ll quickly amass a portfolio of species — plus learn the behavior not only of the sharks but of the goliath grouper that serve as shark-feed second acts. One more perk: Although not as reliably seen, wild Atlantic spotted dolphins regularly cruise Bimini and the Little Bahama Bank, creating an ideal opportunity for those who’ve been wowed by the main attraction but want the show to continue. — Brooke Morton

North Carolina

Best Big Animal Encounters in North America

They’re big, and they’re slow. Sand tigers, the predominant shark species off North Carolina, lack a swim bladder but manage near-perfect neutral buoyancy thanks to an ability to gulp air at the surface. It explains why they’re among the least hurried big animals, good news for photographers or any diver who simply wants to prolong face time with these snaggletoothed scavengers. — Brooke Morton

Galapagos

Best Big Animal Encounters in the Pacific and Indian Oceans

You could go to Galapagos just to see table-size black-blotched rays, quizzical sea lions, tornadoes of barracuda and jacks, turtles and manta rays galore. But really, you’re deluding your- self if you go for any other reason than sharks — clouds of hammerheads and whitetips, solitary tigers and packs of burly Galapagos. — David Espinosa

Best Wall Dives

#1 Palancar Deep, Cozumel, Mexico

#2 Bloody Bay Wall, Little Cayman, Cayman Islands

#3 Molokini Crater Back Wall, Maui, Hawaii

#4 Blue Corner, Palau

#5 Half Moon Caye, Lighthouse Reef, Belize

#6 Big Tunnels, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

#7 Mary’s Place, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

#8 Amphitheater, Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos

#9 Cane Bay Wall, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Best Dive Sites

#10 Cathedrals, Lanai, Hawaii

#11 Devil’s Grotto, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

#12 Something Special, Bonaire

#13 Cenote Dos Ojos, Playa del Carmen, Mexico

#14 Eagle Ray Pass, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

#15 Darwin’s Arch, Galapagos

#16 Cod Hole, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

#17 Great White Wall, Fiji

#18 Farnsworth Bank, Catalina Island, California

Best Wreck Diving

#19 Spiegel Grove, Key Largo, Florida

#20 Kittiwake, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

#21 Fujikawa Maru, Truk Lagoon, Micronesia

#22 El Aguila, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

#23 Oriskany, Pensacola, Florida

#24 Corsair, Oahu, Hawaii

#25 U-352, Morehead City, North Carolina

#26 Thistlegorm, Red Sea, Egypt

#27 Liberty, Bali, Indonesia

Best Shore Dives

#28 CoCo View Wall, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

#29 Alice in Wonderland, Bonaire

#30 Buddy’s Reef, Bonaire

#31 Blue Heron Bridge, Riviera Beach, Florida

#32 Avalon Underwater Park, Catalina Island, California

#33 La Jolla Cove, San Diego, California

#34 Mala Wharf, Maui, Hawaii

#35 Sharks Cove, Oahu, Hawaii

#36 Lighthouse Point Reef, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

Most Unusual Dive Sites

#37 Great Blue Hole, Belize

#38 Devil’s Throat, Cozumel, Mexico

#39 Christ of the Abyss, Key Largo, Florida

#40 1,000 Steps, Bonaire

#41 Jellyfish Lake, Palau

#42 Cenote Chac Mool, Playa del Carmen, Mexico

#43 Bonne Terre Mine, Missouri

#44 Pelagic Magic, Kona, Hawaii

#45 Washing Machine, Exuma, Bahamas

Best Night Dives

#46 Manta Ray Night Dive, Kona, Hawaii

#47 Davis Reef, Key Largo, Florida

#48 Bari Reef, Bonaire

#49 Bailey’s Key, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

#50 Sunset House Resort Reef, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

#51 Frederiksted Pier, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

#52 Shark Ray Alley, Ambergris Caye, Belize

#53 Fluorescent Night Dive, Koh Tao, Thailand

#54 Coral Spawning Dives, East End, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

Best Big Animal Encounters

#55 Whale Sharks, Isla Mujeres, Mexico

#56 Manatees, Crystal River, Florida

#57 Sand Tiger Sharks, North Carolina

#58 Caribbean Reef Sharks, Shark Arena, New Providence, Bahamas

#59 Spinner Dolphins and Humpback Whales, Maui, Hawaii

#60 California Sea Lions, Santa Cruz Island, California

#61 Hammerhead Sharks, Galapagos

#62 Frogfish, Bari Reef, Bonaire

#63 Whitetip Reef and Blacktip Reef Sharks, Beqa, Fiji

#64 Pacific Manta Rays, Ulong Channel, Palau

Best Beaches

#65 Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

#66 Ka’anapali Beach, Maui, Hawaii

#67 Tulum, Mexico

#68 Grace Bay Beach, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

#69 Hanauma Bay, Oahu, Hawaii

#70 The Baths, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands

#71 West Bay Beach, Roatan, Bay Islands

#72 Destin, Florida

#73 Anse Chastanet, St. Lucia

Best Liveaboards

#74 Galapagos Aggressor III

#75 Aqua Cat, Bahamas

#76 Cayman Aggressor IV

#77 Arenui, Indonesia

#78 Belize Aggressor III

#79 Spoilsport, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

#80 Odyssey Adventures/Truk Odyssey, Micronesia

#81 Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

#82 Maldives Aggressor

Best Dive Operators

#83 Buddy Dive Bonaire

#84 Reef Divers, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, Cayman Islands

#85 [Jack’s Diving Locker], Kona, Hawaii

#86 Stuart Cove’s, New Providence, Bahamas

#87 Ocean Divers, Key Largo, Florida

#88 Sunset House, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

#89 Sam’s Tours Palau

#90 Amigos Del Mar, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

#91 Scuba Club Cozumel, Mexico

Best Dive Resorts

#92 Sunset House, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

#93 Anthony’s Key Resort, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

#94 Scuba Club Cozumel, Mexico

#95 CoCo View Resort, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

#96 Little Cayman Beach Resort, Cayman Islands

#97 Turneffe Island Resort, Belize

#98 Deep Blue Resort, Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras

#99 Beqa Lagoon Resort, Fiji

#100 Buddy Dive Resort Bonaire

Cayman Islands

Best Advanced Diving in the Caribbean and Atlantic

Rebreathers let divers see the Kittiwake shipwreck in a new way.

Palau

Best Advanced Diving in the Pacific and Indian Oceans

This “Jake” seaplane — Allied code for the Aichi E13A-1 Japanese navy seaplane — went down off Palau in World War II.

British Columbia

Best Advanced Diving in North America

A diver exits the purpose-sunk wreck of an Air Canada 737 near Chemainus, British Columbia.

Cayman Islands

Best Advanced Diving in the Caribbean and Atlantic

Rebreathers let divers see the Kittiwake shipwreck in a new way.

Palau

Best Advanced Diving in the Pacific and Indian Oceans

This “Jake” seaplane — Allied code for the Aichi E13A-1 Japanese navy seaplane — went down off Palau in World War II.

British Columbia

Best Advanced Diving in North America

A diver exits the purpose-sunk wreck of an Air Canada 737 near Chemainus, British Columbia.