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Best diving in May

In May, conditions peak in Lombok & Gili, Apo Reef, Cozumel. 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.

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Where to dive in May

  1. 1

    Lombok & the Gili Islands

    🇮🇩 Indonesia
    Peak season ☀ 30°C ☂ 2.5 mm/day ≋ 7.3 kn

    Best months: Apr, May · 28 dive sites

    Diving in Indonesia guide →
  2. 2

    Komodo

    🇮🇩 Indonesia
    Good season ☀ 30°C ☂ 1.3 mm/day ≋ 9.9 kn

    Best months: Oct, Nov · 38 dive sites

    Diving in Indonesia guide →
  3. 3

    Apo Reef

    🇵🇭 Philippines
    Peak season ☀ 30°C ☂ 4.5 mm/day ≋ 9.4 kn

    Best months: Apr, May · 21 dive sites

    Diving in Philippines guide →
  4. 4

    Malapascua

    🇵🇭 Philippines
    Peak season ☀ 30°C ☂ 5 mm/day ≋ 12.5 kn

    Best months: May, Jun · 18 dive sites

    Diving in Philippines guide →
  5. 5

    Cozumel

    🇲🇽 Mexico
    Good season ☀ 30°C ☂ 2.6 mm/day ≋ 10.4 kn

    Best months: Sep · 26 dive sites

    Diving in Mexico guide →
  6. 6

    Sharm el-Sheikh & Ras Mohammed

    🇪🇬 Egypt
    Good season ☀ 34°C ☂ 0 mm/day ≋ 14.7 kn

    Best months: Oct · 39 dive sites

    Diving in Egypt guide →
  7. 7

    San Andrés

    🇨🇴 Colombia
    Good season ☀ 28°C ☂ 3.7 mm/day ≋ 15.3 kn

    Best months: Sep · 29 dive sites

    Diving in Colombia guide →
  8. 8

    Tahiti

    🇫🇷 France
    Good season ☀ 28°C ☂ 4.4 mm/day ≋ 8.1 kn

    Best months: Mar · 17 dive sites

    Diving in France guide →
  9. 9

    Guadeloupe

    🇫🇷 France
    Good season ☀ 29°C ☂ 2.9 mm/day ≋ 11.4 kn

    Best months: Sep · 9 dive sites

    Diving in France guide →
  10. 10

    Dahab

    🇪🇬 Egypt
    Good season ☀ 34°C ☂ 0 mm/day ≋ 14 kn

    Best months: Jul, Nov · 17 dive sites

    Diving in Egypt guide →

Skip in May

  • North & South Malé Atolls (Maldives) — rainy season
  • Ari Atoll (Maldives) — rainy season

Top dive sites in season

Turtle Snorkeling Spot Indonesia Diving
🇮🇩 Indonesia

Turtle Snorkeling Spot

Swim with green and hawksbill turtles year-round in Indonesia's protected Gili Islands marine reserve. Shallow, accessible snorkeling in warm tropical waters.

Beginner 8m Jan·Feb·Mar+
Meno Corner Indonesia Diving
🇮🇩 Indonesia

Meno Corner

Meno Corner is a year-round dive site in Indonesia's Gili Islands, protected within a marine reserve and known for diverse marine life despite current coral bleaching concerns.

Beginner Jan·Feb·Mar+
Manta Point Indonesia Diving
🇮🇩 Indonesia

Manta Point

Manta Point in Indonesia's Gili Islands marine reserve offers reliable manta ray encounters year-round in a protected area.

Intermediate Jan·Feb·Mar+
Komodo — Batu Bolong Indonesia Diving
🇮🇩 Indonesia

Komodo — Batu Bolong

Tiny rock pinnacle in Komodo Strait, vertical walls covered in soft coral, strong currents and elite biodiversity. One of the world's top dive sites.

Advanced 5–30m 25m Apr·May·Jun+
Komodo — Castle Rock Indonesia Diving
🇮🇩 Indonesia

Komodo — Castle Rock

Castle Rock at Komodo is an advanced drift dive in Indonesia's Flores Sea, known for strong currents, steep walls, and big pelagic encounters.

Advanced 8–35m
Crystal Bay Dive Site Indonesia Diving
🇮🇩 Indonesia

Crystal Bay Dive Site

Crystal Bay dive site in Indonesia offers year-round diving with healthy coral ecosystems and diverse marine life. Popular for both recreational and technical divers.

