Photo credit: Pat Holliday
Looking to expand your scuba dive trip horizons in 2025 but don’t know where to start? Well, BSAC’s Travel Partners can help! Read on to discover some of the best overseas dive holiday locations you’ve never thought of visiting…..
Fiji
A group of around 300 volcanic islands in the South Pacific, sitting 1,700km north of New Zealand, Fiji is a long-haul paradise that’s an underwater nature lover’s dream.
Boasting more than 390 coral species and over 1,200 fish species, divers can explore a diverse mix of dive sites, from shallow atolls to coral reefs, making the destination the ideal resort location. Known as the ‘soft coral capital of the world’, the archipelago also offers worldclass liveaboard diving if you want to venture further afield to the deeper, offshore sites. Although you will need to be confident in high energy waters as the currents can get strong.
Expect to see turtles, pelagics such as white tip reef sharks and hammerheads, and barracuda as well as an underwater photographer’s bucket list of macro critters.
- Best for: Marine life lovers
- Suited to: All diver grades
Visit Fiji with Scuba Travel Save 5% with BSAC
Wakatobi
Look beyond the more well-trodden Indonesian diving locations such as Bali and Raja Ampat and you have a high-end resort that promises some of the most biodiverse reef diving in the world. Located in the Coral triangle of Southeast Sulawesi, the destination is made up of the islands in the Tukangbesi Archipelago to form the Wakatobi National Park.
As a luxury resort, Wakatobi combines relaxing topside experiences with worldclass diving to create a dive trip of a lifetime. Expect mantas, turtles, shoaling barracuda, soft and hard corals, to macro critters such as pigmy seahorses and everything in-between and Wakatobi could well become your diving heaven.
- Best for: pristine reefs and worldclass shore dives
- Suited to: all diver grades
Visit Wakatobi with Diverse Travel Save 6% with BSAC
Greenland
Moving from tropical climes to something altogether a little chillier, Greenland could be your 2025 curveball if you want to go off-piste with your next dive holiday!
The largest and most sparsely populated island on the planet, Greenland is a true arctic wilderness, typically seen as a destination for polar adventures. But take a peek beneath the surface and Greenland has a unique offering for the adventurous scuba diver. With an underwater landscape dominated by large kelp forests, the cold-water critter spotter will be spoilt for choice, as with an eagle eye you can find nudibranchs, sea squirts, lumpsuckers, jellyfish, anemones and hydroids, to name just a few.
But the star of the Greenland scuba scene has to be diving alongside majestic blue icebergs and the chance to catch a sight of seals, whales and other larger arctic marine creatures. There’s even a selection of wrecks to satisfy the more experienced rust-lovers. You need to be prepared for near zero water temperatures but for the hardy, Greenland diving is more than worth the effort.
- Best for: Dramatic topside and underwater scenery
- Suited to: Experienced cold-water divers
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Croatia
Nearer to home, Croatia on the Adriatic coast is a great location to consider if you are looking for something a little different for your next short haul diving trip.
With over 700 islands making up the dramatic Croatian coastline and clear Mediterranean waters, Croatia is growing in popularity for both divers and their non-diving family or friends. Combining topside history, stunning scenery and laidback nightlife with eye-catching underwater topography, this short haul diving destination has it all. Think hidden caves, swim-throughs, vast coral gardens and dramatic overhangs and you can see why Croatia is becoming a huge scuba draw. And it not all about the submerged scenery as the Croatian coast is home to numerous First and Second World War wrecks as well as archaeological sites. Plus, with just a short two-hour flight from the UK, water temperatures mean that it is possible to dive Croatia all year round.
- Best for: Divers travelling with non-divers
- Suited to: All diver grades
Visit Croatia with Diverse Travel Save 6% with BSAC
Sudan
As an alternative to the Egyptian Red Sea, the north African country of Sudan offers exceptional diving to rival its neighbour but without the crowds. OK, it may not be as easy to get to as Sharm or Hurghada but for the quality of the coral reefs alone, the effort is more than worth it. The iconic location for Jacques Cousteau’s Conshelf underwater experiments of the 1960s, the Sudanese Red Sea also has its own place in the history of scuba diving. But that is not the only reason to go.
The crystal-clear southern waters of the Red Sea are home to a plethora of marine life, including more than 1,500 species of turtle, fish and shark. Diving in Sudan could give you the chance to witness the spectacle of large schooling fish, such as barracuda as well as that prized scallop hammerhead encounter. But you do need to bear in mind that diving conditions can be deep and high energy at times, so you need to have sufficient experience.
- Best for: Uncrowded coral reefs
- Suited to: Sports Divers and above
Visit Sudan with Regaldive Save at least 6% with BSAC
Cocos Island
If you’ve always fancied yourself as a Robinson Crusoe-type, then a dive trip to the Cocos Island could well be your next big thing. This uninhabited coral atoll in the eastern Pacific actually consists of two small islands totalling just 14.2 km2. South West of Costa Rica, the lush Cocos Island is also a protected space, having been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997. So, how special is its diving?
In a word, very. Surrounded by deep waters, the Cocos are an irresistible draw for the larger pelagics and even whales. Hammerheads, whale sharks, white-tips and manta rays to name a few regularly pass by to feed in its plankton-rich waters. And the tiger shark is a permanent resident. With a plethora of other marine life to add to the diversity on offer, it’s clear to see why the stunning Cocos are consistently in the top 10 list of ultimate diving locations. But the weather may not always be your friend, so timing your visit and pre-planning is essential. And this island location is extremely remote and so is best suited to confident divers with the right knowledge and experience.
- Best for: Large pelagics
- Suited to: Sports Divers and above with experience of currents
Visit Cocos Island with Regaldive Save at least 6% with BSAC
