liveaboards

Best Liveaboard Dive Boats For Solo Travelers

This is the fifty-second in a series that introduces and describes the various dive services and sites for worldwide liveaboard dive safaris. This one focuses on the best liveaboard dive boats for solo travelers. For other “Best” reviews of liveaboards and destinations, go to “Best Liveaboards & Destinations Lists” on the top menu.

Have you ever been diving on any of the locations described below? If so, I’d love to know about your experience. What liveaboard did you use? How was the diving? Were the services and accommodations good? Please post your response in the comments section at the bottom and we’ll all learn something we can use.

Best Liveaboard Dive Boats For Solo Travelers

You’re in the process of planning your next liveaboard to one of the world’s most intriguing dive sites and you realize you’ll be going by yourself, sans buddy. What are the best options?

Perhaps you would really be much more comfortable in a single non-sharing cabin with your own private area where you can spread out a little without infringing on anyone else’s space or vice versa. There are excellent liveaboards, some not too expensive, that can offer large single cabins. There are many that will allow you to occupy a double cabin as a single, but with a surcharge up to 100%, and a few that have low surcharges of 30% or less.

Maybe you are not so concerned about your own private space and look at sharing as a great social opportunity to get to more intimately know your diving companions. There are such opportunities where triple, quad, and bunk cabins are offered that can enhance the atmosphere greatly for those of that mind. Many are very low-priced, as well.

Below are lists with links of excellent and popular liveaboards to a range of destinations that fit into those 3 categories, followed by brief descriptions of 10 of the best examples.

Best Liveaboard Dive Boats List

Single Cabins Available

French Polynesia Master – French Polynesia
Adora – Maldives
Panunee – Indonesia
Genesis I – Thailand
Amira – Indonesia
Solomons PNG Master – Papua New Guinea
MV Mermaid I – Indonesia
Lady Denok – Indonesia
Emperor Superior – Egypt
Febrina – Papua New Guinea
Damai I & II – Indonesia

Reasonable Single Supplement

Nautilus Belle Amie – Mexico
Blue Manta – Indonesia
Snefro Pearl – Egypt

Quad Cabins or Bunks

Blackbeard’s Sea Explorer – Bahamas
Ocean Quest – Australia
Similan Explorer – Thailand
Tortuga – Cuba
MV Dolphin Queen – Burma
Okeanos Aggressor I – Costa Rica
Quino El Guardian – Mexico
Bahamas Aggressor – Bahamas
Spirit of Freedom – Australia
Rum Runner – Australia
Solitude One – Palau/Philippines
MV Deep Andaman Queen – Thailand
MV Manta Queen I – Thailand

Best Liveaboard Dive Boats For Solo Travellers

Single Cabins Available

French Polynesia Master – French Polynesia

This well equipped full-service yacht has 13 cabins for a maximum of 25 guests, with single cabins available. It makes 8-11 day cruises year-round on itineraries between Papeete, Rangiroa, and Fakarava.

There is very low traffic on the pristine biodiverse reefs with great macro, lots of fish, and highlight megafauna including 5 shark species, dolphins, humpback whales, mantas, and several wrecks like Les Trois Epaves, off of Tahiti.

You can’t find a more remote tropical paradise with such excellent accommodations.

Check the Price & Further Details

For my review of diving in French Polynesia, please check out this article:

Best Scuba Diving in French Polynesia Liveaboards

Panunee – Indonesia

This comfortable yacht changes locations throughout the year with 6—11 day itineraries to multiple locations including Raja Ampat with the world’s top biodiversity, Ambon, known for macro life forms, as well as Alor, the Banda Sea, and Komodo set on active volcanoes with the iconic dragons awaiting your visit on shore trips.

Moderately priced, Panunee can lodge 22 guests in 12 cabins, which includes singles.

Check the Price & Further Details

For my reviews of diving in the areas of Indonesia relevant to the Panunee, please check out these articles

Reasonable Single Supplement

Nautilus Belle Amie

From November through June when surface conditions are best, the Nautilus Belle Amie conducts 9-11 day cruises to the Socorro Islands 240 miles (390 kilometers) to the south of the tip of Baja California for perhaps the best available spot to take in mantas, sharks, dolphins and humpback whales. Then for a complete change of pace from July through November, they transition to Guadalupe Island off the northwest coast of Baja for 6-day itineraries of great white shark cage diving.

For a 25% supplementary fee, it is possible to stay in a stateroom converted to a single. Otherwise, a total of 32 guests are accommodated in 17 cabins in this moderately priced liveaboard yacht.

Check the Price and Further Details

For my reviews of Socorro Islands and Guadalupe Island liveaboards, check out these articles:

Quad/Shared/Bunks

Blackbeard’s Sea Explorer – Bahamas

This friendly bargain-priced liveaboard accommodates 18 guests in 3 bunk-style cabins with shared bathrooms, on year-round 7 day excursions.

Many of the iconic locations like the Lost Blue Hole and several of the more famous wrecks are on the itinerary which focuses mainly on the Exuma Cays. Marine life highlights to enjoy include a large number of and many species of sharks, to go with mantas, dolphins, and a lot of fish.

This cruise is also a good opportunity for diving classes including the Open Water Diver course.

Check the Price & Further Details

For my reviews of Bahamas diving and liveaboards, please check out these articles:

Ocean Quest – Australia

The Ocean Quest runs year-round 2-6 day trips from Cairns to Outer Barrier Reef sites. Most of the time she sits on the sites and divers are escorted from Cairns to and from the mother vessel on speedboats.

Up to 48 guests are accommodated in 23 double and quad cabins. With the guests coming and going on different schedules, it is more like a floating hotel, so there is an excellent opportunity to mingle with and get to know a large number of divers.

A range of diving classes is available including specialty courses, the Open Water Diver course, and Discover Scuba Diving. The Ocean Quest is also famous for its night dives with sharks and bio fluorescent diving.

Check the Price & Further Details

For my reviews of Great Barrier Reef diving and liveaboards, please check out these articles:

Okeanos Aggressor I – Costa Rica

The Okeanos Aggressor offers modestly priced year-round cruises to Cocos Island, a 26-hour journey from the Costa Rican shoreline. Often called “Mini Galapagos” for its diversity of wildlife, the volcanic subsea terrain plays host to massive schools of hammerheads, giant mantas, and Galapagos, tiger, bull, and whale sharks.

There are sites suitable for all levels of diver but with strong current possible, it is best for divers to come with at least an Advanced Open Water Diver certification.

11-day itineraries are offered year-round with 10 double and quad cabins available holding a maximum of 22 guests.

Check the Price and Further Details

For my reviews of Cocos Island diving and liveaboards, please check out these articles:

Quino El Guardian – Mexico

Quino El Guardian is a moderately priced well equipped, cozy vessel with a maximum of 16 guests sharing 5 cabins.

From November through May she conducts 10-day itineraries to the Socorro Islands and the sharks, mantas, dolphins, and whales there, and then from May through October travels into the Sea of Cortez for its rich variety of marine life which also includes sea lions.

The vessel also has a research mission and offers the opportunity to participate in a citizen science itinerary.

Check the Price and Further Details

For my reviews of Socorro Islands and Sea of Cortez scuba diving, please check out these articles:

Solitude One – Palau/Philippines

The Solitude One offers several different cruises to some of the best diving in Southeast Asia. From November through February Palau is the destination for 7-day itineraries to the fantastic drift diving, beautiful reefs, megafauna, wrecks, and jellyfish lake. Then from April through June, it’s westward to the remote short season at the best of the Philippines at Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park for 7-day trips. From August through September it’s on to 8-11 day cruises hitting a number of excellent Philippines sites including Anilao for macro critters, Malapascua for thresher sharks, Verde Island for its iconic deep drop-off, and Romblon for a bit of everything.