Beginner Jan·Feb·Mar+
Anilao — Secret Bay Philippines Diving
🇵🇭 Philippines

Anilao — Secret Bay

Anilao's Secret Bay is an intermediate dive site in the Philippines with depths of 8–25m and year-round access. Sheltered waters and diverse marine life make it a reliable choice for divers exploring Batangas.

Intermediate 8–25m Jan·Feb·Mar+
Apo Reef — Shark Ridge Philippines Diving
🇵🇭 Philippines

Apo Reef — Shark Ridge

Shark Ridge at Apo Reef is an advanced deep-wall dive in the Philippines' premier marine park, known for pelagic encounters and pristine coral.

Advanced 12–35m
Barracuda Point Philippines Diving
🇵🇭 Philippines

Barracuda Point

Barracuda Point is a year-round dive site within Apo Reef Natural Park, Philippines, known for encounters with schooling barracuda and healthy coral.

Intermediate Jan·Feb·Mar+
Malapascua — Monad Shoal (Thresher Cleaning) Philippines Diving
🇵🇭 Philippines

Malapascua — Monad Shoal (Thresher Cleaning)

Advanced divers descend to Monad Shoal off Malapascua to witness thresher sharks at their cleaning station, a rare pelagic encounter 18–30m deep.

Advanced 18–30m
Monad Shoel Philippines Diving
🇵🇭 Philippines

Monad Shoel

Monad Shoel is a year-round Philippine dive site with 12 recorded species observations and active community documentation.

Jan·Feb·Mar+
Dakit-Dakit Philippines Diving
🇵🇭 Philippines

Dakit-Dakit

Dakit-Dakit is a year-round dive site in the Philippines' Coral Gardens marine protected area, with 12 recorded species observations and emerging coral health monitoring.

Beginner 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+
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+
Trilogia Colombia Diving
🇨🇴 Colombia

Trilogia

Trilogia is a year-round dive destination in Colombia's Bahía de Las Sardinas. Limited depth and visibility data available; check local operators for current conditions.

Beginner
La Piramide Colombia Diving
🇨🇴 Colombia

La Piramide

La Piramide is a year-round dive destination in Colombia's Bahía de Las Sardinas, offering accessible underwater exploration with diverse marine life.

Jan·Feb·Mar+
Cantil del Hospital Colombia Diving
🇨🇴 Colombia

Cantil del Hospital

Cantil del Hospital offers year-round diving off Colombia's coast with documented marine life and accessible conditions for most skill levels.

Beginner Jan·Feb·Mar+
Vallée aux Murènes France Diving
🇫🇷 France

Vallée aux Murènes

Vallée aux Murènes is a French dive site known for moray eel populations. Dive year-round in this unprotected area with 12 recorded species observations.

Beginner Jan·Feb·Mar+
La zelée France Diving
🇫🇷 France

La zelée

La Zélée is a historic French dive site with wreck diving potential and year-round access. Explore a World War I naval landmark in French Polynesia.

Intermediate Jan·Feb·Mar+
Tombant St Etienne France Diving
🇫🇷 France

Tombant St Etienne

Tombant St Etienne is a year-round dive site in French Polynesia's Baie de Punaauia, known for wall diving and diverse reef fish.

Intermediate Jan·Feb·Mar+
Le Jardin de Corail France Diving
🇫🇷 France

Le Jardin de Corail

Le Jardin de Corail is a protected coral garden in Guadeloupe's national park, offering year-round diving with healthy reefs and diverse marine life.

Beginner Jan·Feb·Mar+
Pointe Carangue France Diving
🇫🇷 France

Pointe Carangue

Pointe Carangue is a year-round dive site within Guadeloupe's protected Réserve Cousteau, featuring healthy coral and abundant marine life.

Beginner Jan·Feb·Mar+
Bouée Anticyclonique France Diving
🇫🇷 France

Bouée Anticyclonique

Bouée Anticyclonique is a protected dive site in Guadeloupe's national park, known for year-round access and healthy coral ecosystems.

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 May?
The strongest picks for May: Lombok & Gili (Indonesia, ~30°C), Komodo (Indonesia, ~30°C), Apo Reef (Philippines, ~30°C), Malapascua (Philippines, ~30°C), Cozumel (Mexico, ~30°C). Ranked on 5 years of climate data (wind, rain, air temperature) per dive region.
Where should you avoid diving in May?
Out of season in May: the Maldives (rainy season), Ari Atoll (rainy season).
How warm is it for diving in May?
Across the recommended regions, air temperatures run about 28–34°C in May.
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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