Best places to scuba dive in March
March is unusually good for big animals. Palau and Socorro lead overall; Fuvahmulah adds reliable tiger sharks and the best overlap with its other pelagics; Malpelo remains the expedition choice. Sipadan and Jardines make sense if you want easier logistics, but I would book Palau first.
Where should you dive in March?
Palau is the first trip I would book. It ranks #1 overall at 9.8/10, and March sits inside its strict peak window of February — March. Go for grey reef sharks, reef mantas, spawning dives.
Read the Palau guide →6 places clear the bar
The order stays tied to the overall ranking. The first card is the answer.
Palau
The one I’d book first.
If I had to recommend one trip without asking any more questions, it would be Palau. Hook into Blue Corner for grey reef sharks, jacks and tuna; go to German Channel for mantas; finish on Ulong’s hard coral. It does big animals and good reef on the same itinerary, which is rarer than it should be.
- Peak window
- February — March
- Signature
- Grey reef sharks · Reef mantas · Spawning dives
Socorro
The mantas are the point.
Socorro’s oceanic mantas don’t just pass by. They circle, hover over your bubbles and sometimes seem to pick a diver. Dolphins, hammerheads and Galápagos sharks make the trip less dependent on one animal, and February or March can add humpback song.
- Peak window
- February — March
- Signature
- Oceanic mantas · Bottlenose dolphins · Humpbacks
Malpelo
No beach. No easy dives. Plenty of sharks.
Malpelo is a bare rock in the eastern Pacific, which tells you what sort of trip this is. You go for scalloped hammerheads, Galápagos sharks, silkies and huge morays. Expect negative entries, deep profiles and a boat that assumes you already know what you’re doing.
- Peak window
- January — April
- Signature
- Hammerhead schools · Galápagos sharks · Silkies
Fuvahmulah + Huvadhoo
Tiger sharks are the baseline.
Fuvahmulah gives you a reliable tiger-shark dive, then March adds the best overlap with threshers, hammerheads, oceanic mantas and the chance of a whale shark. Add Huvadhoo if you want natural channel dives rather than a whole week built around the provisioned tiger site.
- Peak window
- March
- Signature
- Tiger sharks · Threshers · Oceanic mantas
Jardines de la Reina
The Caribbean place I’d still cross an ocean for.
Most Caribbean reputations are better than the diving now. Jardines is the exception I would still book: protection has kept big groupers, Caribbean reef sharks, silkies and real coral structure. It sits near the bottom because the Pacific alternatives above it are stronger, not because this is a consolation prize.
- Peak window
- January — March
- Signature
- Caribbean reef sharks · Silkies · Goliath grouper
Sipadan
One small island still carries the whole trip.
Sipadan itself is still very good. Recent dives have produced grey and whitetip reef sharks, barracuda and jack schools, turtles, bumpheads and healthy coral gardens. The awkward part is getting enough days on the island: permits are limited, and the diving around Mabul and Kapalai is not a substitute. I would book the operator around guaranteed Sipadan days, then treat everything else as useful padding.
- Peak window
- March — May
- Signature
- Reef sharks · Barracuda and jacks · Bumphead parrotfish