Best Dive Locations in The World (2021 Guide)

What's up guys? Welcome to another video by Goats on the Road. This is a little bit different of a video again this week. If you tuned in last week, you'll see that Dorisa and I did an update of what it's like for us here in Portugal on lockdown. And of course, it's not just us on lockdown. It's everybody around the world mostly right now, including a good friend of mine, Justin Carmack, who runs a YouTube channel all about diving. And I was talking in the last video about how we need to connect with people virtually as much as we can. And this is one way that Justin and I are going to do it. So today, Justin's going to do this video for me. He's going to show you guys the best dive destinations in the world that you can visit once everything opens up again. All right, Justin, take it away, buddy. Critter Hunter. Hello, Goat fans. My name is Justin and my friends call me the Critter Hunter. They call me this because for the last 10 years, I've been traveling the globe trying to find and fill some of the Earth's most rare and exotic underwater critters. Scuba diving has brought me face to face with some of the most interesting species on our planet. But it's not always the critters that I might find on a dive. Sometimes it's the dive itself that is life changing. As an underwater videographer and travel writer, I've been lucky enough to scuba dive some of the seriously incredible locations. And in this video, I want to share with you my favorite dive destinations that you should explore at least once in your lifetime. So let's get going. Number five. So number five, I'm going to go with Indonesia. And by the way, these are in no particular order or anything. They're just kind of random. So Indonesia is not only one of the best dive locations on the entire planet, but I also wanted to mention it because it just so happens to be one of the locations I got to scuba dive and explore with Nick himself. Together with other friends, Nick and I got to scuba dive in Komodo National Park and later see the Komodo dragons. And after Komodo, we went off to Alor, which has a dive site that is famous for having the biggest concentration of sea anemones on the planet. From there, we got to explore the absolutely untouched Raja Ampat. We filmed lots of Wabigong sharks, pristine reefs, and countless more. It was one trip that neither Nick or I or anybody else that ever visits there will ever forget. And in fact, they have their own video about their scuba trip. So you can watch that here. Next up, let's head all the way to the Red Sea and explore waters that are warm year round, are crystal clear, and have some of the best reef in all of Africa and the Middle East. So anytime I praise the scuba diving in Egypt, people are always surprised. When normal people think of Egypt, they imagine deserts and hot sand and ancient ruins and camels. But when I imagine Egypt, I remember my year of scuba diving and one of the best times of my life. That's right, I did say one year. I actually headed to Egypt to dive the famous Blue Hole. I was supposed to stay about a week. And I fell in love with the diving so much that I didn't leave for a whole year. And I did nothing but dive almost every single day. It's that good. So there are actually a lot of scuba cities around Egypt like Hurghada, Marsa Alam, Alguna, Sharm El Sheikh. But my absolute favorite is Dahab in the Sinai Peninsula. From Dahab, you can get to famous sites like the Blue Hole or Thistlegorm Wreck. But there's so many other dive sites around Dahab that will keep you busy. Most sites are great for critter hunters and suitable for all levels of dive certification. So I highly recommend for anyone to explore the dive sites of Egypt and particularly Dahab. Number 3. So number 3, I gotta go with Portugal. So Portugal first hit my radar 4 or 5 years ago because a lot of my friends kept going there to do their dive master internships and other courses as well. So it's a definite hot spot for doing your PADI courses. But it also just happens to be one of the best or maybe the best dive locations in all of Europe. So you're gonna be spoiled if you do your dive master internship there. So most divers around Europe don't have a lot of world class dive locations to choose from. So most of them just fly to Egypt because it's so close. But I think the main reason for that is the Mediterranean is kind of dull and lifeless for the most part. But that's what makes Portugal stand out. The Azores Islands which are part of Portugal but far off the coast in the Atlantic Ocean are pristine, they're protected, they're not overcrowded and so they have some of the best reef and animal life year round. And I dare say that in the Azores you might even get sick of turtles. You'll see that many. And during season between July and October you're gonna see a ton of manta rays. That's the manta ray season and that's when most people want to go there because there's so many. But if you want to go in off season the water's a little colder but surprisingly there's still a ton of marine life. So even without diving Portugal is one of the most amazing countries in the world to visit. And as you guys know the goats are actually stuck there now during lockdown. So say hi to goats and if you want to watch their Lisbon video you can watch that here. So next up is the extremely remote island nation of Mauritius. Mauritius is located in the southern central Indian Ocean in the middle of nowhere. Somewhere between Southeast Asia and Africa. But even though it's going to be extremely long flights to get there you'll thank me when you go. In fact Mark Twain was actually quoted saying Mauritius was made first and then heaven. Heaven being copied after Mauritius. What else could I add to that? Even though I think old Mark was talking about the topside beauty I think he would be even more impressed if he did a little bit of diving in Mauritius. The dive sites are unique because they have a lot of upheavals and rock formations and the like that are also covered in marine life and corals. And although there are a lot of dive sites that are world class around the island I think if you asked anybody they would probably tell you that Flick and Fleck, if I pronounced that right, Flick and Fleck is the highlight of the country which is saying a lot. And there is a ton of marine life there and it's a protected reserve. So you can imagine how pristine the reef and the reef fish and all the critters there are. So just like all the other locations on this list I promise you if you make that really long trip you'll thank me when you get there and you will not be disappointed in the diving of Mauritius. Number 1. So last but certainly not least is the Philippines and guess what right now as I speak in lockdown I am here in quarantine in the Philippines. I happen to be here when lockdown started and I don't mind because this is the best location in the entire world, my absolute favorite for scuba diving and for critter hunting. It doesn't matter if you're a critter hunter like me that is all about the species and finding really exotic and rare critters that you can't find in many other countries. Or if you're just here for the relaxing scuba diving and pristine beaches and vibrant topside beauty whatever you're here for, Philippines really has it all. So if you want to see more about the Philippines and the underwater creatures that I'm finding here and filming every day take a look at this video, Nick will put the link up for one of my videos from the Philippines and I think you'll fall in love with it just like I do. I highly recommend this for any scuba diver whether you're a beginner or advanced underwater videographer or just want to hang out, you're not going to be sorry for visiting the Philippines. So there you have it guys, those are my top 5 recommendations to visit in 2020 and let me know in the comments below, what did I miss? What do you think I should have mentioned? Where have you been diving? Just let me know. And if you want to see more videos like this on Goats on the Road just comment below and let Nick and Drees know. Or better yet, everybody just head to my channel and subscribe and you're going to see videos like this and other videos where I film really exotic and rare creatures and post every day on my channel. So thank you guys so much for watching, thank you Nick and Drees, I love you guys, stay safe in Lisbon and I'll see you guys on the next one, bye.