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Best diving in January

In January, conditions peak in Galápagos, the Maldives, Coron. We rated 10 dive regions in season this month on 5 years of wind, rain and temperature data — ranked below with their best dive sites, plus where to skip.

January February March April May June July August September October November December

Where to dive in January

  1. 1

    Galápagos

    🇪🇨 Ecuador
    Peak season ☀ 28°C ☂ 1.3 mm/day ≋ 9.5 kn

    Best months: Jan, Feb · 7 dive sites

  2. 2

    North & South Malé Atolls

    🇲🇻 Maldives
    Good season ☀ 28°C ☂ 4.9 mm/day ≋ 13 kn

    Best months: Mar, Apr · 92 dive sites

    Diving in Maldives guide →
  3. 3

    Coron

    🇵🇭 Philippines
    Good season ☀ 30°C ☂ 2.5 mm/day ≋ 9 kn

    Best months: Apr · 17 dive sites

    Diving in Philippines guide →
  4. 4

    Raja Ampat

    🇮🇩 Indonesia
    Good season ☀ 29°C ☂ 7.9 mm/day ≋ 8.3 kn

    Best months: Oct, Nov · 84 dive sites

    Diving in Indonesia guide →
  5. 5

    Koh Samui & Koh Tao

    🇹🇭 Thailand
    Good season ☀ 28°C ☂ 0.7 mm/day ≋ 12.4 kn

    Best months: Apr · 16 dive sites

    Diving in Thailand guide →
  6. 6

    Sharm el-Sheikh & Ras Mohammed

    🇪🇬 Egypt
    Good season ☀ 22°C ☂ 0.1 mm/day ≋ 12.1 kn

    Best months: Oct · 39 dive sites

    Diving in Egypt guide →
  7. 7

    Ari Atoll

    🇲🇻 Maldives
    Good season ☀ 28°C ☂ 4.3 mm/day ≋ 12.5 kn

    Best months: Mar, Apr · 40 dive sites

    Diving in Maldives guide →
  8. 8

    Cozumel

    🇲🇽 Mexico
    Good season ☀ 27°C ☂ 1.6 mm/day ≋ 11 kn

    Best months: Sep · 26 dive sites

    Diving in Mexico guide →
  9. 9

    Phuket & the Similan Islands

    🇹🇭 Thailand
    Good season ☀ 30°C ☂ 1.2 mm/day ≋ 12.4 kn

    Best months: Apr · 16 dive sites

    Diving in Thailand guide →
  10. 10

    Dahab

    🇪🇬 Egypt
    Good season ☀ 22°C ☂ 0.2 mm/day ≋ 11.5 kn

    Best months: Jul, Nov · 17 dive sites

    Diving in Egypt guide →

Skip in January

  • Komodo (Indonesia) — rainy season
  • Bunaken & Lembeh (Indonesia) — rainy season
  • Malta & Gozo (Malta) — strong winds
  • Krk & Kvarner (Croatia) — cold season
  • Lombok & the Gili Islands (Indonesia) — rainy season

Top dive sites in season

Galápagos Deep Ecuador Diving
🇪🇨 Ecuador

Galápagos Deep

World-class Galápagos diving year-round in a marine reserve. Expect unique endemic species and pristine reef ecosystems.

Intermediate Jan·Feb·Mar+
Mosquera Ecuador Diving
🇪🇨 Ecuador

Mosquera

Mosquera is a year-round Galápagos dive site in the marine reserve, known for strong currents and pelagic encounters.

Advanced
Plazas Ecuador Diving
🇪🇨 Ecuador

Plazas

Plazas offers year-round diving in the Galápagos Marine Reserve with strong pelagic action and endemic species.

Intermediate Jan·Feb·Mar+
North Malé — Manta Point (Lankan Reef) Maldives Diving
🇲🇻 Maldives

North Malé — Manta Point (Lankan Reef)

Intermediate manta ray dives at North Malé's Lankan Reef. Year-round diving in 8–25m depth.