Pricing is moderate for the maximum of 22 guests staying in 10 cabins which include sharing suites with quad and family options.

Check the Price and Further Details

For my reviews of diving and liveaboards in Palau and the relevant Philippines sites, please check out these articles:

MV Deep Andaman Queen – Thailand

Launched in 2009 and refurbished in 2019, the MV Deep Andaman Queen is a low-priced full-service option for 5-8 day itineraries to the best of Thailand at the Similans and Surins with some trips taking in Mergui Archipelago sites.

A maximum of 25 guests stay comfortably in 10 cabins which all have ensuite bathrooms. Room options include double cabins, and twin, triple, and quad bunk room options.

Check the Price and Further Details

For my reviews of Thailand and Burma liveaboards, please check out these articles:

Tortuga – Cuba

Tortuga provides one of the very few options for diving on the virtually untouched natural marine habitat of the Jardines de la Reina Marine Park. Known for the richest reefs in the Caribbean with a variety of megafauna and even saltwater crocs, the popularity is increasing rapidly.

Offering 8-day itineraries year-round, it is moored and stationary with speedboats to accompany divers to the nearby sites making it more of a hotel than a liveaboard yacht.

Look forward to Cuban ambiance and food with 8 double, triple, and quad cabins for a maximum of 20 guests.

Check the Price & Further Details

For further information, check out these posts:

Liveaboard Dive Boats For Solo Travelers Comparison Chart

Picture	Liveaboard	Location	Guests/Cabins	Wifi	Nitrox	Price/Day
Picture	Liveaboard	Location	Guests/Cabins	Wifi	Nitrox	Price/Day
	French Polynesia Master	French Polynesia	25 Guests 13 Cabins Single Available	Yes	$25/Day	$$$$
	Panunee	Indonesia	22 Guest 12 Cabins Single Available	No	$8/Tank	$$
	Nautilus Belle Amie	Socorro Islands Guadalupe Islands	32 Guests 17 Cabins Single Cabins-25% Supplement	Yes	$100/Trip	$$
	Blackbeard's Sea Explorer	Bahamas	18 Guests 3 Bunk Style Cabins	No	No	$
	Ocean Quest	Australia	48 Guests 23 Double & Quad Cabins	No	AUD10/Tank	$
	Okeanos Aggressor	Cocos Island - Costa Rica	22 Guests 10 Cabins	Yes	$150/Trip	$$
	Quino El Guardian	Socorro Islands & Sea of Cortez, Mexico	16 Guests 5 Cabins	No	$120/Trip	$$
	Solitude One	Palau & the Philippines	22 Guests 10 Cabins	Yes	$8/Activity	$$
	MV Deep Andaman Queen	Thailand & Burma	25 Guests 11 Cabins	Yes	250THB/Day	$
	Tortuga	Cuba	20 Guests 8 Cabins	Yes	Inquire	$$$

Finding a Dive Buddy

When traveling solo if you would like to try to line up a compatible buddy to go with you on your liveaboard adventure and not trust the pot luck match-up after you climb onboard, these websites may be worth checking out:

Liveaboard Comparisons

What goals do you have when going on a liveaboard? Are you interested in seeing megafauna, or macro critters? Maybe underwater photography is your passion. What is your skill level? Are you interested in more training? How much time and money do you have available? The below “Best” comparison reviews may help clarify for you which liveaboard most suits your needs.

Last Minute Liveaboard Deals & Special Offers

For greatly reduced pricing on special offers for a broad range of liveaboards in 17 countries around the world, please check out this post:

Last Minute Liveaboard Deals & Special Offers

Photography

With the colorful coral reefs, a variety of fish, marine life, sharks, turtles, shipwrecks, and beautiful and historic onshore targets, as well, there are many excellent photo opportunities. For information and reviews of dive cameras, check out these articles:

Scuba Diving Trip Insurance

A cushion for emergencies provides peace of mind when on vacation. I recommend this diving insurance as they have worldwide coverage and give scuba divers a quality insurance and medical assistance service.

Feedback and Comments

I hope you found this post on the best liveaboard dive boats for single divers interesting and useful. If you have any questions or ideas, please feel free to share them in the comments section. I’d love to know of any experience you have. If there is no comments section directly below, click here: >>comments<<

Best Liveaboard Destinations For Underwater Photography

8:28 am by Joe Leave a Comment

Photo of Diving Cruises Seychelles is courtesy of TripAdvisor

This is the fifty-first in a series that introduces and describes the various dive services and sites for worldwide liveaboard dive safaris. This one focuses on the best liveaboard destinations for underwater photography. For other “Best” reviews of liveaboards and destinations, go to “Best Liveaboards & Destinations Lists” on the top menu.

Underwater photography allows you to create a record of the great marine life you encounter and develop a means of artistic expression that can grow over your lifetime. Perhaps the best opportunity for a concentrated experience whether you are just starting out or have already become a true aficionado is on a liveaboard dive safari. With several dives a day to practice and other divers and instructors to share your results with, you have a chance to learn a lot and take your photography to a new level.

Below are brief reviews of some of the best locations in the world for a range of photo opportunities whether it be macro or wide-angle. The bucket-list scuba diving locations all have liveaboard yachts that are well outfitted and staffed for photography of the most intriguing targets available in the marine world.

Perhaps you would like to enhance your skills with a structured course. The PADI Digital Underwater Photographer course is one option you can look into. Check with the liveaboard operator for the option of instruction.

Best Liveaboard Destinations For Photography

Raja Ampat, Indonesia
Sea of Cortez, Mexico
Maldives
Red Sea
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Seychelles
Komodo, Indonesia
Visayas, Philippines
Jardines de la Reina, Cuba
Fiji

Raja Ampat, Indonesia

Raja Ampat offers a full palette of attractions for the photographer. It has perhaps the world’s top biodiversity with pristine coral reefs, loads of reef tropicals, macro critters, megafauna, and even some wrecks.

The variety of undersea terrain includes black and white sand bottoms, grass beds, mangrove forests, coral gardens, steep walls, and rocky slopes. There is a habitat that is perfect for macro critters like ghost pipefish, ribbon eels, harlequin shrimps, banded sea kraits, pygmy seahorses, blue-ringed octopus, rhinopias scorpionfish, lobsters, and nudibranchs, as well as 1,500 species of fish in all.

Occasionally strong currents also bring pelagics like dogtooth tuna, giant trevallies, mackerel, whale sharks, mantas, and the possibility of whales, orcas, and pods of dolphins to go with the other megafauna that frequent the reefs including bumphead parrotfish, Maori wrasses, reef sharks, wobbegongs, turtles, and the occasional dugong.

The P-47D Thunderbolt and other World War II-era wrecks round out the picture of the range of great photo opportunities.

A very large number of liveaboards travel to Raja Ampat often combining with nearby areas in Cenderawasih Bay or the Banda Sea for a cornucopia of sites to enjoy over a number of liveaboard safaris.

