Beyond the Gili Islands
Gili Islands is one of the busiest dive hubs in the world. These destinations dive in a similar way, with the same good months, marine life and kind of diving, and see far fewer divers.
If you're new to diving
Destinations with at least 4 documented Open Water sites.
WakatobiIndonesiaBest Mar–Dec17 Open Water sitesGood in the same months (All year)Also big schools, sharks, raysSame kind of diving: reefs, walls, drift dives86match- Dumaguete, Dauin & Apo IslandPhilippinesBest Jan–May5 Open Water sitesMostly calm waterGood in the same months (Oct–Jun)Also big schools, turtles, macro lifeSame kind of diving: reefs, walls, drift dives81match
MalapascuaPhilippinesBest Dec–May9 Open Water sitesMostly calm waterGood in the same months (All year)Also sharks, macro lifeSame kind of diving: reefs, walls, drift dives78match
CoronPhilippinesBest Dec–Apr4 Open Water sitesMostly calm waterGood in the same months (Oct–Jun)Also big schools, turtles, macro lifeSame kind of diving: reefs, drift dives70match- AnilaoPhilippinesBest Nov–Dec, Apr–May13 Open Water sitesGood in the same months (Oct–Jun)Also turtles, macro lifeSame kind of diving: reefs, walls, muck diving68match
- Nha TrangVietnamBest Apr–Aug4 Open Water sitesMostly calm waterGood in the same months (Feb–Sep)Also big schools, macro lifeSame kind of diving: reefs, muck diving64match
For certified divers
Some of these need Advanced certification or more: check each site's level.
Sipadan & SempornaMalaysiaBest Apr–OctGood in the same months (Dec–Oct)Also big schools, sharks, turtlesSame kind of diving: reefs, walls, drift dives87match- SiquijorPhilippinesBest Feb–MayGood in the same months (All year)Also big schools, turtles, macro lifeSame kind of diving: reefs, walls, drift dives87match
KomodoIndonesiaBest Apr–OctGood in the same months (All year)Also big schools, sharks, raysSame kind of diving: reefs, walls, drift dives85match- Southern Leyte (Sogod Bay)PhilippinesBest Apr–May, OctGood in the same months (All year)Also big schools, rays, turtlesSame kind of diving: reefs, walls, muck diving81match
- RomblonPhilippinesDiveable all yearGood in the same months (All year)Also turtles, macro lifeSame kind of diving: reefs, walls, muck diving78match
Raja AmpatIndonesiaBest Oct–AprGood in the same months (Oct–Apr)Also big schools, sharks, turtlesSame kind of diving: reefs, walls, drift dives76match
How we match: share of the good months in common (up to 25 points), same region (25), marine life seen regularly (20), kinds of diving (15), how many sites suit Open Water divers (10) and water temperature (5). We only suggest destinations in the same region of the world that share at least one kind of diving, and that are not among the busiest dive hubs we identified from dive volumes, dive-centre counts and marine-park visitor numbers.
Photo credits
- Beach in Wakatobi National Park, Jenny from Taipei, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Beach and lagoon on Malapascua Island, Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Lagoons and karst cliffs of Coron Island, Nicko Melendres, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sipadan Island seen from the sea, Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Pink Beach on Padar Island, Komodo National Park, Devagonal, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Karst islands of Piaynemo in turquoise water, Raja Ampat, peter harris, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
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