Intermediate 8–25m Jan·Feb·Mar+
North Malé — Banana Reef Maldives Diving
🇲🇻 Maldives

North Malé — Banana Reef

Banana Reef in North Malé offers intermediate diving on a scenic coral formation with excellent fish life and accessible depths from 5–30m.

Intermediate 5–30m Jan·Feb·Mar+
Kandooma Thila Maldives Diving
🇲🇻 Maldives

Kandooma Thila

South Malé Atoll thila famous for grey reef shark wash on outgoing tides — challenging strong-current dive.

Advanced 15–30m 30m Jan·Feb·Mar+
Coron — IRAKO Wreck Philippines Diving
🇵🇭 Philippines

Coron — IRAKO Wreck

Advanced wreck dive on the IRAKO in Coron, Philippines. A deep Japanese cargo ship from WWII in 28–42m of water.

Advanced 28–42m
Nanshin Maru wreck (Black island beach) Philippines Diving
🇵🇭 Philippines

Nanshin Maru wreck (Black island beach)

Explore the Nanshin Maru wreck off Black Island Beach in the Philippines, a compelling dive destination with year-round accessibility and documented marine life.

Intermediate Jan·Feb·Mar+
Barracuda Lake Philippines Diving
🇵🇭 Philippines

Barracuda Lake

Barracuda Lake in the Philippines is a year-round dive destination known for its unique freshwater-saltwater mix and abundant barracuda schools.

Intermediate Jan·Feb·Mar+
Raja Ampat — Manta Sandy Indonesia Diving
🇮🇩 Indonesia

Raja Ampat — Manta Sandy

Two cleaning stations in Dampier Strait where reef mantas queue up to be cleaned by wrasses. Coral Triangle classic.

Intermediate 8–22m 20m Jan·Feb·Mar+
Raja Ampat — Blue Magic Indonesia Diving
🇮🇩 Indonesia

Raja Ampat — Blue Magic

Advanced drift dive through Raja Ampat's strongest currents, delivering high-speed encounters with pelagics and schooling reef fish year-round.

Advanced 12–40m
Raja Ampat — Cape Kri Indonesia Diving
🇮🇩 Indonesia

Raja Ampat — Cape Kri

Cape Kri in Raja Ampat delivers steep walls and strong currents packed with sharks, rays, and schooling fish. Advanced divers only.

Advanced 8–40m
Green Rock Thailand Diving
🇹🇭 Thailand

Green Rock

Green Rock is a year-round Gulf of Thailand dive site near Ko Nang Yuan with documented marine life and accessible conditions for divers of various levels.

Beginner Jan·Feb·Mar+
Pottery Thailand Diving
🇹🇭 Thailand

Pottery

Pottery is a year-round dive site in Mae Haad Bay, Surat Thani, Thailand, with 12 recorded species observations and active community video documentation.

Beginner Jan·Feb·Mar+
HTMS Sattakut Thailand Diving
🇹🇭 Thailand

HTMS Sattakut

HTMS Sattakut is a wreck dive site in Thailand accessible year-round, featuring recorded marine species observations and community-documented footage.

Intermediate Jan·Feb·Mar+
Ras Mohammed — Shark & Yolanda Reef Egypt Diving
🇪🇬 Egypt

Ras Mohammed — Shark & Yolanda Reef

Egypt's most famous dive — twin reefs at the tip of Sinai with strong currents, schooling barracuda, and the cargo of the Yolanda wreck.

Advanced 12–40m 30m Mar·Apr·May+
SS Thistlegorm Egypt Diving
🇪🇬 Egypt

SS Thistlegorm

WWII British cargo ship sunk by German bombers in 1941, holds full of motorcycles, trucks, rifles. World's best wreck dive.

Advanced 15–32m 20m Mar·Apr·May+
Ras Bob Reef Egypt Diving
🇪🇬 Egypt

Ras Bob Reef

Ras Bob Reef offers year-round diving in Egypt's Red Sea with healthy coral and diverse marine life. A accessible reef destination for divers of all levels.

Intermediate 25m Jan·Feb·Mar+
South Ari Atoll — Whale Shark Marine Park Maldives Diving
🇲🇻 Maldives

South Ari Atoll — Whale Shark Marine Park

Year-round whale shark snorkeling along the south of Ari Atoll. Snorkel-only with sharks; scuba on surrounding sites.