Dive Season: year-round
Skill Level: beginner to advanced
Water Temperature: 79-86°F (26-30°C)
Visibility: 30-100 feet (9-30 meters)
Highlights: biodiversity, beautiful seascapes, macro life, megafauna, wrecks

For reviews of the Rajah Ampat and adjoining region liveaboards and diving, check out these posts:

Check the Price & Details on Raja Ampat liveaboards

Sea of Cortez, Mexico

The Sea of Cortez has diverse marine life with a variety of megafauna highlighted by pelagic gamefish, manta rays, sea lions, dolphins, and a variety of sharks including, silky, hammerhead, and whale sharks. The corals themselves are not especially rich but there is an intriguing undersea topography and formations that nurture a variety of macro targets like crabs, lobsters, nudibranchs, seahorses, and frogfish.

The two liveaboards to the Sea of Cortez focus on the Midriff Islands from July through October with a few itineraries that travel all the way to the southern end taking in La Paz, Cabo Pulmo, and sites near San Jose del Cabo which are noted for big animals. Whale sharks are sighted year-round, frequently the surface, and not uncommonly at relatively shallow depths. Friendly young sea lions can be found around a number of rocky islands frolicking among the divers and making enthusiastic photo targets.

During the off-season, the boats move outside the Sea of Cortez and journey to the south to the Socorro Islands. For those who would like to dive Baja at other times of the year, there are accommodations and diving services available in several regions along the coastline.

Current can be strong and surface conditions rough in some areas, so care needs to be taken not to exceed personal skill levels, but there are sites suitable for all levels.

Dive Season: year-round (liveaboards are available from July through November)
Skill Level: beginner to advanced
Water Temperature: 75-84°F (24-29°C)
Visibility: 30-100 feet (9-30 meters) with the plankton bloom in the winter moving it toward the bottom of the range, most of the year visibility is 50 feet (15 meters) or better.
Highlights: interesting seascapes, sea lions, manta rays, silky, hammerhead, and whale sharks

For reviews of Sea of Cortez liveaboards and diving, check out these posts:

Check the Price & Details on Sea of Cortez Midriff Islands Liveaboards

Maldives

With great biodiversity and an array of fantastic megafauna, the 1,190 islands and coral atolls have excellent visibility and conditions suitable for all levels.

Strong currents through channels and over pinnacles make for challenging conditions but have the advantage of bringing loads of nutrients which attracts manta rays and whale sharks, as well as turtles, oceanic whitetip and hammerhead sharks, eagle rays, and pelagics that present great wide-angle targets. The macro critters are not the main feature but there are locations and conditions where you can find them in the nooks and crannies.

The 39 or more liveaboards cruising the Maldives have many itineraries covering the large area. Most are luxurious with excellent photography support and have large comfortable service boats called dhonis to escort divers to the sites. It is an excellent place for doing the advanced open water diver or drift diver specialty courses.

Dive Season: year-round (the best season for mantas is December through May)
Skill Level: beginner to advanced
Water Temperature: 80-86°F (26-30°C)
Visibility: 50-100 feet (15-30 meters)
Highlights: biodiversity, pelagics, hammerhead and whale sharks, manta and eagle rays, turtles

For reviews of Maldives liveaboards and diving, check out these posts:

Check the Price & Details on Maldives Liveaboards

Red Sea

The Red Sea covers a huge geographic area offering a broad range of photo opportunities from seascapes with rich coral life and reef tropicals to shipwrecks to megafauna.

In the well-traveled northern section liveaboards departing from Sharm el Sheil first visit Ras Mohammad National Park with colorful reefs on an interesting terrain with drop-offs, caves, and caverns, and diverse reef tropicals and the occasional reef shark or hammerhead. To the west and south of there are numerous wrecks, some historical, including the world-class SS Thistlegorm.

Further south the Hurghada departures tend to focus on the sites around the Brothers Islands, Elphinstone, Daedalus, and St. John’s where there are stiffer currents and a greater likelihood of seeing a variety of sharks including oceanic whitetips, hammerheads, and occasional whale sharks.

The liveaboards that travel to the far south of the Red Sea find much less diving traffic and an even greater possibility of megafauna including mantas. In the farthest reaches near Djibouti, there are a number of locations where whale sharks are the feature.

Red Sea liveaboards are generally the lowest priced by far without scrimping much on facilities and services. More than 70 yachts cruise the area so you can browse a little and find the one set up best for your needs.

Dive Season: year-round
Skill Level: beginner to advanced (advanced open water recommended for wrecks, and deep sites with current)
Water Temperature: highs in summer of 82°F (28°C) and lows in winter of 70°F (21°C)
Visibility: 70-100 feet (21-30 meters), 200 feet (60 meters) is possible on some sites.
Highlights: wrecks, hammerhead, oceanic whitetip, whitetip reef, and whale sharks, mantas, low pricing

For reviews of the Red Sea liveaboards and locations, check out these posts:

Check the Price & Details on Red Sea Liveaboards

Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

With its iconic biodiversity, endemic species on land and underwater, and the biggest showcase for megafauna in the world, the Galapagos Islands are on the bucket-list of most divers, especially photographers.

There are some macro critters worth photographing but with the often present current and the huge volume of wide-angle targets, it is the big stuff that people come for. If the mantas, mobulas, stingrays, pelagics, gamefish, and many species of shark are not enough, there are still iguanas, penguins, cormorants, sea lions, fur seals, dolphins, and orcas to target.

During surface intervals trips to various islands provide an opportunity to shoot the volcanic terrain and creatures like 100-year old giant tortoises.

The liveaboard yachts are well equipped and comfortable but tend to be expensive. Nonetheless, they often are full well before the departure date, so early booking is advised.

Dive Season: year-round
Skill Level: intermediate to advanced (minimum of advanced open water recommended)
Water Temperature: 71-77° F (22-25° C), lows in the dry season in June-December
Visibility: 33-70 feet (10-21 meters), it can be lower especially during the plankton blooms
Highlights: great variety of marine megafauna, intriguing shoreside wildlife, and landscapes

For reviews of the Galapagos Island liveaboards and scuba diving, check out these posts:

Check the Price & Details on Galapagos Islands Liveaboards

Seychelles

The 115 warm tropical islands and atolls of Seychelles have pristine granite-based reefs with conditions suitable for all levels of diver. While the corals aren’t as rich as in Southeast Asia, there is diverse marine life that includes numerous macro critters and a variety of reef tropicals on an interesting topography of walls, pinnacles, and canyons.

Megafauna highlights include gamefish pelagics like swordfish and marlin, reef, bull, and hammerhead sharks, and manta and eagle rays. Whale sharks that come in numbers in October and November are often seen between the main island of Mahe and Silhouette Island. In addition, there are a number of well-preserved wrecks to explore.

Surface intervals often include shore excursions for a chance to sample local hospitality and the scenery.

Dive Season: year-round (the best season for whale sharks is October and November)
Skill Level: beginner to advanced
Water Temperature: 78-84°F (26-29°C)
Visibility: 65-100 feet (20-30 meters)
Highlights: macro life, manta and eagle rays, reef, silvertip, hammerhead, bull, and whale sharks, pelagics, wrecks, shore excursions

For reviews of Seychelles liveaboards and diving, check out this post:

Scuba Diving the Seychelles – Liveaboards

Check the Price & Details on Seychelles Liveaboards

Komodo, Indonesia

The Komodo National Park is set on an intriguing volcanic terrain with pristine diverse coral reefs. Photographers will find megafauna targets with heaps of fish, turtles, reef sharks, Napoleon wrasses, hawksbill turtles, eagle, mobula, and manta rays, dolphins, whales, Mola Mola, dogtooth tuna, and a wealth of macro critters in the nooks and crannies.

