Raja Ampat A tiny pygmy seahorse blends in beautifully with surrounding corals. Winner of seven Top 100 Readers Awards in the Pacific and Indian oceans, Indonesia nabbed a No. 1 award for Best Marine Environment.

Another example of Raja Ampat's healthy marine environment.

Vibrant soft corals sheltered by mangroves in Raja Ampat.

Maui, a popular whale-spotting destination, received votes in a number of categories in the U.S. and North America region, including Best Visibility and Best Shore Diving.

The Back Wall of Maui's Molokini Crater, a geologic treasure that's a shallow, sunny haven for new divers.

Schools of blue-line snapper are often encountered in Maui. The island is also home to endemic fish species, including Potter's angelfish and Hawaiian longfin anthias.

The Bahamas, renowned for its shark encounters, was the winner of seven Top 100 Readers Choice Awards, including Best Overall Diving, Best Big Animals and Best Advanced Diving, in the Caribbean and Atlantic region.

A diver explores the deep-blue abyss known as the Great Blue Hole, Belize's signature dive experience. This tiny Central American country was the winner of four Top 100 Readers Choice awards, including Best Overall Destination, Best Big Animals (hello! whale sharks!), Best Wall Diving and Best Underwater Photography, in the Caribbean and Atlantic.

Since 1994, thousands of readers have rated their dive trips to dozens of destinations to determine Scuba Diving’s Top 100 Readers Choice Awards. This year we introduced the Top 100 Spotlight, a monthly feature that showcases favorite destinations that are among the top award-winners in our annual reader survey. Destinations highlighted this year include:

Grand Cayman - March/April

Winner of 11 Top 100 Readers Choice Awards, including Best Overall Destination and Best Underwater Photography, Caribbean and Atlantic /Top100/grandcayman

Maui - May

Winner of five Top 100 Readers Choice Awards, including Best Visibility and Best Shore Diving, U.S. and North America
/Top100/maui.

Palau - June

Winner of six Top 100 Readers Choice Awards, including Best Wall Diving, Pacific and Indian oceans /Top100/palau.

Bahamas - July Winner of seven Top 100 Readers Choice Awards, including Best Overall Diving, Best Big Animals and Best Advanced Diving, Caribbean and Atlantic /Top100/bahamas

Belize - August

Winner of four Top 100 Readers Choice Awards, including Best Overall Desti- nation, Best Big Animals, Best Wall Diving and Best Underwater Photography, Caribbean and Atlantic [/ Top100/belize ](/ Top100/belize)

Raja Ampat - Sept/Oct

Winner of seven Top 100 Readers Choice Awards (for Indonesia) in Pacific and Indian oceans, including Best Marine Environment /Top100/rajaampat

TOP 100 READERS CHOICE AWARDS

Here’s a look at some of the winners of our 21st annual Top 100 — check out the 22nd annual results in our January/February 2015 issue:

BEST OVERALL DESTINATIONS:

Caribbean and Atlantic

1 Cayman Islands
2 Bonaire
3 Mexico
4 Belize
5 Bahamas
6 Bay Islands, Honduras
7 Turks and Caicos
8 U.S. Virgin Islands
9 Grenada
10 British Virgin Islands

U.S. and North America

1 Hawaii
2 California
3 Florida
4 North Carolina
5 Canada (British Columbia)
6 Texas
7 Michigan
8 Washington
9 Alabama
10 New Jersey

Pacific and Indian Oceans

1 Indonesia
2 Palau
3 Micronesia
4 Philippines
5 Cocos Island, Costa Rica
6 French Polynesia
7 Thailand
8 Mexico (Baja California)
9 Galapagos Islands
10 Red Sea (Egypt)