Scuba Diving Regions in United States

    From world-class walls to muck diving havens, discover the unique character of each regional cluster.

    Regional Diversity

    Diving in the US is year-round but varies dramatically by region. Florida's Keys and reefs are best from November through May with calm seas and excellent visibility. Hawaii offers consistent conditions year-round with the best visibility in summer. The Pacific Northwest excels in autumn and winter when plankton blooms subside and visibility peaks. The Great Lakes season runs from June through September when water temperatures are most comfortable. Caribbean territories follow a similar pattern to Florida with peak conditions from December through April.

    37
    Regions
    46
    Total Sites
    4
    Day Limit

    Planning Tips

    Many regions are seasonally dependent. For United States, the best diving conditions are usually spread across different months depending on the archipelago or coast.

    Updated: June 2026

    Alabama – Gulf Coast

    coastal
    1 dive sites

    Alabama's Gulf Coast offers surprisingly diverse diving with extensive artificial reefs, the USS Alabama battleship area wrecks, and productive natural reef sys...

    Base Towns

    Orange Beach
    Gulf Shores
    Dauphin Island
    Perdido Key

    Find Hotels in United States

    Compare prices across top booking sites

    Search Hotels

    Alaska

    arctic
    1 dive sites

    Alaska offers extraordinary cold-water diving in pristine marine environments, from Sitka's kelp forests with giant Pacific octopus and sea lions to Kodiak Isla...

    Base Towns

    Anchorage
    Sitka
    Juneau
    Kodiak

    Popular Sites

    American Samoa

    island
    1 dive sites

    American Samoa offers remote pristine diving in the South Pacific with untouched coral reefs, humpback whale encounters, and extraordinary marine biodiversity....

    Base Towns

    Pago Pago
    Leone
    Aua
    Tafuna

    Popular Sites

    California – Northern

    coastal
    1 dive sites

    Northern California encompasses some of the finest cold-water diving in North America, from the world-renowned kelp forests of Monterey Bay to the purple hydroc...

    Base Towns

    Monterey
    San Francisco
    Carmel
    Mendocino

    California – Southern

    coastal
    1 dive sites

    Southern California offers exceptional cold-water diving across the Channel Islands National Park, Catalina Island, and the San Diego coast. Channel Islands fea...

    Base Towns

    San Diego
    Catalina Island
    Ventura
    Los Angeles

    Connecticut & Rhode Island

    coastal
    1 dive sites

    Connecticut and Rhode Island offer excellent New England diving with kelp forests, historic wrecks, and productive marine habitats in Long Island Sound and Bloc...

    Base Towns

    Newport
    Narragansett
    Block Island
    New London

    Popular Sites

    Florida – Atlantic Coast

    coastal
    0 dive sites

    Florida's Atlantic Coast from Key Largo through John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park offers the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States....

    Base Towns

    Key Largo
    Islamorada
    Marathon
    Tavernier

    Popular Sites

    Florida – Broward County

    coastal
    0 dive sites

    Broward County from Fort Lauderdale to Pompano Beach offers excellent diving along the third parallel reef system with numerous wrecks and artificial reefs. The...

    Base Towns

    Fort Lauderdale Beach
    Pompano Beach
    Hollywood Beach
    Deerfield Beach

    Popular Sites

    Florida – Gulf Coast (West)

    coastal
    0 dive sites

    Florida's Gulf Coast from Tampa Bay through the Panhandle offers diverse diving with artificial reefs, historic wrecks, fossil hunting, and seasonal pelagic enc...

    Base Towns

    St. Petersburg
    Tampa
    Venice
    Destin

    Popular Sites

    Florida – Key Largo to Islamorada Reefs

    coastal
    0 dive sites

    The reef tract between Key Largo and Islamorada features a continuous chain of coral reefs forming part of the only living barrier reef in North America. Alliga...

    Base Towns

    Islamorada
    Key Largo
    Tavernier
    Plantation Key

    Popular Sites

    Florida – Lower Keys & Key West

    coastal
    0 dive sites

    The Lower Keys and Key West offer spectacular diving including Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary with dramatic spur-and-groove coral formations, reef sharks, t...

