Dive sites, seasons and marine life — researched, mapped, planned.
Menu
Destinations Dive Sites Marine Life Wrecks News
Plan a trip Trip planner When to dive Cost calculator Comparisons Marine-life calendar Water temperature Liveaboards Operators & resorts Marine parks Hyperbaric chambers World map
Regions Australia, New Zealand & East AsiaCaribbean & Western AtlanticEurope, Atlantic & MediterraneanIndian Ocean & East AfricaPacific Islands & MicronesiaRed Sea & Middle EastSoutheast Asia & Coral TriangleThe Americas & Eastern Pacific Countries
Learn & Tools All guides Certifications Gear guides Videos Ask the Data AI Agents API
About About us Methodology Disclaimer Contact
Your view
★ Saved

Your starred destinations, sites and species — stored in this browser.

API GATEWAY

Free read-only JSON access to the atlas's cached data.

Dark mode

🧭 Guided View
New to diving — depths, currents, certification levels? We explain every term as you browse, in plain English. Same data, with the help built in.

⚡ Expert View
You already know the difference between a wall and a drift. Just the data — clean, fast and compact. This is the default view.

Interface language
Five Seas — illustrative image

Five Seas

Reef · Channel 10–25 m Intermediate Jardines de la Reina, Cuba
AI-generated illustration
Editorial estimate
Depth
10–25 m / 33–82 ft
Typical depth
16 m / 52 ft
Visibility
15–35 m / 49–115 ft
Water
26–30 °C / 79–86 °F
Current
Moderate
Access
Liveaboard
Best months
Dec–Apr
Recommended cert
Advanced Open Water
Typical dive
~45 min

Depth is the range from the top of the site to its usual maximum; "recommended cert" is the mainstream-agency level operators usually ask for, not a legal rule. Currents and visibility change daily — treat everything here as planning ranges.

Five Seas works the archipelago's edge habitat, where tidal channels braid between mangrove cays and the outer reef. The moving water stacks life in layers: tarpon idling in the green upstream shade, snappers walled across the grooves, and goliath groupers — the park's celebrities — holding under coral heads with the immovable confidence of parked trucks. Reef sharks transit through on schedules of their own. Because the terrain is moderate and the interest is animal traffic, guides run it patiently, parking groups where the current delivers the show rather than covering distance.

The moment you come for: Goliath grouper encounters, tarpon in the channel shade, tide-driven fish traffic.

Topography: Coral heads and grooves near a channel between cays, where lagoon and open water trade places with the tide.

Current: Tidal exchange through the cays moves water — and fish — through the site.

Entry: Skiff drop near channel-cut reef; profiles stay moderate.

Know before you splash

Hazards: Channel current on the exchange; time the dive with the guides.

Permits & rules: Access only through the park's licensed operation.

Conservation: Goliath groupers were fished out across most of the Caribbean; meeting relaxed adults here is the park working as designed — give them generous space.

Who you'll meet

For photographers

Wide angle: ★★★★☆ · Macro: ★☆☆☆☆ — editors' 1–5 rating of what this site gives each style of shooting

Australia, New Zealand & East Asia

Cairns & the Ribbon ReefsNingaloo ReefCoral Sea & Osprey ReefOkinawa & the Kerama IslandsPoor Knights IslandsTownsville & the YongalaGreen IslandIzu Peninsula

Caribbean & Western Atlantic

BonaireCozumelRiviera Maya & the CenotesBelize Barrier ReefGrand CaymanIsla Mujeres & CancúnRoatánTiger Beach & Grand Bahama

Europe, Atlantic & Mediterranean

Malta & GozoSilfra & IcelandThe AzoresCanary IslandsLarnaca & the ZenobiaScapa FlowArctic NorwayMadeira

Indian Ocean & East Africa

North & South Malé AtollsAri AtollBaa Atoll & Hanifaru BayAliwal Shoal & UmkomaasMafia IslandMauritiusSeychellesSodwana Bay

Pacific Islands & Micronesia

PalauChuuk (Truk) LagoonFakaravaKona, HawaiʻiRangiroaTaveuni & Rainbow ReefBeqa Lagoon & Pacific HarbourEspiritu Santo

Red Sea & Middle East

Sharm El Sheikh & Ras MohammedBrothers, Daedalus & St John'sDahabHurghada & El GounaMarsa Alam & the Deep SouthAqabaDaymaniyat IslandsMusandam Peninsula

Southeast Asia & Coral Triangle

Bali & Nusa PenidaKomodoRaja AmpatSipadan & MabulAnilaoCoronKoh TaoLembeh Strait

The Americas & Eastern Pacific

Galápagos IslandsCocos IslandFlorida KeysSea of Cortez & Cabo PulmoSocorro & the RevillagigedosBritish ColumbiaCalifornia Channel IslandsCosta Rica Pacific Coast