Known for its crystal clear waters and variety of marine life sighting opportunities, Mexico and the Caribbean are must-visit diving destinations for any scuba enthusiast.
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average ocean temperature
underwater reefs
water visibility
The Caribbean and Mexico are beautiful destinations with activities for couples, family, friends, and more.
The Caribbean Islands are a vast archipelago in the Caribbean Sea divided into different regions: the Lucayan Archipelago, the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles and the ABC Islands. Mexico is home to some fantastic dive sites, cenotes, and unpredictable depth drop-offs.
Scuba diving in the Caribbean is an amazing way to hone your skills. Most dive sites in the Caribbean have amazing visibility, with the Bahamas having the clearest visibility at 200 feet.
The Caribbean and Mexico have an abundance of dive sites with warm, crystal clear waters that are home to hundreds of species of colorful fish, corals and big ocean creatures.
Nassau and Paradise Island have a myriad of diving highlights ranging from beautiful reefs to shark diving. No matter where you dive in Nassau and Paradise Island, you can expect astounding views, teeming marine life, and clear visibility. Dive sites within Nassau and Paradise Island include Shark Buoy, Runway and Shark Arena, the Lost Blue Hole, and Barracuda Shoals.
Belize is home to the Belize Barrier Reef, the second longest reef in the world. There are more than 100 different kinds of coral and 500 species of fish in Belize. Dive sites in Belize include Ambergris Caye & Caye Caulker, the Belize Atolls, Placencia Reef & South Coast, and Belize City & St. Georges Caye.
Known as the "Unspoiled Queen of the Caribbean," Saba is the smallest island of the Netherlands Antilles. Saba has several shallow dive sites around the shoreline, but the largest dive attraction is Third Encounter and Eye of the Needle. Additional dive sites in Saba include The Pinnacles, Man ‘O War Shoals and Diamond Rock, The Ladder Bay Area, Tent Reef Area, and Eastside diving.
Grenada is home to the largest shipwreck in the Caribbean, the Antilla, and has beautifully colored reefs, and an underwater volcano. Grenada has over 30 dive sites including Bianca C, Flamingo Bay, Mollifier Reef, and Whibble reef.
Known as a hot spot for spring breakers, Cancun is a fun spot for all ages. Cancun has the largest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere, immersive cenotes, and an underwater museum. Dive sites in Cancun include C58 Minesweeper Wreck Diver, Punta Nizuc, The Cave of the sleeping sharks, Xel-ha, and the Cancun Underwater museum.
Cozumel is one of the beautiful Caribbean Islands located off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Cozumel has been steadily growing in popularity with scuba divers due to deep wall diving and drift diving. Dive sites in Cozumel include Punta Sur Reef, Chankanaab Reef, Palancar Gardens Reef, and Maracaibo.
The Caribbean and Mexico have a variety of interesting vacation destinations for travelers of various interests.
The Grenada National Museum
Mt. Scenery
Calakmul Archaeological Zone
The Belmont Estate
Zona Arqueologica
Tora Mexico provides a combination of Japanese flavor and the creativity of modern cuisine.
For a fantastic show and atmosphere, check out the Coco Bongo.
Some of the best hotels and resorts in the Cancun area offer day passes to their rooftop pool and bar areas.
Enjoy hundreds of stores and numerous restaurants in downtown Cancun or Playa del Carmen.
Open Water 20 is RAID's most popular global certification program. It teaches divers everything they need to know to explore the underwater world within a depth of 66 feet. Upon completion of the academic portion of the course, divers will go to the closest RAID dive center and complete the pool training and open water dives. This certification is internationally accepted.
Visit WebsiteBefore taking the RAID Wreck diving course, you'll have to be Open Water 20 certified. The RAID Wreck diving course is a specialty course designed to extend your knowledge and skills of diving to allow you to dive on wrecks safely without penetrating them.
Visit WebsiteThe Advanced 35 is a quality course designed to train persons with diving experience, in the safe use of scuba diving without decompression, to a maximum depth of 100 feet. The Advanced 35 course is divided in two sections: theoretical and practical.
The theoretical section covers topics such as equipment, physics, confined water training, and open water training and the practical section requires one hour minimum in confined water and four hours in open water.
The Bahamas has water visibility over 200 feet making it the clearest water in the world. In Belize, visibility ranges from 80 to 100 feet. In Saba, expect water visibility between 70 to 100 feet. Swells and heavy rainfall can affect water visibility in Saba, but it clears up relatively quickly. Water visibility in Grenada varies from 30 to 100 feet depending on the site and season in which you're diving. Grenada’s rain season is from June to December resulting in brief rain showers which can affect water visibility.
The ocean temperatures in the Caribbean and Mexico vary by location. Ocean temperatures in the Bahamas average 75 degrees during the winter, 80 degrees in the spring, and 88 degrees in the summer. In Belize, expect the warmest water temperature to be around 82 to 84 degrees and the coolest to be approximately 77 degrees in January and February. In Saba, water temperature varies from 70 to 100 degrees. Finally, Grenada ocean temperatures range from 85 degrees in the summer to 79 degrees in the winter.
Seasonal concerns vary by destination. Peak storm risk for the Bahamas is mid-September. The Bahamas get a major storm every 5 to 6 years which dramatically affects water visibility. For the most part, hurricanes rarely hit the Bahamas. In Belize, there isn't much concern regarding the weather unless you visit during the summer wet season; there are periodic showers throughout the day which clear up quite quickly. Saba has a mild climate, and the worst-case weather scenario is a tropical monsoon between October and January. The Island of Grenada has a tropical climate, which means that it has a dry and rainy season. The dry season is from January to May and the wet season is from June to December.
The best time to travel to the Bahamas is during the spring or summer months. In Belize, diving is choice year-round as long as you're prepared for a little tropical rain. The best time to travel to Saba is during the summer months. If you're going to Grenada, plan to arrive between January and May to avoid the rainy season.
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Princess Juliana International Airport is designed to handle 2.5 million passengers annually. It’s a four-level airport with 13 gates, and 46 check-in positions. While there is an effort being made to make air travel easier for passengers, it’s highly recommended you grab an airport map to ensure you get yourself to the right gate.
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The V.C Bird International Airport is ideal if you’re visiting the Eastern Caribbean. It handles over 850,000 passengers per year and accommodates over ten airplanes making it the largest Leeward Islands airport. Despite the traffic, V.C Bird International manages with one runway and parking structure. Construction is underway to make V.C Bird International even bigger so travel carefully through this airport for the time being.
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Aeropuertos Del Sureste has airports in ten locations around Mexico including Cancun, Cozumel, Tapachula, and Veracruz. It’s highly recommended you obtain a gate map while at any of the Aeropuertos Del Sureste airports so you can ensure you arrive at the correct gate on time.
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