    Base Towns

    Key West (Old Town)
    Sugarloaf Key
    Big Pine Key
    Marathon

    Popular Sites

    Florida – Miami / Biscayne Bay

    coastal
    0 dive sites

    Miami and Biscayne Bay offer diverse diving within Biscayne National Park including the Mandalay wreck, a steel-hulled schooner, the Alicia 1890 steamer wreckag...

    Base Towns

    South Beach
    Downtown Miami
    Key Biscayne
    Homestead

    Popular Sites

    Florida – West Palm Beach & Jupiter

    coastal
    0 dive sites

    West Palm Beach and Jupiter offer world-class diving headlined by the extraordinary goliath grouper spawning aggregation from August through October where 100 t...

    Base Towns

    West Palm Beach
    Jupiter
    Riviera Beach
    Palm Beach Gardens

    Popular Sites

    Georgia

    coastal
    1 dive sites

    Georgia's Atlantic coast offers unique diving characterized by warm subtropical waters, historic wrecks, and productive reef systems along the South Atlantic Bi...

    Base Towns

    Savannah
    St. Simons Island
    Jekyll Island
    Brunswick

    Great Lakes

    lake
    1 dive sites

    The Great Lakes hold thousands of remarkably preserved shipwrecks in crystal-clear freshwater, creating one of the world's premier freshwater diving destination...

    Base Towns

    Chicago
    Alpena (Thunder Bay)
    Duluth (Lake Superior)
    Kingston (St. Lawrence)

    Guam

    island
    1 dive sites

    Guam offers extraordinary Western Pacific diving with WWII wrecks, dramatic walls, crystal-clear water, and unique historical underwater sites. Apra Harbor feat...

    Base Towns

    Tumon Bay
    Hagatna
    Agat
    Piti

    Popular Sites

    Hawaii – Big Island

    island
    3 dive sites

    The Big Island is home to the world-famous Kona Manta Ray Night Dive where giant Pacific manta rays with wingspans up to five meters swim within inches of diver...

    Base Towns

    Kailua-Kona
    Kohala Coast
    Hilo
    Waikoloa

    Hawaii – Kauai & Niihau

    island
    3 dive sites

    Kauai and Niihau represent the most remote and pristine diving in Hawaii, offering encounters with rare Hawaiian monk seals, Galapagos sharks, and massive group...

    Base Towns

    Poipu Beach
    Princeville
    Hanalei
    Kapaa

    Hawaii – Maui & Lanai

    island
    3 dive sites

    Maui and Lanai offer some of Hawaii's most spectacular diving, headlined by the iconic Molokini Crater, a crescent-shaped submerged volcanic caldera with crysta...

    Base Towns

    Wailea
    Kaanapali
    Lahaina
    Kihei

    Hawaii – Oahu

    island
    4 dive sites

    Oahu is the gateway to Hawaiian diving, offering an extraordinary mix of volcanic underwater landscapes, WWII wrecks, and endemic marine species found nowhere e...

    Inland Freshwater Springs & Caves

    freshwater
    1 dive sites

    Florida's freshwater springs and the caves of Missouri and Texas represent some of the most extraordinary cavern and cave diving on Earth. Ginnie Springs offers...

    Base Towns

    High Springs (Ginnie Springs)
    Crystal River
    Bonne Terre (Missouri)
    San Marcos (Texas)

    Popular Sites

    Louisiana – Gulf Coast

    coastal
    1 dive sites

    Louisiana's Gulf Coast offers unique diving where the Mississippi River's influence creates productive marine ecosystems around oil platforms, artificial reefs,...

    Base Towns

    New Orleans
    Grand Isle
    Cocodrie
    Fourchon

    Popular Sites

    Maine

    coastal
    1 dive sites

    Maine offers rugged cold-water diving along America's most dramatic rocky coastline with over 3,500 miles of indented shore, islands, and underwater ledges. Por...

    Base Towns

    Portland
    Bar Harbor
    Camden
    Boothbay Harbor

    Popular Sites

    Massachusetts

    coastal
    1 dive sites

    Massachusetts offers historic New England diving with dramatic rocky coastlines, kelp forests, and an extraordinary concentration of shipwrecks from four centur...

    Base Towns

    Cape Cod
    Boston
    Martha's Vineyard
    Nantucket

    Popular Sites

    Mississippi – Gulf Coast

    coastal
    1 dive sites

    Mississippi's Gulf Coast provides accessible diving in the northern Gulf of Mexico with artificial reefs, historic wrecks, and productive marine habitats. The U...