Strong currents that bring nutrients that wash over walls and pinnacles where mantas feed and have parasites cleaned can prove challenging making most of the sites suitable for experienced divers with at least the advanced open water certification.

The above water photo ops are equally fascinating with live volcanoes and the 275-pound (125-kilogram) Komodo dragon to capture.

Dozens of liveaboards are available with moderate to luxury levels of service and facilities from short 4-5 day itineraries up to 2 weeks or more.

Dive Season: year-round (the plankton bloom attracts more mantas in the dry season from March to October)
Skill Level: intermediate to advanced (minimum of advanced open water recommended)
Water Temperature: 81-86° F (27-30° C)
Visibility: 16-100 feet (5-30 meters), plankton blooms and rain influence it toward the bottom of the range
Highlights: mantas, rays, sharks, pelagics, macro, komodo dragons, volcanoes

For reviews of Komodo and nearby Alor and Flores Liveaboards, check out these posts:

Check the Price & Details on Komodo Liveaboards

Visayas, Philippines

The Visayas cover a broad area with a number of liveaboard itineraries none of which can begin to cover the range of options. There are rich coral gardens on pristine reefs with walls, caves, caverns, and a variety of terrain with excellent muck and macro diving, as well as unparalleled opportunities to photograph thresher sharks. There are even a few wrecks.

Malapascua is a great spot to catch threshers, hammerheads, and mantas along with intriguing caverns and several historic wrecks. Sogod Bay in Southern Leyte has mantas and whale sharks. Almost all the islands from Pescador to Little Apo, Balicasag, Panglao, and Cabilao have beautiful coral vistas and pristine biodiverse reefs with heaps of fish. If you are looking for true muck diving with a huge range of critters like ghost pipefish, numerous species of frogfish, pygmy seahorses, rhinopias, etc., the sandy sites along the shoreline of Dauin are the place for you.

The liveaboards mix and match with trips to these sites and more. Check carefully their itineraries to go to the areas that most suit your fancy.

Dive Season: year-round, best from November through June
Skill Level: beginner to advanced
Water Temperature: 77- 86° F (25-30° C), lows in December-January
Visibility: 50-100 feet (15-30 meters) dropping to 16-33 feet (5-10 meters) in some areas during plankton blooms in December and January
Highlights: macro, thresher sharks, pristine coral vistas

For reviews of Visayas Liveaboards and locations, check out these posts:

Check the Price & Details on Visayas Liveaboards

Jardines de la Reina, Cuba

Situated 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the southern coast of Cuba, the 3 available liveaboards take you to rich unspoiled shallow reefs that represent the epitome of Caribbean sites. Protected by a National Park with very limited traffic, the Jardines de la Reina (Gardens of the Queen) are part of a barrier reef with a mangrove nursery, slopes, walls, and caverns with rich marine life including lots of big residents like jewfish and groupers, massive schools of grunts and snappers, 7 species of shark, turtles, tarpon, stingrays, and even saltwater crocodiles.

In addition, there are the remains of Spanish Galleons to explore and sites with excellent visibility and little current that are great for beginner divers.

Of the 3 liveaboards, none are luxurious, but all are comfortable with more than adequate photography facilities and are the only access to this great diving. One, in fact, is a moored houseboat, so you are actually staying in a floating hotel.

Dive Season: year-round
Skill Level: beginner to intermediate
Water Temperature: 79-84° F (26-29° C)
Visibility: 50-130 feet (15-40 meters)
Highlights: sharks, big fish, pristine reefs

For reviews of Jardines de la Reina Liveaboards and Cuban dive sites, check out these posts:

Check the Price & Details on Jardines de la Reina Liveaboards

Fiji

Renowned for its abundance of soft corals (Jean Michel Cousteau called Fiji “the soft coral capital of the world”), there are pristine biodiverse reefs on a variety of subsea topography around the many islands with lots of reef tropicals, bumphead parrotfish, manta rays, and 8 species of shark.

Photographers can feast on wide-angle shots of beautiful seascapes and megafauna attractions like the shark species which include lemon, bull, tiger, and hammerhead sharks, not to mention the mantas mostly seen around the Kadavu Islands. There are several protected areas and liveaboard favorite sites around Bligh Water, and the Koro Sea where the macro critters are as intriguing as the larger marine life.

Unfortunately, there is only one true scuba diving liveaboard cruising Fiji at present, so early booking is advised. One can hope it is only a short hiatus for the others.

Dive Season: year-round (May through October for mantas)
Skill Level: beginner to advanced
Water Temperature: 82-86°F (28-30°C)
Visibility: 60-130 feet (15-40 meters)
Highlights: 8 species of shark, mantas, soft corals, macro

For a review of Fiji liveaboards, check out this post:

Best Scuba Diving Fiji

Check the Price & Details on Fiji liveaboards and diving

Underwater Photography

To take full advantage of the wonderful photography opportunities on the liveaboard diving described above, the PADI Digital Underwater Photography specialty course is recommended. For information and reviews of diving cameras, click here:

Best Underwater Cameras Compared and Reviewed

Liveaboard Comparisons

If you have interest in further comparisons and reviews of liveaboards, please check out these posts:

Last Minute Liveaboard Deals & Special Offers

For greatly reduced pricing on special offers for a broad range of liveaboards in 17 countries around the world, please check out this post:

Last Minute Liveaboard Deals & Special Offers

Scuba Diving Trip Insurance

Feedback and Comments

I hope you found this post on the best liveaboard destinations for underwater photography interesting and useful. If you have any questions or ideas, please feel free to share them in the comments section. I’d love to know of any experience you have. If there is no comments section directly below, click here: >>comments<<

Best Scuba Diving Africa – Top 10 Destinations

1:18 pm by Joe Leave a Comment

Ragged-Tooth Sharks (Photo courtesy of TripAdvisor & Ocean Explorers Dive Centre)

This is the one hundred and seventy-third in a series of reviews of the best diving destinations around the world. In this post, the focus is on Africa. For other “Best” reviews of liveaboards and destinations, go to “Best Liveaboards & Destinations Lists” on the top menu.

Have you been diving in Africa before? If so, I’d love to know about your experience. What dive shop or liveaboard did you use? Which dive spots are the best and what are the conditions there regarding the visibility, current, water temperature, marine life attractions, etc.? Please post your response in the comments section at the bottom and we’ll all learn something we can use.

Best Scuba Diving Africa

When you imagine the wildest, most exotic, natural environment possible, chances are Africa comes to mind. What is the diving like there? Some of the locations are pretty remote. Is it worth the time to travel to such distant locations? I say the answer is yes. Below is an introduction to 10 of the best destinations representing a variety of conditions. (Please note, the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, and Middle East are not included in this review.)

Madagascar

Most of the best diving in Madagascar is in the Nosy Be area near the northwest tip on the Mozambique Channel. Whether you dive from a local shop or on a liveaboard, the main focus is on the five-island Mitsio Archipelago to the north or the four-island Radames Archipelago to the south. The marine life is diverse with 300 species of coral and 1,300 fish species in clear water on a range of basalt subsea formations with lots of plate corals, humongous sea fans, and macro critters. The megafauna is also memorable with numerous species of sharks and rays, pelagics, sea turtles, dolphins, whales, and whale sharks. Currents can be strong on some sites making for exhilarating drift diving.

