Does Good Snorkelling Still Exist? Or is it… Dead?
At the grand old age of 35, and after about 16 years of snorkelling all over the place, I’ve spent an awfully long time staring at coral and fish. I’m obsessed with it – I could do it for days on end, and frequently have. So, pretty unusually, for once I actually feel qualified enough to have a go at answering a question I ask myself before every trip: are there any good places left to snorkel these days?
Spoiler alert: it’s pretty bleak out there. Or should I say… pretty bleach-ed.
I’m Trying Something New
If you know the kind of rubbish I normally write, this is usually the point where I start rambling and overusing bad puns. But fear not – due to the sheer amount of stuff I need to include in this blog, I’ve caught myself early and stopped the verbal diarrhoea before it starts.
This time, I’ve shoved all the information into a neat(ish), easily digested table. I guess I’m letting my inner engineer out.
I can tell you now, getting this table to look alright and work inside a blog was a real task… Possibly a blessing, though, because it left me with far less patience to actually write the thing. So this should be even shorter still! Lucky you.
The Table: How it works
It’s fairly self-explanatory (I hope), but just to be sure, here’s how gone about it…
I’ve listed all the places I can remember snorkelling and ranked them based on four categories:
1. Coral health: how much coral there is, how varied it is, and how colourful it looks
2. Fish life: numbers and variety
3. Other life: sponges, turtles, whales, crustaceans, cucumbers, snails, starfish, etc.
4. Bonus / X-factor: something about the place as a whole that made it stand out, not necessarily marine-based
Each category is scored out of 10 (using dots), then totalled to rank them overall. I’m pretty pleased with how it came out – impressively accurate, in my personal opinion.
The table gives a summary of 31 snorkelling locations around the world, but it deliberately doesn’t go into much detail. I did start writing my normal kind of blog, detailing each place individually, but I was already over 3,000 words before I’d even escaped Indonesia…! As I previously mentioned, there is too much stuff to say for one blog!
Instead, the places and countries in the table are hyperlinked to their own blogs and Instagram posts, so you can dig deeper if you fancy it.
Things to Take Note Of:
Firstly, I’ve included the year I visited each location – this does matter! Anywhere I visited five or more years ago has the year highlighted in red, because things change (not usually for the better). Pay particular attention to Moalboal in the Philippines: I’ve visited it twice, and the degradation between visits was very noticeable.
Secondly, keep an eye on the ‘Access’ and ‘Swim Skill’ columns (you’ll have to scroll sideways to get to them). Some places are easy off-the-beach snorkels, others require boat trips, and some offer both. Likewise, some locations are calm and easy to swim, while others are deep, choppy, and can have serious currents. Komodo National Park, for example, has very strong currents – tricky snorkelling, but absolutely worth it.
Lastly, being low down the list doesn’t mean a place is terrible – it just means the snorkelling sucked. Koh Kood may be dead last, but it’s still a lovely place to visit. Koh Lipe had some decent snorkelling in spots, but I wouldn’t rush back – just not my cuppa!
The Table, In All it’s Glory
(AKA: The entirely subjective history of a snorkelling addict)
| Rank | Location | Last snorkelled | Scores out of 10 | Total | Access | Swim skill | Notes | ||||
| Coral health | Fish life | Other life | Bonus | ||||||||
| 1 | Raja Ampat (Indonesia) | 2024 | ●●●●●●●●●● | ●●●●●●●●●● | ●●●●●●●●●● | ●●●●●●●●●○ | 39/40 | Boat / shore | High | Staggeringly beautiful | |
| 2 | Komodo National Park (Indonesia) | 2024 | ●●●●●●●●●○ | ●●●●●●●●●○ | ●●●●●●●●●● | ●●●●●●●●●● | 38/40 | Boat | High | World-class and accessible | |
| 3 | Moscos Islands (Myanmar) | 2018 | ●●●●●●●●●● | ●●●●●●●●●○ | ●●●●●●●●○○ | ●●●●●●●●●○ | 36/40 | Boat | Moderate | Civil unrest currently | |
