An open-water certification is a powerful thing. It’s all you need to submerge in many of the world’s top dive destinations. But there are ways to get the most out of that trip you planned for months, and it all begins with a little preparation in the form of continuing education.

When you’ve traveled to the far ends of the globe for your dive vacation, the one thing you don’t want is to surface after that first dive and find you’re the only one without the training that allows the rest of the group to go deeper, stay down longer, cruise with more relaxation and just generally enjoy the whole experience more.

Read on for training recommendations to make sure your next trip is as fulfilling as possible.

Go With the Flow in Indonesia

Two divers book the same liveaboard in Indonesia, backroll from the tender onto the same dive site within minutes of each other—but have completely different experiences. Sound like a dive riddle? The answer lies in training.

The diver who has experience diving drifts has a huge advantage.

“I’ve often encountered manta rays at the end of a dive,” says Kevin Purdy, president of All Star Liveaboards, which operates two dive yachts in Indonesia. “I still had enough air in my tank to be able to hang out with them.”

Those last 10 minutes could be the best of the dive. Someone who runs out of air and has to surface earlier won’t be thrilled to hear what they missed.

The end-of-dive manta—or shark or turtle—encounters are only possible for divers with good air consumption, which isn’t likely if this is someone’s first dive in a current. “The more someone becomes comfortable with drift diving and learns to let loose, the more they can give in to the current and drift with it rather than fight it, and the better their air consumption will be,” says Purdy.

All Star strongly advises that divers booking their Indonesia yachts, Velocean and Aurora, have a minimum of 50 dives and an advanced open water certification or the equivalent. A PADI Drift Diver certification may just be that missing link that ensures a diver’s ease in these waters, where current is likely at most sites, including many of the signature dives.

At Manta Ridge, part of All Star’s Raja Ampat itineraries, the current pushes over the ledge and down the wall. That flow draws in mantas, sometimes as many as 10 at a time, that allow the moving water to bring food to them. Divers can either use a reef hook, wedged between rocks, or find a protected spot out of the current to stay in a fixed spot and watch the show, which may outlast the air supply of even the most experienced divers.

It’s a highlight of the trip, one where everyone surely wants to get their tank’s worth. “Nobody wants to cut a dive short,” says Purdy. “Especially in a place like Indonesia where the reefs are so amazing.”

When to Go

Peak season for Komodo is June to September. Raja Ampat is more of a year-round destination, with winter bringing the best conditions.

Water Temps

Komodo itineraries can see waters in the 70s in the areas where mantas congregate.

What to Bring

A surface-marker buoy.

Operator

All Star Liveaboards (allstarliveaboards.com)

British Virgin Islands After Dark

The reasons pirates favored the British Virgin Islands also make it a great place to dive after dark. The main island of Tortola borders the 4-mile-wide Sir Francis Drake Channel. Across the channel lies a string of more than a dozen named islands that shield the channel from big waves or overly strong winds. Craggy and shaped like puzzle pieces, they also offer sheltered coves ideal for calm, easy night diving.

The best place to drop in is off Scrub Island, visited weekly by BVI Aggressor. Beneath the mooring ball, the sand starts at 20 feet and gradually slopes downward. Living in between the limestone piles are eels, lobsters and a healthy population of octopuses.

On a recent trip, Wayne Brown, owner of Aggressor Adventures, says, “We had two octopi hunting together, which is pretty rare.”

Shallow sites like Scrub Island make for ideal night diving spots, as do wrecks, which this destination is famous for. The RMS Rhone, sunk by a hurricane in 1867, is easily the most famous. Dayboats flock to the site in the early morning, but come nightfall, it’s quiet. When BVI Aggressor moors for a night dive, it’s the only charter vessel on the wreck.

“When you dive a wreck at night, it’s a whole new dive,” says Brown. Your focus narrows, and you’re likely to see smaller stuff, such as the seahorses often found along the bow.

