Good scuba locations- ideally not too far

[Waitingfordoggo]

I have obviously Googled this but wondered if I could hear from some MNers for ideas for good snorkelling/scuba diving locations- ideally not a very long flight.

We want to take our almost adult kids on a special family
holiday. They’d love to go somewhere with a ‘tropical island’ feel- white sands, turquoise seas etc and where they can snorkel and scuba dive.

I know there are some amazing places to dive but most of them are so far away and I’m a terrible flier. We would all like to go to the Caribbean but the thought of the long flight makes me feel stressed so if there is anywhere closer which has a similar feel/look, I’d love to know. I know Sharm el Sheikh is supposedly good for scuba but I hear a lot of mixed reviews about Egypt as a holiday destination which put me off.

The kids have tried scuba diving in Turkey which was fun as an activity but there really wasn’t much to see. I think they envisage being able to see lots of colourful, tropical fish- is that possible anywhere in Europe? Or somewhere less than 8 hours flight?

Open to your suggestions MNers!

Stintino in Sardinia has the Asinara Roccaruja Diving Centre which is brilliant and DH had some great cave-based dives with them.

Sounds good, thanks I’ll take a look.

Malta? Gozo has a pretty good rep as a diving spot.

YY to Malta, or more specifically Gozo, with a trip to Comino, the tiny island between the two.

I went on a Liveaboard from Hurgarda Egypt and loved it, it was the 'northern wrecks and reefs route and included the Thistlegorm, an iconic giant wreck and a dolphin dive.

Lanzarote is also good.

Brilliant, thanks so much for the suggestions, I’ll look at all of these.

Cape Verde?

I've done Swimtrek and snorkling in Kaş, Turkey. Not huge fish, but turtles and lots of small pretty fish. There are sunken roman ruins. They've sunk things like aeroplanes and statues to make it fun for beginners. Not really white beaches though.

I wouldn't dismiss the Caribbean because direct flights from regional airports can mean your overall travel time isn't as bad these days

I second Gozo. Some amazing cave dives there in crystal clear water from easy to access beaches. If you want tropical fish though you're going to need to get a bit warmer. Egypt/Hurghada is amazing but I cannot recommend Egypt overall as a holiday destination. Perhaps if you fly in, fly out and just dive with a hotel dive centre that could work.

Unfortunately all the best diving for whale sharks, manta etc are all carribbean or Thailand way. Caribbean is best for jet lag and an Island called Bonaire is phenomenal but it is a trek!

Def check out Malta as others have said. Cave diving and wreck diving were amazing. They also have this giant underwater Jesus statue that was blessed and sunk by a monk? Pretty cool...

We go to Gozo to dive every summer. We love the island but it is not sandy beaches and tropical fish! The diving is good - plenty of wrecks and lovely reef architecture plus the usual sea life that you'd find in the med. It's the best diving you'll find in the med by far.

If you want tropical fish then the Red Sea is your closest option. There are some very luxurious hotels with dive schools where you can dive straight from the beach. Again, it's not a white sandy beach destination!

If you want that then you're looking at Caribbean, Maldives etc.

For white sandy beaches and tropical fish with not too long a flight I don’t think you’ll find closer than the Caribbean. Cayman islands are supposed to be great for snorkelling and diving. Or Cozumel Mexico which is not far from Cancun. haven’t actually been to either though.

Maldives has spectacular diving but is a little further and pricey - although the dive-centric islands like Eriyadu tend to be more basic and cheaper.

Do they have their PADI or just done a few try out dives? Sounds like the latter? If they are old enough you could look at doing the classroom bit of PADI in england and then finishing the course abroad, that way they get to do more diving than just the try outs.

As an alternative to Egypt, I dived from the shore in Aqaba (Jordan), I don't think you can fly UK to Aqaba any more, probably have to go to Amman and then transfer. The diving was good, but not Great Barrier Reef quality. I saw plenty of diving groups in Malta in late March, it was windy so a bit rough and with some stronger currents, summer is probably better.

Plus one for Malta and Gozo. Go and see Maltaqua in St Paul's bay. They'll look after you.

Sardinia. Croatia. Malta

Thanks so much everyone- really grateful for your responses.

It does sounds like the Caribbean might be the closest place we’re going to find tropical fish and white sands. I would love to go- I went twice when I was much younger (and before I became a massive wuss about flying). I can’t find any islands less than an 8 hour flight from Gatwick which is our nearest airport. That isn’t long really in terms of being transported to somewhere completely beautiful and different to the UK, but I hate flying full stop, so even four hours feels too long to me. Maybe I will have to just be brave- DH and the kids love flying so it’s only me with an issue!

I will look at the other suggestions too, so thanks all for your contributions.

What about fly into Dubai (6.5 hours, little longer on the way back) and drive to Oman or Fujairah?

Malta and Gozo are excellent dive locations, great water temperature in September. Dahab if you don’t mind more rustic and don’t want to be in a Sharm el shithole resort (great diving, shame about basically everything else). Florida keys, Zanzibar a bit further afield. If you want full tropical with the added excitement of big fauna then Indonesia, Philippines, Mexico, Maldives - if you’re going long haul may as well really go for it right?

I did some lovely dives at the Medes Islands in Spain - huge groupers, but obvs not tropical

Eilat has great diving and it tends to be from shore so no faffing around with boats which is the bit I hate. Not sure what the travel advice is for Israel at the moment though.

@TiredCatLady, I’ve heard great things about Zanzibar, and Thailand has always appealed. But the flight! 😫 Shame you can’t get Diazepam off the GP these days 😂

In fact I would prefer Thailand over Caribbean in terms of landscape and food (from what I know of it), but I also think if I was going all the way to Thailand, I’d want to make a good three weeks out of it and travel around.

We’re looking at doing about 10-14 days for this trip probably, and the kids are very keen on the Caribbean. Maybe Thailand is one to do with DH as part of a longer trip when we’re retired! Cause then we could really take our time to get there and stop off somewhere en route and on the way back.

If you are willing to fly to Thailand then go to the Maldives instead for either snorkeling or scuba. In fact you can pretty much see everything just snorkeling including whale and nurse sharks, manta, turtles 🐢

That's somewhere I've never been but hope to, as it's a marine reserve. Also DP and I visited that area years ago and would love to go back.

Oman