Scuba Diving on a Christmas Caribbean Vacation

This Christmas, trade in cold sludgy sidewalks for white sand beaches with a visit to the Caribbean. The weather is beautiful with temperatures ranging between 75°F to 85°F and with the hurricane season over diving is looking good again. A Christmas Caribbean vacation is not complete with out learning about the area’s fascinating marine life. So grab a wetsuit and check out the Caribbean’s best dive sites.

Listen to Whales on a Scuba Vacation in the Turks & Caicos

The Turks & Caicos Islands are a great place to be for a Christmas Caribbean vacation as rainy season is over and whale season is just beginning. According to the Caribbean dive operators Bay Adventures website, humpback whales can be heard throughout the islands from December through April. The Columbus Passage separating South Caicos from Grand Turk is a major highway for migrating manta rays in the summer, humpback whales in the winter, and turtles year-round. Dive sites around the island are also home to coral gardens, colorful sponges, and schooling fish.

Take a Scuba Vacation to Cozumel, Mexico

December is a busy time for Cozumel and it’s no wonder so many people want to take their Caribbean Christmas vacation to Mexico. Cozumel Reefs National Marine Park is a place of great biodiversity and the government has gone to great lengths to protect it. Divers are required to pay a $2 entry fee per day and all funds go to reef conservation according to the tour operators Aqua Safari. The dive guides at Carayitos Advanced Divers do an excellent job of describing the various dive sites around Cozumel. Expect to see rays, sea turtles, nurse sharks, and large sea fans. Many of the dives around Cozumel are drift dives due to strong currents.

Find the Best Belize Diving on a Christmas Caribbean Vacation

Sunny skies are key to a successful dive vacation and December falls right inside of Belize’s dry season. Expect great visibility and calm seas while diving out of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. According to the dive operators at Scuba-Belize.com there are over 40 named dive sites dotting the 20 miles of barrier reef running parallel to Ambergris.

Part of the second largest reef system in the world, the turquoise blue waters of Belize dive sites boast nurse sharks, stingrays, and schools of barracuda. Colorful corals are home to large schools of fish and lobsters. Belize is a popular destination for a Christmas Caribbean vacation, just watch out as there will be plenty of other tourists heading there too.

Avoid Caribbean Christmas Crowds on Saba

This undiscovered treasure is known as the “Unspoiled Queen” according to the tour operators, Cardonna Dive Adventures. Receiving only 25,000 visitors a year, this small island’s untouched dive sites make an excellent escape from Christmas crowds. Saba is the smallest island of the Antilles and offers scuba diving year round with water temperatures dropping to about 77°F to 80°F in the winter. Marine life includes tropical fish, groupers, reef sharks, and bull sharks. The dive sites are also well known for underwater mountains and pinnacles rising majestically from the seafloor towards the surface.