Of course, how much someone sees depends on how comfortable they are diving in the dark. Taking the PADI Night Diver course can help build up comfort. “They may be nervous and scared that they won’t like it,” says Brown. “Then, after they do a few dives, they realize how great it is.”

When to Go

Year-round. Visibility is 60 to 90 feet throughout the year.

Water Temps

85 degrees in September; 77 degrees in January.

What to Bring

A rechargeable tank light.

Operator

Aggressor Adventures (aggressor.com)

Are you ready to take your scuba diving skills to the next level?

The Master Scuba Diver Challenge is here to ignite your passion for diving and reward you for your dedication. Running from July 1 to December 31, 2024, this contest offers an incredible opportunity for divers to earn the prestigious PADI Master Scuba Diver (MSD) rating and win amazing prizes, including a dream dive trip to the stunning Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa in the Maldives!

Dive Deep in Solomon Islands

Learn what a pygmy seahorse is and you’ll want to see one immediately. What many divers may not realize, however, is that Muricella gorgonians, the sea fans that this pinky-size species calls home, thrives in depths of 70, 80 and 90 feet—past the 60-foot limit of the open-water diver.

In the Solomon Islands, northeast of Australia in the South Pacific, pygmy seahorses are just the beginning of the wonders found in deeper waters. This remote destination is known as much for the lack of other boats diving the area as it is for its resplendent coral reefs packed with life.

“We don’t get many open-water divers out here,” says Sam Leeson, managing director of Bilikiki a liveaboard that travels these parts. Travelers who do trek to this Oceania outpost often prepare with the PADI Deep Diver course to fully take advantage of what the destination has to offer, both in terms of marine life and topography, like the pinnacles found at the site known as Twin Tunnels.

This seamount starts in 50 to 60 feet of water, and contains a vertical shaft that divers can descend before exiting at 100 feet. At the exit point, whitetip and gray reef sharks often cruise along the wall. To one side is a small cave, filled with crayfish. Below, leopard sharks relax on the sand. “It’s a kick of a dive,” says Leeson. “It’s pretty amazing most of the time.”

Another top site is Barracuda Point, found off Mborokua, aka Mary Island. It’s often thick with life, including several species of sharks, bumphead parrotfish, and big groups of barracuda and big-eye jacks. “Sometimes everything is schooling down at 80 feet,” Leeson says.

As with any site, it’s impossible to predict where marine life will be on any given day. Granted, sharks almost always congregate in deeper water, as do species such as Burgess’ butterflyfish, found only at 130 feet and deeper.

Having the experience and training to go deeper allows a diver to see it all. “It really does open up what you can do,” says Leeson.

When to Go

Year-round. Visibility is 100 feet.

Water Temps

82 to 84 degrees year-round.

What to Bring

School supplies or a soccer ball for local kids if possible.

Operator

Bilikiki Cruises (bilikiki.com)

Soar Under Mexico's Underground

The out-of-control feeling of rising suddenly and then dropping as if in free-fall is exactly what you want when riding a roller coaster, but it’s the last thing you want when diving the caverns of Mexico’s Riviera Maya.

Every cave and cavern in this stretch of the Yucatan Peninsula has its own mix of delicate stalactites, stalagmites and other formations built over tens of thousands of years. A glittering ceiling, amazing on its own, becomes mind-blowing when one considers that for every 1,000 years, a formation grows just less than half an inch.

To protect these sites, most local operators have their own protocols to ensure divers don’t inflict damage. Ideally, a visitor books an ocean dive first before completing a cavern dive with the same operator. Better still, a diver can complete a PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy course before coming to Mexico to build their confidence and assuage nerves.

“A diver that is scared of breaking formations will not feel comfortable and will not enjoy the dive,” says Alessandra Figari, owner of Cave Training Mexico.

Divers who don’t have time to brush up on buoyancy pretrip can book a clinic and, in a day, still complete two dives in a cenote such as Garden of Eden or Car Wash.

The better one’s buoyancy and greater the amount of cavern or cave training, the wider the menu of caverns and caves to explore.