| =4 | Dhangethi (Maldives) | 2025 | ●●●●●●●○○○ | ●●●●●●●●●● | ●●●●●●●●●○ | ●●●●●●●○○○ | 33/40 | Boat / shore | High | Amazing 'big' marine life | |
| =4 | Snake Cayes (Belize) | 2019 | ●●●●●●●●○○ | ●●●●●●●●○○ | ●●●●●●●●○○ | ●●●●●●●●●○ | 33/40 | Boat / shore | Low | Beautiful spot with lots of unique life | |
| 6 | San Blas (Panama) | 2023 | ●●●●●●●○○○ | ●●●●●●●○○○ | ●●●●●●●○○○ | ●●●●●●●●●● | 31/40 | Shore | Low | Maybe the only place like it in the world | |
| 7 | Isla Coiba (Panama) | 2023 | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●●●●●○ | ●●●●●●●●○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | 29/40 | Boat | High | Well-protected rich reef | |
| 8 | Apo Island (Philippines) | 2025 | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●○○○○○ | ●●●●●●●●●○ | ●●●●●●●●○○ | 28/40 | Shore | Moderate | Most Turltes I've ever seen | |
| =9 | Moalboal (Philippines) | 2015 | ●●●●●●●●○○ | ●●●●●●●○○○ | ●●●●○○○○○○ | ●●●●●●●●○○ | 27/40 | Boat / shore | Low | Heavily degraded since 2015 | |
| =9 | Honda Bay Palawan (Philippines) | 2015 | ●●●●●●●●○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●●●○○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | 27/40 | Boat | Moderate | Good marine life and well managed | |
| =9 | Camiguin (Philippines) | 2025 | ●●●●●●●○○○ | ●●●●●○○○○○ | ●●●●●●●●○○ | ●●●●●●●○○○ | 27/40 | Shore | Low | Enormous giant clams | |
| =9 | Camotes Islands (Philippines) | 2025 | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●●●○○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●●●●○○ | 27/40 | Shore | Moderate | My favourite spot in the philippines | |
| =9 | Caye Caulker (Belize) | 2020 | ●●●●●●●○○○ | ●●●●●●●●○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | 27/40 | Boat / shore | Moderate | Marine life good in 2020. High tourism | |
| =14 | Koh Samui (Thailand) | 2011 | ●●●●●●●○○○ | ●●●●●●●●○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●○○○○○ | 26/40 | Boat | Moderate | Nature is not so good these days | |
| =14 | Koh Phiphi (Thailand) | 2011 | ●●●●●●●○○○ | ●●●●●●●●○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●○○○○○ | 26/40 | Boat / shore | Moderate | Same as Koh Samui | |
| =14 | Rasdhoo (Maldives) | 2025 | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●●●○○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●●●○○○ | 26/40 | Shore | Moderate | Many reef sharks and tropical fish! | |
| 17 | Ukulhas (Maldives) | 2025 | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●●●○○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | 25/40 | Shore | Moderate | Lots of activites available | |
| =17 | Bocas Del Toro (Panama) | 2023 | ●●●●●○○○○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●●●●○○ | 25/40 | Boat | Low | Mangrove is well protected | |
| 19 | El Nido (Philippines) | 2015 | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●○○○○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●●●○○○ | 24/40 | Boat | Moderate | Very busy, even in 2015 | |
| =19 | Glovers Atoll (Belize) | 2020 | ●●●●●●●○○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●○○○○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | 24/40 | Boat | High | Remote, not touristy | |
| =21 | Togian Islands (Indonesia) | 2024 | ●●●●●○○○○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●○○○○○○ | ●●●●●●●●○○ | 23/40 | Boat / shore | Moderate | Some islands have no WiFi - bliss! | |
| =21 | Siargao (Philippines) | 2025 | ●●●●○○○○○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●●●○○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | 23/40 | Boat / shore | Moderate | Extremely touristy - avoid group tours | |
| 23 | Anda (Philippines) | 2025 | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●○○○○○○ | ●●●●●○○○○○ | ●●●●●●●○○○ | 22/40 | Boat / shore | Moderate | Excellent relaxed place | |
| 24 | Moalboal (Philippines) | 2025 | ●●●●●○○○○○ | ●●●●●○○○○○ | ●●●●●○○○○○ | ●●●●●○○○○○ | 20/40 | Boat / shore | Low | Little to no protetion of marine life | |
| 25 | Mahibadhoo (Maldives) | 2025 | N/A | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | 18/40 | Boat / shore | Low | We did not snorkel the coral here | |
