The world's five top spots for amazing scuba diving holidays

TNT Magazine has recently published an article with what they believe to be the world's top scuba diving destinations for the best scuba diving holidays and while we agree with some of the locations they feature there are some amazing ones that we feel they've left out. So to bring you what we think is missing from their list we give you a list of our top five scuba diving sites around the world.

Below you will find what we believe are the world's top five scuba diving destinations (in no specific order), no avid scuba diver should miss:

1. Cozumel, Cancun, Mexico – The pristine, virtually virginal island of Cozumel in Cancun, located just off the Riviera Maya coast is teeming with diverse marine life, surrounded by thriving reefs and warm crystalline waters. One of the best places for scuba diving in Cancun, in Cozumel on a good day you can enjoy clear visibility up to 200 feet below the surface. The gentle currents that run parallel to the reef are a drift diver's dream come true. If planning scuba diving holidays in Cozumel you will be able to choose from 19 popular scuba diving sites, including dramatic swim-throughs and amazing opportunities for cave diving in Cancun mainland, which can be done in the cenotes (freshwater caves). When you're not scuba diving in Cozumel you will find that the island is incredibly friendly to tourists and has a buzzing nightlife. In the main town of San Miguel you can expect to find dozes of excellent dive shops.

Image by : Personal pictures, on Flickr.

2. Red Sea, Egypt – lying at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula, the Ras Mohammed National Park is a scuba diving site like no other, teeming with rich coral life, underwater caves and thousands of colourful species of fish. If you make the Red Sea your destination for scuba diving holidays you will not regret it for a second, not only will you get to submerge into one of the world's most diverse underwater kingdmors but outside of the water you will enjoy the sight of sweeping desert scenery dotted with gazelles, surrounding this paradisiacal diving spot. The waters of the Red Sea are also home to the SS Thistlegorm wreckage, ideal for cave diving and believed to be one of the world's last remaining sewage-free diving spots.

Image by : melissa.fiene, on Flickr.

3. Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands - with visibility in the island of Grand Cayman averaging between 80 to 150 feet, this tropical paradise in the Caribbean is home to an abundance of thriving marine life. Grand Cayman's shallow pristine reef, rise like a mountain plateau to create a scuba diving site revered by many scuba diving enthusiasts in the world. The shallow reef of Grand Cayman provides divers with maximum time beneath the waters and spectacular diving next to massive drop-offs in 12,000 foot abyss. During scuba diving holidays in the Cayman Islands you can find amazing shore dives which ara available 24 hours a day. You can do night dives in George Town or head to Babylon, a local favourite diving spot on the North Shore.

4. Heron Island, Australia (Great Barrier Reef) – with Heron Island quite literally being a coral island that rises above the world-famous Great Barrier Reef, this is probably the world's best known scuba diving spot and one that must feature at the top of any list of must-see scuba diving destinations. Offering diving enthusiasts with excellent scuba diving merely steps from the shore, you might not be needed the air tank at all if you strap on a snorkel mask and dive down the area coming up ocassionally for big gulps of oxygen. The amazing marine world beneath this island's waters is so accessible that you will enjoy amazing snorkelling. Alternatively, if you strap on a scuba tank you will be able to stay 20 feet below the surface on hours and explore the rich depths of this . Being a quiet and serene island, this scuba diving hotspot is ideal for relaxing scuba diving holidays, as the area is devoid of mass tourism and offers a casual and laidback lifestyle on land.

Image by: Duiken Redactie, on Flickr.

5. Jardines de la Reina, Cuba – with the Caribbean's largest submerged island shelf and home to the world's second largest coral barrier reef, this tiny island in the Caribbean packs a punch in amazing sites for the most amazing scuba diving holidays. The Jardines de la Reina archipelago has long been considered the most fascinating place for scuba diving in Cuba. Not only is it home to the world's second largest barrier reef but its crystalline waters are home to an abundance of colourful marine life and thriving coral. Prepare to immerse in an underwater world like you've never seen before and swim alongside schools of yellowtail snappers, green moray eels, glittering silver tarpon, blue creole wrasses and a variety of astoundingly beautiful creatures that were long believed to have almost disappeared from the Caribbean long ago: black groupers, jewfish (known as the goliath grouper) and Nassau groupers.