Water has a way of transforming travel. It takes us off land and into hidden worlds, sometimes vibrant with coral and marine life, sometimes strange with ancient ruins or even floating taco bars. From underwater hotels to swimming with humpbacks, here’s a global roundup of unique swimming and snorkeling destinations that will make you rethink the classic beach day and appreciate it even more.
Scuba Diving: Wild Depths and Sunken Worlds
Cocos Island National Park | Costa Rica
A UNESCO World Heritage Site off the coast of Coast Rica, Cocos Island is famous among divers for its dramatic seamounts and hammerhead shark schools. Remote and rugged, it’s often called “the most sharky place on earth”. This spot is a true adrenaline rush for experienced divers.
Solomon Islands
Few divers make it to this far-flung South Pacific archipelago, but those who do are rewarded with untouched coral reefs, pristine visibility, and an underwater museum of WWII ship and plane wrecks scattered across its lagoons, which are now forming new reefs and attracting even more marine life.
Mozambique
Stretching across 125 miles of sandbars and islands, Mozambique’s coast is blissfully undeveloped. Diving here is all about megafauna: whale sharks, manta rays, humpbacks, and dolphins are regular encounters alongside brilliant reefs.
Norman’s Cay | Bahamas
This shallow wreck dive is a surreal blend of nature and history. Explore by snorkeling or diving among corals growing over Pablo Escobar’s sunken WWII-era smuggling plane.
Coron | Philippines
In Coron Bay, Japanese warships rest beneath the waves, including the Lusong Gunboat. There are 14 diveable wrecks between 100-200 meters long. Coral-covered decks and fish-filled passageways make these wrecks thrilling for both snorkelers and divers.
Snorkeling: Shallow Depths, Big Encounters
IIha Grande | Brazil
Just off Rio de Janeiro, this lush island’s turquoise bays hide spectacular snorkeling accessible by boat tour or beach. Get ready to experience secluded coves filled with turtles, rays, and colorful reef fish. The icing on the cake? This destination is a car-free zone and is ideal for hurry-free delights and adventures.
Silver Bank | Dominican Republic
Every winter, humpback whales return to Silver Bank to breed. Travelers can slip into the water with a guide and snorkel near these giants. We can only desribe this once-in-a-lifetime experience as both awe-inspiring and humbling.
Scotland
It may not be tropical, but Scotland’s western isles are home to surprising snorkeling adventures: summer waters filled with basking sharks, playful seals, and even puffins diving from the cliffs.
Mudjimba Island | Australia
Known as “Old Woman Island,” this spot just a short boat ride off the Queensland coast and is a nesting ground for sea turtles. With shallow depths great for snorkelers, you can drift above coral bommies and watch turtles glide gracefully through the clear water.
Symi | Greece
A hidden gem in the Dodecanese, Symi’s waters are impossibly blue and clear. Snorkeling here feels more like slipping into a watercolor painting, with rocky cliffs and curious octopuses waiting below the surface.
Champagne Reef | Dominica
Bubbling geothermal springs create an underwater hot tub effect at Champagne Reef. Because of the unique geothermal activity happening below the surface of the water, snorkelers float through streams of warm, fizzy water alive with tiny bubbles. In addition to the bubbly excitment, the area is also known for it’s healthy reef life, colorful sponges, sea turtles and eels!
Silfra Fissure | Iceland
One of the clearest dive/snorkel sites in the world, this destination allows you to snorkel and dive directly between the tectonic plates of North America and Eurasia, in glacial water so pure you can drink it.
Unique Swim-Up Dining and Drinks
Lime Out – Floating Taco Bar | U.S. Virgin Islands
This playful floating shack serves tacos and rum punches to snorkelers and boaters. Swim right up, grab your lunch, and drift in turquoise waters—it doesn’t get more Caribbean than this.
Shipwreck + Floating Bar | Turks & Caicos
Perched on a shallow reef, this quirky spot combines a sunken shipwreck with a nearby floating bar called Noah’s Ark, equal parts snorkeling stop and party scene.
Restaurant Iris | Norway
Set inside the floating Salmon Eye in Hardangerfjord, Restaurant Iris is only accessible by boat. Here, a Michelin-starred 18-course menu celebrates local ingredients while panoramic windows showcase glacier-carved mountains and fjord views.
Cloud 9 | Fiji
A two-level floating bar and pizzeria in the middle of the Pacific, surrounded by reef. Come by boat, swim off the deck, and dry off with a cocktail and wood-fired pizza.
Cool Swimming Experiences
Roman Baths | Sliema, Malta
Carved into coastal rock, these natural pools were once private seaside baths. Today, they’re a quirky public swimming spot where the turquoise sea fills ancient stone tubs.
Lake Lemuria | Ukraine
This unique spot in Ukraine is a natural phenomenon! Its waters turn vivid pink in summer thanks to algae and minerals. The waters and minerals found here are considered healing, and the high salt content makes floating extra easy.
Cenote Zaci | Mexico
Right in the middle of Valladolid in the Yucatán Peninsula, Cenote Zaci offers a dramatic open-air limestone pool with vines spilling down the walls. Brave souls leap from ledges into the jade-green water. Many cenotes here can become busy during peak travel seasons, but Zaci is a local’s favorite and tends to stay nice and quiet.
Jellyfish Lake | Palau
One of the strangest swims in the world: floating among millions of harmless golden jellyfish in a secluded marine lake and UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Fun fact: Because of the seclusion of the lake, the jellyfish here have no real predators, and that is why they no longer have stingers!
Sleep with the Fishes (Literally)
The Muraka | Maldives
A two-level villa with a submerged master suite encased in acrylic walls. Watch reef fish drift past your bed in what’s possibly the most extravagant underwater stay on earth.
Manta Resort | Pemba Islands, Tanzania
Want to spend your time sunning on a little oasis in the sea and sleeping below the waves? A floating cabin with a sun deck on top and a bedroom 13 feet below the sea. At night, spotlights draw curious fish and octopuses to your windows.
Utter Inn | Sweden
This whimsical Swedish inn looks like a tiny red cabin on a lake. Inside, a ladder leads to a simple underwater bedroom with porthole windows—part art project, part adventure.
From shark-filled UNESCO sites to pizzas served on floating bars, these unique swimming and snorkeling destinations prove that water adventures can be as playful, surreal, or luxurious as you want them to be. Whether you’re snorkeling with basking sharks in Scotland, diving WWII wrecks in the Solomon Islands, or checking into an underwater villa in the Maldives, the world beneath the surface is begging to be explored.