Dream Gate, one of Figari’s favorites, isn’t one that she’ll take guests to as a first-ever cenote experience. The dive, which starts in the jungle, is shallow but delivers incredible formations. The white walls and rays of light streaming in create an otherworldly feeling. Then add in visibility of more than 100 feet, which makes you feel, as Figari puts it, “like you are outside in the air—there’s almost no difference.”

From the formations to visibility that can make divers forget they are underwater, the cenotes easily instill a sense of reverence. “Every time, there’s no doubt that we are entering a magic, special world,” Figari says.

When to Go

Year-round. Visibility is 60 to 90 feet throughout the year.

Water Temps

78 degrees year-round.

What to Bring

A hood. People often find fresh water feels cooler than salt water.

Operator

Cave Training Mexico (cavetrainingmexico.com)

Freedive in Timor-Leste

It’s said that the Southeast Asian nation of Timor-Leste lies along a whale highway. Every October and November, pygmy blue whales—up to 78 feet long—pass through on their way south to Australia from Indonesia’s Banda Islands.

Freediving and snorkeling with these whales is the destination’s claim to fame, and together, local operators created rules and best practices to ensure the whales’ safety.

For starters, no scuba diving is allowed with the animals. Only freediving.

When a boat finds a whale, the crew first observes the behavior. No calves can be present if humans are to enter the water, and the whales must not alter their swimming pattern due to the boat’s presence. In other words, they can’t show signs of stress. “We want to make sure it’s not zigzagging or diving,” says Marianne Woodward, owner of Dive Timor Lorosae, a PADI dive center on the island of Timor.

Then, if these conditions are met, guests enter the water. “If you’re lucky, you get it swimming right under you,” says Woodward. “It comes by like a freight train—it’s so fast.”

From the surface, it’s still an incredible event to witness, but those trained in freediving can go deeper and swim alongside the whale, possibly even making eye contact.

For many, this is a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity where preparation can make the experience that much more rewarding. The more comfortable one is with freediving, the more one can explore opportunities to swim with the other species, such as sperm whales, found off Timor-Leste.

When to Go

October and November.

Water Temps

82 degrees year-round. In August, water temps drop to 79 and no whales pass through.

What to Bring

Cash. The U.S. dollar is the accepted currency. Only notes printed after 2007 are accepted.

Operator

Dive Timor Lorosae (divetimor.com)

Stay Dry in Antarctica

Special training to dive Antarctica isn’t just recommended—it’s required.

Aurora Expeditions, which operates two boats off the White Continent, only takes guests diving if they hold a PADI Advanced Open Water certification or its equivalent; are drysuit qualified; have 30 logged dives, with some in waters below 50 degrees; and have at least 10 dives in the past year.

Guests must also bring a sense of adventure and understanding, knowing that these sailings are expeditions in every sense of the word. There are itineraries, but sea conditions and weather change daily. There are also strict rules to keep divers safe, such as avoiding all dives around ice cliffs, which have the potential to collapse.

Darren Clarke, lead dive guide aboard M/V Sylvia Earle, has to be ready to abort a planned dive if conditions aren’t right.

Related Reading: 30 Iconic Places to Dive in 2024

However, Aurora dive teams aim to offer two dives per day, which is double that of most Antarctica yachts.

“The environment is very unforgiving,” says Clarke. “At the same time, diving here is incredibly rewarding and giving because of the scenery and the wall diving.”

Moreover, on any given dive, there’s the potential to see marine life not commonly seen in other dive destinations: penguins, leopard seals, minke whales and humpback whales.

“Everything that happens can happen anywhere,” he says. “A humpback could suddenly come up feeding beside you.”

He has also been in the water as hundreds of penguins streamed past a group of divers, returning to shore. “You get an experience you won’t get anywhere else,” says Clarke.

When to Go

Early December to the end of March.

Water Temps

Very close to freezing.

What to Bring

Bring at least three layers of clothing to wear under your drysuit.

Operator

Aurora Expeditions (aurora-expeditions.com)