No matter when or how you plan to dive this year, there are incredible experiences waiting for you in unique destinations all over the world. Mark your calendar, and get ready to explore.
In the interest of making it easier for you to visualize a year’s worth of dive travel, the 2026 Travel Planner is organized like a 12-month calendar, with experiences for almost any type of diver at any time of year. Keep in mind many of these experiences can be done year-round or during multiple months.
Happy planning, and bon voyage!
Top 5 Dive Destinations By Month
Courtesy Nord&Ne/Vebjørn KarlsenIn Norway, dive sustainably with Nord&Ne, a PADI Five Star Dive Resort in the city of Bodø.
Travel Tip: How to Vacation with Impact
Text by Brooke Morton
For many divers, vacations are a time not just to explore the underwater world but to donate time and energy into giving back. One way to skip the extra research involved in finding local organizations dedicated to ongoing projects is to book with a PADI Eco Center.
These dive centers must complete a rigorous procedure to demonstrate a commitment to their local environment. They must be part of PADI AWARE Foundation’s Adopt the Blue program and designate a local dive site as their focus, tracking data on it and working to expand marine protected areas locally. Each Eco Center must also be a Green Fins member, meeting standards for waste management, energy use, staff training and best diving practices. Lastly, each Eco Center creates a specific project that helps protect, conserve or restore local underwater habitats.
The certification must be renewed annually. “Becoming an Eco Center isn't a tick-the-box kind of thing,” says Maren Robinson, a global marketing and communications manager at PADI. “It’s ongoing, where you need to keep showcasing exemplary sustainable practices.”
To date, there are 145 PADI Eco Centers located in 43 countries. The best way to peruse them is to visit padi.com and find the “PADI Dive Shops Near You” search feature. You can sort results by accreditation, giving you the option to see only Eco Centers.
That leads you to find a dive center such as Dive2Gether on the Greek island of Crete. Divers can help plant seagrasses as part of the organization’s restoration project. “It’s an opportunity, too, to learn about this special habitat and its importance in the greater environment,” Robinson says. Part of the project includes examining samples of local seagrasses under a microscope to behold all the organisms thriving in these complex nurseries.
Related Reading: Dive Travel Guide: 38 Places to Dive in 2025
Divers headed to Norway to snorkel with orcas may want to add a detour to Nord&Ne, a PADI Five Star Dive Resort in the city of Bodø. This area is located within the Arctic Circle, and it’s home to the Saltstraumen Strait and the world’s strongest tidal current. Divers can help with projects such as removing fishing lines, hooks and other ghost gear in the area. This Eco Center teaches divers how to do this safely—a practice they can continue on future dives elsewhere.
The list of projects is extensive, from replanting resilient corals with Sun Divers Roatan in the Bay Islands of Honduras to helping Indonesia’s Papua Diving Resorts with local education programs that teach the community about the detriments of shark finning.
Even if you don’t actively participate in an Eco Center’s project, choosing to dive with one of these operators is a big assist that helps fund its ongoing work—all of which aims to protect and preserve the oceans we all know and love.