| 26 | Bali (Indonesia) | 2024 | ●●●○○○○○○○ | ●●●●●●●○○○ | ●●●○○○○○○○ | ●●●●○○○○○○ | 17/40 | Boat / shore | Moderate | Fish life off Amed coast is excellent | |
| 27 | Oslob (Philippines) | 2015 | ○○○○○○○○○○ | ●●●●○○○○○○ | ●○○○○○○○○○ | ●●●●●●●●○○ | 13/40 | Boat | Moderate | They 'feed/bait' the whalesharks | |
| =28 | Koh Lipe (Thailand) | 2024 | ●●●●●●○○○○ | ●●●●○○○○○○ | ●○○○○○○○○○ | ●○○○○○○○○○ | 12/40 | Boat | Moderate | Very tourist-centric, parties, clubs, etc. | |
| =28 | Koh Rong Samloem (Cambodia) | 2025 | ●●○○○○○○○○ | ●●●●○○○○○○ | ●○○○○○○○○○ | ●●●●●●○○○○ | 12/40 | Shore | Low | Truly paradisical stays on the beach | |
| 30 | Koh Muk (Thailand) | 2025 | ○○○○○○○○○○ | ●○○○○○○○○○ | ●●○○○○○○○○ | ●●●●●●●●○○ | 11/40 | Boat | Moderate | Quiet, cheap and very laid back | |
| 31 | Koh Kood (Thailand) | 2025 | ○○○○○○○○○○ | ●○○○○○○○○○ | ●○○○○○○○○○ | ●●●●●●●○○○ | 9/40 | Shore | Low | Hire a moped and go beach hopping | |
So, What Does This Tell You?
Well, first and foremost, it should give you a decent idea of where some of the best snorkelling is as of 2024/2025. Just remember to factor in the accessibility and swim skill required – choose your locations wisely.
More importantly, I hope it shows that there is still some good snorkelling out there. However, there’s no sugar-coating the fact that coral health is in sharp decline. I’m not overstating it when I say that many places we visited in Thailand had zero live coral left – and that’s not unique to Thailand. Over tourism, climate change, and a lack of protection are destroying reefs at a frightening rate.
The remaining pristine places tend to be harder to reach and more expensive – places like Raja Ampat (in my opinion, the undisputed King of Snork).
It’s also worth saying that this is by no means an exhaustive list. There are plenty of places on Earth to snorkel that I simply haven’t been to yet… which brings me neatly on to the next bit.
My Snorkel Radar (Snordar?)
By no means am I finished with snorkelling – the itch is very much not scratched yet. The good news is I still have a fair few places on my radar, and if snorkelling is your thing, you might want to look into them too:
– Alor Island, Indonesia: Quite out of the way, but reputed to still have vibrant, healthy reefs.
– Timor-Leste: Better known for diving, but I’ve heard promising things about the snorkelling as well.
– Micronesia: Supposedly packed with coral and biodiversity, though very far-flung (and not cheap).
– The Galápagos Islands: Everyone talks about it, so I feel somewhat obliged to try it one day.
– Misool, Indonesia: We didn’t make it here in Raja Ampat, but we vowed to return. High hopes (and mild concern about quickly rising tourism).
… Okay – this list could go on and on, but you get the idea.
So… Is There Anywhere Good Left?
In short: yes! But there are far fewer great places than there used to be, and they’re not always where you’d expect. Outstanding snorkelling still exists, but it’s retreating into more remote (and more expensive) corners of the world. The days of casually turning up to a random Thai island with a mask and being blown away are, sadly, mostly gone.
So if you’re planning a trip and snorkelling genuinely matters to you, be picky. Manage your expectations, pay close attention to how current your research is, and be prepared to spend more time and money getting to the right places. When you do get it right, though, there are still magical underwater worlds out there – the kind that keep dragging me back into the water again and again, mask in hand.
One final thing worth mentioning: I know it’s obvious, but there is a distinction between snorkelling and diving. In general, dive sites seem to have suffered less degradation than shallower snorkelling reefs. So, a happy middle ground that I strongly recommend is learning to freedive! You might not reach 30+ metres like scuba divers, but with a bit of practice, 10–20 metres is very achievable, and it opens up even more opportunities!
Anyway, I’ll try to keep updating this table as I go… no promises. But for now, I hope this helps you work out where it’s still worth getting wet!
Stay bald folks.
Toodles,
Jack
