Top 4 Best Places To Dive In The Caribbean

Plunge into the top 4 best snokeling and scuba diving locations in the Caribbean, featuring stunning underwater landscapes, vibrant marine life, and unforgettable places to dive.

By Cassie Bailey | Published on August 7, 2025

Royal Caribbean cruises are a dream vacation for divers. With our ships sailing to some of the most highly sought-out snorkel and scuba diving locations in the world it’s easy for underwater explorers to hit multiple incredible diving spots on a single Caribbean cruise vacation. Even easier? If underwater exploration becomes your new thing, you can become a certified scuba diver during your vacation, thanks to the first and only onboard dive program offered by a cruise line at Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) Five Star Dive Centers.

Whether you’re an experienced diver or just getting your feet wet, here are our top five diving adventures you won’t want to miss:

1. Sandy Bay-West End Marine Reserve – Roatan, Honduras

Teeming with octopus, starfish, sea sponges, rays and more, Honduras attracts practiced and beginner divers alike. Sandy Bay-West End Marine Reserve, at the top of the list of world-class diving spots, is home to 38 unique dive sites, all within a 15-minute boat ride from the coast. With caverns, drop-offs, canyons and a shipwreck, you can opt to move from site to site or stick to one perfect spot all day.

2. Stingray City – George Town, Grand Cayman

While visiting the capital city of Grand Cayman, you can explore a series of shallow sandbars located 25 miles from shore and “mingle” with some of the locals like the southern Atlantic stingrays. At the aptly named Stingray City, you can wade in the water among the friendly creatures before going deeper to witness their incredible movements under water. Moving to the gentle sway of the waves, the stingrays are easy to spot thanks to the crystal-clear Caribbean waters, and so are the many sea turtles and tropical fish sharing the surrounding waters.

3. The Great Maya Reef – Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico

Also known as the Mesoamerican Reef system, the Great Maya Reef is one of the largest coral reefs in the world, spanning 600 miles from the northern tip of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula to the Bay Islands in Honduras. This ecosystem is a diver’s paradise, an underwater museum filled with hundreds of fish species, sea turtles and sharks, not to mention the many different colorful types of coral that make up the reef itself.

4. Bonaire National Marine Park – Kralendijk, Bonaire

Made up of the surrounding waters of Bonaire and Klein Bonaire, the Bonaire National Marine Park is a major attraction. The oldest marine reserve in the world extends from the high-water mark to 200 feet below sea level, covering more than 6,000 acres, and it’s a prime spot for Caribbean biodiversity. This diver’s dream is home to almost every species of hard and soft coral found in the region. With more than 300 types of marine life—from seahorses to hawksbill sea turtles, to angelfish, to butterflyfish—you’ll have plenty of company when exploring there.

Inspired to dive into your next adventure? Discover the best places to dive in the Caribbean like Honduras, Grand Cayman, Mexico and Bonaire when considering visiting scuba diving locations as your next vacation.