Dive Season: year-round (the best season for whale sharks is September through December and for humpback and Omura’s whales is October through December)
Skill Level: beginner to advanced
Water Temperature: 75-84°F (24-29°C)
Visibility: usually around 100 feet (30 meters)
Highlights: frogfish, spiny and slipper lobsters, nudibranchs, lizardfish, crocodilefish, octopus, pufferfish, morays, scorpionfish, bannerfish, snappers, regal angelfish, fusiliers, sweetlips, blue-spotted stingrays, titan triggerfish, batfish, Napoleon wrasses, giant groupers, schooling barracuda and jacks, 5 species of sea turtle, many shark species including whitetip reef, hammerhead, leopard, silvertip, and whale sharks, stingrays, manta, mobula, and eagle rays, tuna, dolphins, humpback and Omura’s (dwarf fin) whales

For a more detailed review of Madagascar liveaboards and scuba diving, check out this post:

Best Scuba Diving Madagascar Liveaboards

Check the Price & Details on Madagascar Liveaboards

Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Port Elizabeth is located 478 miles (770 kilometers) east of Cape Town and occupies 10 miles (16 kilometers) of coastline along Algoa Bay. Cold water from the west mixes with warm water flowing along the east coast creating the right conditions for a cold water reef that has a lot of hard corals one might expect on a more tropical reef, to go with cold water sponges, soft corals, and gorgonians. The underwater topography is diverse with sandy stretches, gullies, pinnacles, rocky formations, and steep drop-offs providing excellent habitat for a range of invertebrates, macro critters, reef fish, game fish, rays, small sharks, ragged-tooth sharks, whales, dolphins, whales, fur seals, and penguins. Sites are available right offshore, outside the bay, and around small nearby islands. There are also several wrecks at recreational diving depths.

Dive Season: year-round
Skill Level: beginner to advanced
Water Temperature: 59-66°F (15-19°C)
Visibility: the best visibility is in the cooler winter months at 16-25 feet ( 5-8 meters) inside the bay and 33-50 feet (10-15 meters) outside the bay
Highlights: nudibranchs, anemones, crinoids, sea stars, crustaceans, a variety of reef fish, rock cod, rays, ragged-tooth, pyjama, leopard, and shy sharks, game fish like cape knifejaws and musselcrackers , whales, dolphins, Cape fur seals, African (jackass) penguins, wrecks – Haerlem Wreck, Baratz Wreck

For a more detailed review of Port Elizabeth scuba diving, check out this post:

South Africa Scuba Diving Port Elizabeth

For information on cold water scuba gear, please check my post:

Best Cold Water Scuba Diving Equipment

Dakar, Senegal

Dakar is located on Cap Vert, the westernmost point of continental Africa. In its position there the reefs have a mix of Northern Atlantic, Mediterranean, and tropical marine life on volcanic and rocky outcrops interspersed with sandy patches with interesting swim-throughs and caverns. While not as rich in corals as many tropical areas of the world, there are abundant gorgonians, and soft and hard corals to go along with many macro critters, reef fish, pelagics, turtles, rays, sharks and cetaceans. Seasonal attractions are huge stingrays from December to April, nurse sharks from July to November, green turtles from January to April, and humpback whales in September and October. In addition, there are many historic wrecks and others sunk to discourage trawlers from dragging nets across the reefs, all to the delight of divers.

Dive Season: year-round (the best season for whale sharks is October and November)
Skill Level: beginner to advanced
Water Temperature: 68-81°F (20-27°C)
Visibility: 16-100 feet (5-30 meters)
Highlights: lobster, crabs, shrimp, octopus, scorpionfish, blennies, nudibranchs, moray eels, grouper, trumpetfish, surgeonfish, filefish, white seabream, butterflyfish, angelfish, salema porgy, saddled seabream, pufferfish, parrotfish, red carp, tiger rays, dorado, schooling trevally, barracuda, green turtles, short-tail nurse sharks, guitar sharks, 1.5-meter wingspan stingrays, eagle and manta rays, pods of dolphins and humpback whales, many wrecks including Tacoma wreck, Konnke Thie, Konnahke, and the Red Star

For a more detailed review of Dakar scuba diving, check out this post:

Dakar Senegal Scuba Diving

Mozambique

With twice the area of California, a 1,535-mile (2,470-kilometer) coastline, and numerous offshore islands and reefs, Mozambique offers a great list of megafauna on its many pristine dive sites across the length of the shoreline. Interesting subsea terrain of fringing reefs, rocks, walls, pinnacles, and arches are richly encrusted with a great diversity of hard and soft corals, gorgonians, and sponges. There is an array of macro critters, reef tropicals, and pelagics to go with seasonal mantas, whale sharks, and humpback whales, and an astounding list of other sharks, rays, pelagics, dolphins, and even dugongs.

Dive Season: year-round
Skill Level: beginner to advanced
Water Temperature: 73-84°F (23-29°C)
Visibility: 80-130 feet (24-40 meters)
Highlights: leaf fish, peacock flounders, frogfish, nudibranchs, crocodilefish, lionfish, snappers, sweetlips, grouper, fusiliers, moray eels, schooling trevally, barracuda, tuna and other pelagics, leopard, silvertip, hammerhead, tiger, bull, blacktip and whitetip reef, and guitar sharks, marble stingrays, eagle rays, dolphins, dugongs, whale sharks and manta rays appear from November through April with humpback whales coming from June through October

For a more detailed review of Mozambique scuba diving, check out this post:

Best Scuba Diving Mozambique

Aliwal Shoal, South Africa

Aliwal Shoal is a fossilized sand dune 3.1 miles (5 kilometers) offshore from Umkomass in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. This Marine Protected Area (MPA) benefits from warm currents running along the coastline from the north that bring plankton and nutrients enriching the bountiful reef of hard and soft corals, and sponges. The subsea terrain consists of rocky areas, overhangs, and caverns that make a good habitat for a rich variety of macro critters, reef tropicals, and megafauna. A fantastic array of turtles, rays, pelagics, cetaceans, and many species of shark are the highlights. Ragged-tooth sharks migrate for breeding from June to November, whale sharks in summer, and a baiting program brings in many shark species with masses of oceanic blacktips and individual tiger sharks common. The pilchard run can be breathtaking, as well, and there are also wrecks to explore at recreational depths. Passage through the surf to get to the shoal makes for an exciting boat trip and currents can be strong at times.

Dive Season: year-round
Skill Level: beginner to advanced
Water Temperature: 70-79°F (21-26°C)
Visibility: 10-130 feet (3-40 meters)
Highlights: mollusks, crustaceans, flatworms, sea spiders, seahorses, anemones, scorpionfish, sea moths, lionfish, octopus, nudibranchs, eels, stonefish, paperfish, frogfish, triggerfish, potato cod, cardinalfish, sergeant majors, soldierfish, parrotfish, butterflyfish, angelfish, wrasses, large stingrays, green, loggerhead, and hawksbill turtles, dolphins, humpback whales, eagle, mobula, and manta rays, kingfish, tuna, barracuda, from June to November ragged-tooth sharks migrate from the south for breeding, whale sharks in summer, oceanic blacktip, tiger, hammerhead, thresher, Zambezi (bull), dusky, whitetip reef, and giant guitar sharks, billions of South African pilchards run from May through July, wrecks – MV Produce, SS Nebo

For a more detailed review of Aliwal Shoal scuba diving, check out this post:

Aliwal Shoal Scuba Diving South Africa

Seychelles

Situated below the equator 300 miles (480 kilometers) to the east of mainland Africa, the 115 islands of Seychelles have an inviting warm climate and great diving year-round. The granite-based undersea topography is not as rich in corals as Caribbean or Southeast Asian sites, but it is pristine and supports diverse marine life rich in macro critters, reef tropicals, and the main larger attractions like turtles, a variety of sharks including bull, silvertip, hammerhead, and whale sharks, stingrays, eagle and manta rays, and pelagics like marlin and swordfish.