    Base Towns

    Biloxi
    Gulfport
    Ocean Springs
    Pascagoula

    New Jersey

    coastal
    1 dive sites

    New Jersey offers unexpectedly diverse wreck diving along one of America's most historically significant coastlines. The state's waters hold hundreds of wrecks...

    Base Towns

    Point Pleasant
    Atlantic City
    Cape May
    Belmar

    Popular Sites

    New York

    coastal
    1 dive sites

    New York's coastal waters offer surprising wreck diving and marine biodiversity where Atlantic currents meet Long Island Sound. Long Island's south shore provid...

    Base Towns

    Montauk
    Hamptons
    Fire Island
    New York City

    Popular Sites

    North Carolina

    coastal
    1 dive sites

    North Carolina is one of America's premier wreck diving destinations, featuring an extraordinary concentration of historic shipwrecks earning it the title "Grav...

    Base Towns

    Morehead City
    Cape Hatteras
    Wilmington
    Beaufort

    Popular Sites

    Northern Mariana Islands

    island
    1 dive sites

    The Northern Mariana Islands including Saipan, Tinian, and Rota offer exceptional Western Pacific diving with dramatic caverns, WWII military wrecks, and pristi...

    Base Towns

    Garapan (Saipan)
    Susupe (Saipan)
    Tinian
    Rota

    Popular Sites

    Oregon

    coastal
    1 dive sites

    Oregon's rugged Pacific coastline offers adventurous cold-water diving with dramatic rocky reefs, kelp forests, and abundant marine life in relatively uncrowded...

    Base Towns

    Brookings
    Newport
    Florence
    Portland

    Popular Sites

    Other Notable Inland Sites

    freshwater
    1 dive sites

    The United States offers remarkable inland diving beyond the Florida springs, from high-altitude lake diving to unique geothermal springs. Lake Mead and Lake Po...

    Base Towns

    Lake Tahoe
    Mesquite (Lake Mead)
    Midway (Homestead Crater)
    Mammoth Lakes

    Popular Sites

    Puerto Rico

    island
    1 dive sites

    Puerto Rico offers extraordinary Caribbean diving with pristine coral reefs, dramatic walls, bioluminescent bays, and diverse marine environments across the mai...

    Base Towns

    San Juan
    Fajardo
    Culebra
    Vieques

    Popular Sites

    South Carolina

    coastal
    1 dive sites

    South Carolina's Atlantic coastline offers diverse diving from historic Charleston Harbor wrecks to productive offshore reefs along the South Atlantic Bight. Ch...

    Base Towns

    Charleston
    Isle of Palms
    Myrtle Beach
    Georgetown

    Popular Sites

    Texas – Gulf Coast

    coastal
    1 dive sites

    Texas Gulf Coast diving features extensive artificial reefs and oil platform structures creating productive marine habitats throughout the northwestern Gulf of...

    Base Towns

    South Padre Island
    Corpus Christi
    Galveston
    Freeport

    Popular Sites

    US Virgin Islands

    island
    1 dive sites

    The US Virgin Islands offer outstanding Caribbean diving across St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix with coral reefs, historic wrecks, world-class macro shore d...

    Base Towns

    Charlotte Amalie (St. Thomas)
    Cruz Bay (St. John)
    Christiansted (St. Croix)
    Frederiksted (St. Croix)

    Popular Sites

    Virginia & Maryland – Mid-Atlantic

    coastal
    1 dive sites

    Virginia and Maryland's Mid-Atlantic coast offers productive diving where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. Virginia Beach features numerous wrecks i...

    Base Towns

    Virginia Beach
    Ocean City
    Norfolk
    Assateague Island

    Popular Sites

    Washington

    coastal
    1 dive sites

    Washington state offers world-class cold-water diving in the nutrient-rich waters of Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Seattle'...

    Base Towns

    Seattle
    Friday Harbor
    Hoods Canal
    Neah Bay

    Popular Sites

    Recommended Stays

    Hotels & Resorts in United States

    Book your perfect dive trip accommodation. Compare prices across top booking platforms.

    Trusted Partners

    Affiliate Disclosure: We may earn a commission when you book through our links, at no extra cost to you. This helps us maintain this free resource for divers.