Beginner 0–10m 20m Jan·Feb·Mar+
South Ari — Maamigili Whale Shark Maldives Diving
🇲🇻 Maldives

South Ari — Maamigili Whale Shark

Beginner-friendly whale shark encounters in shallow waters off South Ari Atoll. Year-round diving in the Maldives.

Beginner 5–15m
Kuda Rah Thila Maldives Diving
🇲🇻 Maldives

Kuda Rah Thila

Coral pinnacle in South Ari with cave overhangs, fans, and reliable grey reef sharks in current. Classic Maldivian thila dive.

Intermediate 15–30m 30m Jan·Feb·Mar+
Playa del Carmen — Bull Shark Season Mexico Diving
🇲🇽 Mexico

Playa del Carmen — Bull Shark Season

Pregnant female bull sharks gather off Playa from November to March. 25m sand bottom dive, 8-15 sharks at close range.

Advanced 22–28m 18m Jan·Feb·Mar+
Cozumel — Palancar Caves Mexico Diving
🇲🇽 Mexico

Cozumel — Palancar Caves

Palancar Caves near Cozumel offers intermediate divers a chance to explore dramatic underwater formations and tunnels in Mexico's Caribbean.

Intermediate 15–35m
Palancar Reef Mexico Diving
🇲🇽 Mexico

Palancar Reef

Palancar Reef is a world-class dive site off Cozumel, Mexico, featuring healthy coral formations and abundant marine life year-round.

Intermediate 20m Jan·Feb·Mar+
Hin Jom Thailand Diving
🇹🇭 Thailand

Hin Jom

Hin Jom is a year-round Thai dive site with 12 documented species observations and active community footage. Visit now—coral bleaching watch in effect.

Intermediate Jan·Feb·Mar+
MS King Cruiser Thailand Diving
🇹🇭 Thailand

MS King Cruiser

Explore Thailand's famous King Cruiser wreck, a passenger ferry sunk in 1997 that's become a thriving artificial reef and dive destination.

Intermediate Jan·Feb·Mar+
Hin Mu Sang Thailand Diving
🇹🇭 Thailand

Hin Mu Sang

Hin Mu Sang is a year-round dive site off Thailand's coast, hosting diverse marine life and accessible diving for all levels.

Beginner Jan·Feb·Mar+
Dahab — Blue Hole (Bells entry) Egypt Diving
🇪🇬 Egypt

Dahab — Blue Hole (Bells entry)

Famous 100m vertical hole in the reef; dived via the safer Bells entry as a 30m wall drift to the saddle.

Intermediate 6–30m 25m Jan·Feb·Mar+
7 Pinnacles Egypt Diving
🇪🇬 Egypt

7 Pinnacles

Seven dramatic rock formations rise from the Red Sea floor near Hurghada, offering diverse dive routes through channels and across sandy plateaus year-round.

Intermediate 5–40m 20m Jan·Feb·Mar+
Saddle Egypt Diving
🇪🇬 Egypt

Saddle

Saddle is a dramatic submarine sinkhole dive near Dahab, Egypt, offering year-round exploration within a protected marine area with minimal coral stress.

Advanced Jan·Feb·Mar+

Dive guides by destination

Common questions

Where is the best diving in January?
The strongest picks for January: Galápagos (Ecuador, ~28°C), the Maldives (Maldives, ~28°C), Coron (Philippines, ~30°C), Raja Ampat (Indonesia, ~29°C), Koh Tao (Thailand, ~28°C). Ranked on 5 years of climate data (wind, rain, air temperature) per dive region.
Where should you avoid diving in January?
Out of season in January: Komodo (rainy season), Bunaken (rainy season), Malta (strong winds), Krk & Kvarner (cold season), Lombok & Gili (rainy season).
How warm is it for diving in January?
Across the recommended regions, air temperatures run about 22–30°C in January.
How are these destinations rated?
Each region is scored against its own year and against fixed diver thresholds for rain, wind and warmth — data, not a travel brochure.
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