Dive Season: year-round (the best season for whale sharks is October and November)
Skill Level: beginner to advanced
Water Temperature: 78-84°F (26-29°C)
Visibility: 65-100 feet (20-30 meters)
Highlights: nudibranchs, spiny lobsters, octopus, Spanish dancers, mantis shrimp, lionfish, butterflyfish, angelfish, squirrelfish, surgeonfish, rabbitfish, lionfish, parrotfish, batfish, giant groupers, bumphead parrotfish, Napoleon wrasses, hawksbill and green turtles, swordfish, marlin, sailfish, barracuda, ribbon-tailed stingrays, grey and whitetip reef sharks, bull sharks, hammerheads, nurse sharks, silvertip sharks, oceanic whitetip sharks, whale sharks, manta and eagle rays, wrecks – Ennerdale and Aldebaran

For a more detailed review of Seychelles liveaboards and scuba diving, check out this post:

Scuba Diving the Seychelles – Liveaboards

Check the Price & Details on Seychelles Liveaboards

Cape Verde

Spread over a broad area, Cape Verde (Republic of Cabo Verde) is an archipelago of 10 main islands 350 miles (570 kilometers) off the coast of Senegal, West Africa. Warm tropical waters combined with cooler Atlantic currents on a volcanic subsea terrain of sandy bottoms, rocky formations, caverns, walls, and crevices provide habitat for a wide range of marine life. There are colorful invertebrates in the form of encrusting corals and sponges and a variety of macro critters including many crustaceans and nudibranchs along with scorpionfish, frogfish, morays and a variety of reef fish. Currents in some areas bring nutrients that encourage a variety of turtles, sharks, mantas, gamefish like tuna and wahoo, dolphins, and whales to spend time around the islands. In addition, there are remains of 70 historic wrecks and a number of divable more recent ones.

Dive Season: year-round
Skill Level: beginner to advanced
Water Temperature: 73-81°F (23-27°C)
Visibility: 33-140 feet (10-40 meters)
Highlights: moray eels, nudibranchs, slipper, and spiny lobsters, shrimp, sea spiders, frogfish, cushion starfish, scorpionfish, sea snakes, surgeonfish, cape yellowtails, sergeant majors, trumpetfish, filefish, pufferfish, angelfish, cardinalfish, goatfish, stingrays, groupers, tuna, wahoo, schools of barracuda, sand tiger, nurse, lemon, hammerhead, mako, tiger, bull and whale sharks, manta rays, hawksbill, leatherback, and loggerhead turtles, dolphins, pilot whales, year-round humpback whales, wrecks – Kwarcit Wreck, Teliarte Wreck, Lost Anchor, Santo Antao Wreck, Dajarti Wreck

For a more detailed review of Cape Verde scuba diving, check out this post:

Scuba Diving Cape Verde Islands

Canary Islands

Set 62 miles (100 kilometers) west of Morocco, the 7 main islands and numerous islets of the Canary Islands have a volcanic subsea terrain influenced by the warm Gulf Stream, Canary currents, and cold ocean currents with lots of nutrients coming from more tropical areas. The corals aren’t rich but the topography of ledges, lava flows, caverns, and boulders supports 550 fish species and 1,000 invertebrates. There are 3 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to help nurture and maintain the pretty rich macro life and reef tropicals with many large attractions that include a variety of rays, sharks, turtles, pelagics, and cetaceans. Most of the mammals and pelagics are there year-round with mantas more common in September. In addition, there are dozens of wrecks from many eras and an underwater gallery of sculpture called Museo Atlantico with 35 works of art creating a surreal reef scene.

Dive Season: year-round
Skill Level: beginner to advanced
Water Temperature: lows in January of 66°F (19°C) and highs of 74°F (23°C) in August
Visibility: 100 feet (30 meters) or better
Highlights: moray eels, garden eels, crabs, sea urchins, nudibranchs, seahorses, octopus, cuttlefish, scorpionfish, trumpetfish, damselfish, pufferfish, glass-eyes, goatfish, triggerfish, parrotfish, boxfish, drummers, groupers, jacks, marlin, tuna, mobulas, common and marbled stingrays, eagle and manta rays, blacktip, whitetip, nurse, guitar, angel, hammerhead, mako, bull, silky, and whale sharks, 400 resident pilot whales, sperm whales, beaked whales, false killer whales, orcas, dolphins, 5 species of turtle (green, hawksbill, leatherback, Kemps Ridley, and loggerhead)

For a more detailed review of Canary Islands scuba diving, check out this post:

Best Scuba Diving the Canary Islands

Sodwana Bay, South Africa

Sodwana Bay is located just down the coastline from the excellent diving in Mozambique in the far northeast corner of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal Province. The dive sites are set on the sandstone continental shelf with 1,200 species of fish and 100 species of coral that is mostly in pristine condition. Surfers are delighted with the breaks and there is generally north to south drift for divers. Macro life and reef tropicals are diverse and the megafauna of pelagics, stingrays, mantas, sharks, dolphins, and whales is truly impressive. Mantas, ragged-tooth sharks, and leatherback and loggerhead turtles all migrate to the area from December through February with humpback whales coming from June through October. Of note for the technical community, Sodwana Bay’s Jesser Canyon is the site where divers approached coelacanths at 330 feet (100 meters).

Dive Season: year-round
Skill Level: beginner to advanced
Water Temperature: 70-84°F (21-29°C) with the low in August and high in January
Visibility: usually 50 feet (15 meters) or better
Highlights: seahorses, ghost pipefish, scorpionfish, paperfish, lobster, nudibranchs, anemones, giant clams, morays, butterflyfish, angelfish, sergeant majors, sea goldies, fusiliers, surgeonfish, trumpetfish, hawkfish, numerous varieties of snapper and sweetlips, giant potato cod, stingrays, reef sharks, barracuda, jacks, pelagics, seasonal migrations of whale sharks, ragged-tooth sharks, nesting turtles, right and humpback whales, dolphins, manta rays, extreme technical divers located coelacanths at 100 meters (350 feet) in Jesser Canyon

For a more detailed review of Sodwana Bay scuba diving, check out this post:

Diving Sodwana Bay South Africa

False Bay, Cape Town, South Africa

False Bay is a protected area on the south side of Cape Town. The west side of the bay is generally rocky with more steep drop-offs when compared to the east side of predominantly sandy bottoms. Current is not much of a factor but surface chop gets more intense during the summer months when the southeasterly winds kick up. There is an extensive cool water reef of mostly soft corals, sponges, sea fans, other invertebrates, and kelp, with diverse macro life, reef fish, and a large number of small sharks like shy sharks and catsharks, along with the much larger seven-gill shark, and great white sharks which come to feed on the up to 60,000 Cape Fur seals that take refuge on Seal Island in mid-bay. Many dive shops operate shark cage dives there to allow a close look. There is also a large colony of African penguins (jack-ass penguins) near Simon’s Town and several wrecks mostly at depths suitable for advanced and technical divers.

