Montego Bay, Jamaica

Shallow and low on the difficulty meter, the finger reefs here are great for first-timers.

Further out, deeper canyons and coral caves are explored by more advanced divers -if that's not you, you can always check out the Airport Reef swim-through videos on YouTube.

GO WITH: Calico Sailing Cruises; (876) 952-5860

De Palm Island, Aruba

Never heard of "snuba"? For shame. Go on underwater guided tours of the Antilla, a 400-foot-long sunken ship (the largest in the Caribbean) without the cumbersome equipment, and without having to come up for air every two seconds. No certification needed.

GO WITH: De Palm (depalm.com)

Sosua, Dominican Republic

Wreck diving is the thing -just check out the multi-galleon pileup offshore at this beach destination near the resort of Puerto Plata.

GO WITH: Northern Coast Aquasports (northerncoastdiving.com)

La PaRguerA, Puerto Rico

It's all about The Wall. Not Pink Floyd's - but the famed continental shelf off Puerto Rico's southwestern coast. Plenty of black coral, gorgonians, black durgons and sea turtles keep you company.

GO WITH: Paradise Scuba (paradisescubasnorkelingpr.com)

Smith's Reef, Providenciales

In famous Grace Bay, Smith's Reef is a veritable underwater zoo: brain coral, trumpet fish, anemones and the always gangster green moray.

GO WITH: Caicos Adventures (caicosadventures.com)