Location: Byron Bay (Julian Rocks)

Byron Bay is probably my favorite place in Australia. Byron Bay is an amazing little beach town in northern NSW. It is somewhat of a surf town, and it is popular among young backpackers. Byron Bay has a wide selection of accommodation from camping, and cheap hostels, to bed and breakfasts, and beach side hotels. It also has a great selection of bars and restaurants that are open late into the night.

Cape Byron is the most eastern point of the Australian mainland. All of the scuba diving in Byron Bay is concentrated on a large rock formation just off shore, known as Julian Rocks, and is easily visible from the beach. During the summer months tropical species can be found out at the dive sites, and during the winter, colder water species are found. During the winter months the rocks host a large population of the endangered Grey Nurse sharks. The winter months also bring migrating humpback whales. Although you will probably not see a humpback on a dive, it is common to hear them, and come across them on the short boat ride out or back from the rock. During the summer months when the water warms, the tropical species move in, and it common to see Leopard sharks, as well as manta rays. Other tropical species such as eagle rays, lion fish, bat fish, and colorful reef fish can also be found. Year round inhabitants of the rocks include two species of Wobbegong shark, green and loggerhead turtles, massive bull sting rays, guitar fish, king fish, and big friendly Blue Gropers. Being a temperate dive location, visibility and conditions can vary greatly and change quickly. Visibility can range from just a few meters to 25+ on a great day.

The most commonly visited site at the rocks is called the nursery. The nursery is a shallow site that bottoms out around 12 meters at the deepest. It is the most sheltered dive site, and this is where any classes are usually held. The needles is on the south side of the rock and is about 15 meters in depth. The currents are stronger at this dive site. The currents draw large schools of fish, and lots of rays. One of my favorite dives is to start in the nursery and end in the needles. Hugo's trench is on the opposite side of the rock from the nursery. This site is more exposed and not visited nearly as much as the nursery side. The site is about 15-20 meters deep. The trench runs perpendicular to the rock and is home to a huge amount of life, and interesting rock formations.

Byron Bay is great town, and should not be missed in Australia. Few travelers go there just for the diving, but if you do visit, I highly recommend doing a day or two of diving.

Cozumel has some of the best diving in the Caribbean. Cozumel has excellent conditions, and abundant marine life. Cozumel has a variety of dive sites, but it is most well known for its stunning wall dives and leisurely drift dives. Marine life you can expect to see on most dives in Cozumel include nurse sharks, eagle rays, giant green morays, turtles, lobsters, and numerous colorful reef fish. There are so many excellent dive sites on the island, but in this review I will just cover a few of my favorites. Santa Rosa wall is a beautiful wall dive that is done as a drift dive. The top of the wall is right around 50 feet and it drops off into the abyss. Keep an eye out for the endemic splendid toad fish that hides in the coral crevices along the wall. Punta Dalila is a great dive site that was loaded with nurse sharks and eagle rays, it is also a shallower site at around 40-60 feet so it makes a great 2nd dive after a deep wall dive. The cathedral was an amazing dive because of it's incredible reef structures. Around these dramatic swim throughs and the cathedral cavern itself you will see lots of lobsters and green morays, as well as large groupers. While diving this site we were also visited by a lone reef shark. Right by the Cathedral is an excellent dive that is only for experienced divers called The Devil's Throat. The devils throat is a cave/tunnel that starts around 90 feet and continues down until it opens up at around 135 feet. Due to the depth and confined space, only very experienced divers should attempt this dive. Columbia shallows is a nice shallow site that is loaded with beautiful colorful reef fish and frequented by turtles. This site is always done as a second dive after a deep wall dive due to the fact it's only about 20-40 feet deep. This site is very popular as a second dive so it can get somewhat crowded at times. My favorite wall dive that I did on the island was Maracaibo. This was a deeper wall dive as the top of the wall is at around 80 feet. The wall itself is stunning and it drops straight down into the abyss. Currents were relatively strong and this dive is always a drift dive. Drifting along this beautiful wall while watching eagle rays glide by and nurse sharks prowl the edge of the wall made for one of the most memorable dives of my trip.

Topside Cozumel has amazing beaches, excellent restaurants, and lively bars. The main town of San Miguel can get crowded and busy when a cruise ship is docked there, which is pretty often. Cozumel is great for a cheap dive vacation, as getting there is cheap, hotels are cheap, and diving is cheap. With great diving in a beautiful location at great price, it's obvious why Cozumel is such a popular dive destination.

Location: Cabo San Lucas

Cabo is home to some amazing diving. Most of the diving here is around the Land's End peninsula that pushes out into the sea of cortez. All of the sites around land's end are just a short boat ride from the Cabo marina. The water is clear and there is a huge amount of marine life. My favorite dive here was Land's end, which is the very tip of the peninsula. It's one of the deeper dives here so it's usually done first. Here you will see huge schools of fish, sting rays, as well as mobula rays. Pelican rock is another good dive site and is a little shallower so sometimes it is done as your second dive. Here you will see angel fish, sea horses, schools of bait fish, and the rock itself is covered in nudibranchs. A unique feature you will see while diving in Cabo are sand falls. Sand from the beaches and surrounding desert wash into the ocean and build up on ledges, once enough has built up it begins fall off the ledge into the deeper water and it creates an effect that looks like a water fall. It's cool to see and can be found at numerous sites around the peninsula. There are a number of dive ops to choose from, and most of them do day trips to Cabo Pulmo and the Gordo Banks as well. I would recommend skipping the Gordo Banks and doing Cabo Pulmo if you are looking for a day trip. Gordo Banks rarely has the schooling hammerheads that you are going there in hopes of seeing. It is a blue water dive where if there isn't sharks, which there usually isn't, then you end up just floating around in the water column looking at nothing. On the day I went we didn't see sharks, but we were lucky enough to see a couple of mobula rays, and a large marlin during our safety stop.

Topside: Cabo has great restaurants and is famous for it's night life. It has excellent bars and clubs. Cabo has great beaches as well. Cabo is also world famous for it's sport fishing, and fishing for a day on a panga is a must. There are few places where the fishing is so good for such a cheap price.

Cabo makes a great dive vacation. If you are looking for a good inexpensive dive trip, and are looking to change it from somewhere in the Caribbean, Cabo is a great choice.

Million Dollar point on the island of Espiritu Santo is a unique dive with a very different kind of reef to experience. Vanuatu was a staging area for the US offensive in the south Pacific during World War 2. At the end of the war a priority was given to getting troops home, and there simply wasn't room on the ships to get the millions of dollars worth of equipment on board. The American Navy decided for whatever reason that throwing everything that couldn't fit onto the ships into the ocean was a good solution. So Sea Bees constructed ramps into the ocean and proceeded to drive countless vehicles including jeeps, trucks, tractors, bulldozers, etc into the ocean. They also used barges to dump countless crates of objects from weapons, uniforms, cases of coca cola, and many other things, and when they were all done dumping supplies into the ocean, they sank the barges too. That's how million dollar point got its name, from the millions of dollars worth of equipment dumped into the ocean there.

Million dollar point is done as a shore dive and is also relatively shallow and within recreational dive limits. Some areas are also shallow enough for snorkelers to enjoy. You can make numerous dives exploring the massive amount of vehicles and objects left behind and still not see everything. The man made reef attracts a fair amount of sea life, and the beach at the dive site is a nice sandy beach that is great for relaxing and swimming during your surface interval. There are multiple dive operations that dive million dollar point. It's a unique dive site with a unique history, and it's a lot of fun to explore.