Dive Season: year-round
Skill Level: beginner to advanced
Water Temperature: 54-61°F (12-61°C)
Visibility: 16-68 feet (5-20 meters)
Highlights: crinoids, brittle stars, sea stars, sea pens, anemones, crinoids, lobster, crabs, octopus, cuttlefish, dozens of species of nudibranch, horsefish, strepies, pufferfish, Roman fish, Hottentot seabream, stumpnoses, a large number of sharks like puffadder shy sharks, leopard catsharks, pyjama sharks, and gully sharks, seven-gill sharks, African penguins (jack-ass penguins), Cape fur seals, great white sharks, wrecks – SAS Pietermaritzburg, Clan Stuart, Lusitania

For a more detailed review of Cape Town scuba diving, check out this post:

Scuba Diving Cape Town South Africa

For information on cold water scuba gear, please check my post:

Best Cold Water Scuba Diving Equipment

Other African & Southwest Indian Ocean Scuba Diving

For my reviews of some other African and Southwest Indian Ocean scuba diving areas, please check these posts:

Photography in Africa

Scuba Diving Trip Insurance

Feedback and Comments

I hope you found this post on the best scuba diving in Africa interesting and useful. If you have any questions or ideas, please feel free to share them in the comments section. I’d love to know of any experience you have. If there is no comments section directly below, click here: >>comments<<

Scuba Diving Abrolhos National Marine Park Brazil

8:35 am by Joe Leave a Comment

Humpback Whale - Abrolhol National Marine Park, Brazil — Humpback Whale – Abrolhos National Marine Park, Brazil

This is the one hundred and sixty-ninth in a series of reviews of the best dive resort locations around the world. In this post, the focus is on the Abrolhos Islands, Brazil. In addition to this series on dive resort locations, the best worldwide liveaboard diving locations and services are reviewed in their own series. To check them out, or others in this series, click on Liveaboards/Resorts on the menu at the top and choose a title from the list.

Have you been diving in the Abrolhos National Marine Park before? If so, I’d love to know about your experience. What dive shop or liveaboard did you use? Which dive spots are the best and what are the conditions there regarding the visibility, current, water temperature, sealife attractions, etc.? Please post your response in the comments section at the bottom and we’ll all learn something we can use.

Scuba Diving Abrolhos National Marine Park

Background – Situated 70 kilometers (44 miles) off the coastline of Caravelas in the State of Bahia is the Abrolhos National Marine Park. Made up of 5 volcanic islands and covering 913 square kilometers (353 square miles) the protected Marine Park was initiated in 1983. The islands are uninhabited except Siriba, under the jurisdiction of the Brazilian Navy, which is the only island open to visitors. The Abrolhos Lighthouse is there along with the resident lighthouse crew and park gamekeepers. Island fauna includes lizards, spiders, invasive rats, and birds including masked and white-bellied boobies, frigates, and white atobas, birds that dive to depths of 8 meters (25 feet) to fish. Besides seeking food and shelter many including frigate birds nest on the steep sides of Redonda Island which is also visited in the spring by nesting loggerhead turtles.

Undersea World – With its volcanic terrain, drop-offs and caverns, mangrove forests, and coral reefs, the Abrolhos Islands have abundant and diverse marine life. In the South Atlantic, you won’t be astounded by the richness or diversity of the corals like you might be in Southeast Asia or even the Caribbean, but you can look for 19 coral species including endemic brain coral, black coral, fire coral, soft corals, and large gorgonians. The other marine life is more diverse with hundreds of fish species and a nice variety of macro critters like octopus, squid, nudibranchs, feather stars, lionfish, and crustaceans, and reef tropicals like mixed schools of porkfish, grunts, and yellow-tail snappers, parrotfish, French angelfish, tangs, dhufish, jewfish, squared groupers, stingrays, wobbegongs, sharks, green and loggerhead turtles, huge bait balls, pelagics, eagle rays, and occasional manta rays. Dolphins stay around the islands year-round and 40-ton humpback whales come in numbers for breeding and nursing from July to November. They are visible from the surface on the journey to the islands on whale watching tours and fairly often underwater by divers and snorkelers at close range. In addition, there is an intriguing shallow wreck, the Rosalinda (or Rosalina), an Italian cargo ship with a load of concrete that sunk in 1953 and is now a rich habitat for a variety of invertebrates and fish.

Seasons and Conditions – Diving is possible all year in the Abrolhos National Marine Park.

Air temperature is always warm with annual average daily highs of28°C (82°F). August is usually the coolest month and March the warmest.
The average water temperature annual range is 24-28°C (75-82°F) with an average of 26°C (79°F).
It rains throughout the year with slightly less in February and August. Major tropical storms are rare.
Currents are usually mild.
Visibility averages 10 meters (33 feet) but reaches 20 meters (68 feet) from December through April.
There are sites suitable for all levels of diver. Several dive shops from the Caravelas area and a few more from outside provide day trips and 2-4 day liveaboards to the marine park. Access takes 2-3 hours by liveaboard yacht.

For a review of diving at another great Brazilian location, please check this:

Fernando de Noronha Brazil Diving

For some great diving in the Caribbean and some links to liveaboards there, please check out these reviews and links:

Bahamas Master, Bahamas Liveaboard Diving – Check the Price & Details

MV Avalon I, Jardines de la Reina, Cuba Liveaboard Diving – Check the Price & Details

Cayman Aggressor V, Cayman Islands Liveaboard Diving – Check the Price & Details

Things to Do in Abrolhos (aside from scuba diving)

Caravelas is a town of 20,000 that has limited tourist opportunities. The major attraction is the Marine Reserve area and boat cruises, whale watching, snorkeling, and diving associated with it. In addition, there are a number of beaches and parks, a natural history museum, a cathedral, a 500-year commemorative monument, a historical center, and a variety of restaurants.

Abrolhos Transportation, Hotels, and Diving Services

Transportation – To get to Caravelas, international visitors can fly to the nearest major airport in Porto Seguro (BPS) which has daily flights from São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. From there it is 262 kilometers (164 miles) or about a 4-hour drive. Rental cars are available at the airport. Buses will probably require transfers along the way. A closer regional airport is Teixeira de Freitas Airport (TXF) only 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Caravelas. Rental cars are also available at this airport and direct buses can be found nearby. There is a general aviation airport in Caravelas, but there are no scheduled flights. When you book your hotel, which you can do online below, check with them for the best current transport method. Many can arrange or provide pick-up at the airport.

Hotels and Diving – In the Abrolhos area around Caravelas there are around 20 or more lodging options starting at $11 per night. Several dive shops from the Caravelas area and a few more from outside provide day trips and 2-4 day liveaboards to the marine park. Many of the available hotels are associated with dive shops or can help you arrange the diving. The website linked below has the details for the lodging and can arrange a booking. You can easily find the location on the map provided on their site. The rates are guaranteed to be the lowest and it is free to cancel or change dates.

Abrolhos Lodging

Photography in Caravelas and Abrolhos

With the colorful coral reefs, a variety of fish, marine life, sharks, turtles, humpback whales, shipwrecks, and beautiful onshore targets, as well, there are many excellent photo opportunities. For information and reviews of dive cameras, click here:

Scuba Diving Trip Insurance

Feedback and Comments

I hope you found this post on Abrolhos Islands scuba diving interesting and useful. If you have any questions or ideas, please feel free to share them in the comments section. I’d love to know of any experience you have. If there is no comments section directly below, click here: >>comments<<

Dive Malpelo Island Colombia

4:27 am by Joe 2 Comments

This is the fifty-first in a series of reviews in a series that introduces and describes the various dive services and sites for worldwide liveaboard dive safaris. This one focuses on Malpelo Island.

