There are many underwater spots which give everyone a unique experience during diving, but some of them are more special than others. This is our list of top 5 unique mythical dives.
1. The Maldives, in the devil’s kingdom of the seas
Its impressive wingspan (up to 8 meters and 3 tons of weight!) and Its horns, which it uses to direct food towards its enormous mouth, have earned it the nickname “Devil of the seas”. The manta ray is however planktivorous and completely harmless!
The Maldives remain the favorite destination for his fans, who can see him there all year round. You will be able to find several cruises departing from male on different boat among the two itineraries proposed, one reaches the atoll of Vaavu, where from May to July the mantas gather by the dozen!
2. The hammerhead sharks of Coco Islands
It takes no less than 32 hours of navigation from Puntarenas in Costa Rica (an hour’s drive from San Jose, the capital), to reach Coco Islands, a marine and terrestrial sanctuary classified as World Heritage by UNESCO.
Reserved for experienced divers, the area around the island is renowned for its incredible concentration of large animals! You will therefore not see Nemo on his anemone but white tip sharks, tunas, turtles, manta rays, marlins, whale sharks, and especially huge schools of hammerhead sharks, undisputed stars in these waters.
You can dive there all year round with two seasons each presenting an interest: from November to April, during the dry season, the sea is calmer and visibility is excellent; from May to October, it is the wet season.
3. In Indonesia, the encounter of the third type
Fans of natural eccentricities will head for the Lembeh Strait, in the Celebes Sea in Sulawesi, where incredibly special dives (called muck dives) promise hallucinating observations.
Its location, at the junction of the Indian and Pacific oceans, explains the incredible biodiversity of the seabed. The strait is thus a site rich in rare curiosities: hairy toadfish, ornate ghost fish, pygmy seahorse, and even mimetic octopus and flamboyant cuttlefish are on display.
Your haven for this stay: the Kunkungan Bay Resort, by the sea on the strait, with pretty wooden bungalows with a terrace, facing the ocean.
4. Under the ice of Antarctica
The ultimate big dream of the underwater adventurer is ice diving! Grand Nord Grand Large offers the opportunity to explore the most legendary of the frozen seabed, those of Antarctica, on three of the four departures of his cruise around the peninsula.
Besides the sumptuous route of this coasting along with Graham land, from the South Shetlands to the Argentinian islands, and from the Neumayer canal to the Lemaire canal in the middle of the icebergs, the diver will be able to admire the astonishing landscapes of bluish beauty, the drop-offs of kelp populated by sea urchins and anemones, starfish and giant isopods.
You will also be able to swim with penguins, see real underwater torpedoes, and perhaps the sea leopard or a humpback whale.
5. Rangiroa, a paradise for gray sharks
The largest atoll in Polynesia is a hotspot for diving. People come here mainly to see the gray sharks, which gather there by the hundreds in the Tiputa Pass and its famous shark cave.
Depending on the incoming or outgoing currents, this pass and that of Avatoru are staggering crossroads where you can meet in the same dive and with a little luck the great hammerhead shark, the tiger shark, but also sharks white tips, dolphins, manta rays, or leopards, turtles, schools of barracudas, not to mention the myriads of small coral fish? Key Largo has unearthed for lovers of charm and authenticity a small pension responding to the sweet name of Tevahine Dream (three comfortable fares, unparalleled welcome, and ideal location on the beach, near the famous pass).