In addition to this review on liveaboards, the best worldwide dive resort locations and services are reviewed in their own series. To check them out, or other liveaboards, click on Liveaboards/Resorts on the menu at the top and choose a title from the list.

Have you been diving at Malpelo Island before? If so, I’d love to know about your experience. What dive shop or liveaboard did you use? Which dive spots are the best and what are the conditions there regarding the visibility, current, water temperature, sealife attractions, etc.? Please post your response in the comments section at the bottom and we’ll all learn something we can use.

Dive Malpelo Island Colombia

Background – Malpelo is a small island about 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) long and 91 meters (100 yards) wide located 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the Pacific mainland Colombian city of Buenaventura. Taking 30-40 hours to reach by boat, this remote location is only inhabited by members of the Colombian military on a small post. This barren rock of an island has three peaks the highest of which is Cerro de la Mona at 300 meters (980 feet) in elevation and a number of rocky islets protruding offshore. Substantial bird guano on the surface supports algae, lichens, mosses, ferns, and shrubs. While this onshore wildlife hardly inspires awe, Malpelo Island was made a nature reserve and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006 due to the fantastic life below the surrounding ocean surface.

Undersea World – Below the surface the volcanic terrain is made up of steep walls, caverns, and pinnacles, on an undersea ridge. There are pillow lavas, breccias, basalt dikes, and a drop-off to a depth of 4 kilometers (13,000 feet). Conditions can be rigorous with strong but variable currents, a significant thermocline, and upwelling that brings nutrients and plankton to the seas around the island. Admittedly these conditions don’t support the most prolific coral growth, but that is not what divers come for.

The main attraction is the variety and volume of megafauna. As one-third of the so-called hammerhead triangle that includes the Galapagos Islands and Cocos Island, frequently gigantic shoals can be seen in numbers up to 300. Silky sharks also in the hundreds often accompany them or mix in. Other large marine life includes resident whitetip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, whale sharks from July through September, oceanic manta rays, giant groupers, sailfish, tuna, bottlenose dolphins, and occasional humpback and blue whales. The mantas tend to hunker near rocky outcrops in the current and sharks often seek cleaning stations of barber-fish, clarion angelfish, juvenile rainbow wrasses, and schools of butterflyfish. The great shoals of sharks are often seen huddling near the thermocline. Another highlight that is rare on the world stage but fairly common around Malpelo Island is small-tooth ragged-tooth sharks often found at 40+ meters (130+ feet). In addition, massive schools of baitfish, big-eye jacks, red snappers, and grunts often nearly block out the sunlight. Other attractions are Pacific creole fish, juvenile barracuda, red-lipped batfish, hogfish, eagle rays, Guineafowl pufferfish, free-swimming moray eels, and macro critters like spiny lobsters, blennies, and scorpionfish.

Historically several vessels have provided liveaboard cruises to Malpelo. Since 2018 only one has been making the trip, the Ferox. It is a comfortable if rugged 32-meter boat with a maximum of 12 guests sharing 8 cabins. With the steep walls and heavy currents, the Ferox demands that divers have at least an AOW certification. They also provide free Nitrox and require you to take a Nitrox course if you are not already certified.

Seasons and Conditions – Diving is possible year-round on Malpelo Island.

Air temperature average daily highs range from 29-33°C (84-91°F) with April and May the hottest months.
Water temperature has a range at the surface of 22-30°C (72-86°F) with an average of 26-28°C (78-82°F). Below the thermocline, it can be several degrees Celsius cooler. At times a 7mm wetsuit is suitable. Drysuits are not recommended due to their bulkiness which makes the often significant currents more difficult to handle.
The wet season runs from June through December when the sea is calmer and thermoclines deeper.
Visibility averages 10-30 meters (33-100 feet). During plankton blooms, it will tend toward the bottom of the range.

Here is my review regarding the range of gear suitable for cold water diving:

Best Cold Water Scuba Diving Equipment

There are a number of liveaboard diving and adventure cruises to the Galapagos Islands, Cocos Island, and the Socorro Islands in the general region that offer somewhat similar megafauna. Here are my reviews and links to some of the liveaboards.

MY Galapagos Master – Galapagos Liveaboard Diving: Check the Price & Details

Okeanos Aggressor I – Cocos Island Liveaboard Diving: Check the Price & Details

Quino El Guardian – Socorro Islands Liveaboard Diving: Check the Price & Details

Selected Malpelo Island Dive Sites

La Nevera (The Fridge): 12-40 meters (40-130 feet), on the southwest end just before the tip of the island, deep rocky slope with boulders and sea fans, very reliable spot to see sharks, cleaning station for hammerheads, other possibilities are silky sharks, Galapagos sharks, eagle rays, bottlenose dolphins, and whale sharks in season, corals are not rich

El Acquario: 25-35 meters (82-115 feet), on the southwest side, pinnacle often with strong currents and rich fishlife including thick swarms of mullet snappers, lots of white anemones at 30 meters (100 feet) down, silky sharks and hammerheads are often present, and whale sharks from July to September

La Gringa: 32 meters (105 feet), off the southern end, pinnacle with rocky terrain, swim-through at 32 meters (105 feet) ascending to the surface with numerous fish inside, outside a good spot for huge schools of hammerheads and silkies

La Ferreteria (Hardware Store): 18-35 meters (18-115 feet), off the southern end, rich marine life including very large numbers of moray eels and scorpionfish, silky and whale sharks, dolphins, very strong currents possible

Arreciffes (El Altair de Virginia): 7-32 meters (23-105 feet), north side site, better-than-average location for colorful hard corals, hammerhead cleaning station in shallow coral gardens, eagle rays, Galapagos sharks, whitetip reef sharks, schools of Pacific barracuda, leatherbass groupers, and bluefin jacks are all common

3 Musketeers (Los Tres Mosqueteros): 22-35 meters (72-115 feet), 3 rocky islets on the northern side, popular site with Galapagos and silky sharks, whale sharks on the south side, big schools of big-eye jacks, a swim-through on Portos, the middle islet, called the Cathedral, and a forth islet to the southeast called dArtagnan that is also interesting, when currents are mild the marine life is more abundant

Malpelo Island Transportation and Hotels

Air – Alfonso Bonilla Aragón is Cali’s international airport about 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) northeast of the city and the point of access to the departure point for the liveaboard at Buenaventura about 2.5 hours away. A number of domestic and regional destinations have direct flights to Cali as well as international flights from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, New York, Madrid, and a number of Central and South American cities. The airport is served by taxi and bus.
Transit to Buenaventura – Numerous public options include a 4-hour bus ride. Check with the organizers at the liveaboard for their advice and arrangements.

For more details on transportation and other tourist information, check Wikitravel-Cali.

Lodging and Hotels – In the departure town of Buenaventura there are around 20 recommended hotels from $7-$80 a night. If you prefer to spend time in Cali the many lodging options run from $3-$589 per night. The website linked below has the details for the lodging and can arrange a booking. You can easily find the location on the map provided on their site. The rates are guaranteed to be the lowest and it is free to cancel or change dates.

Photography in Malpelo Island

With the spectacular undersea terrain, a variety of fish, marine life, sharks, and other megafauna, there are many excellent photo opportunities, especially for wide-angle shots. For information and reviews of dive cameras, check out these posts:

Scuba Diving Trip Insurance

Feedback and Comments

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