From the Andaman Sea to the Coral Sea, this region offers unspoiled ecosystems, exotic big animals, thrilling drifts, history-laden World War II wrecks and unparalleled macro life.

Read more about the best scuba diving in the world: 2014 Reader's Choice Top 100 Awards

Best Overall Pacific & Indian Ocean Destinations

1. Indonesia
2. Palau
3. Micronesia
4. Philippines
5. Cocos Island, Costa Rica
6. French Polynesia
7. Thailand
8. Mexico (Baja California)
9. Galapagos
10. Red Sea (Egypt)

Best Macro Diving

1. Lembeh Strait, Indonesia (pictured)
2. South Australia, Australia
3. Komodo, Indonesia
4. Anilao, Philippines
5. Andaman Sea, Thailand

There’s more than meets the eye when you submerge in Lembeh Strait, which has become world famous for its sheer weirdness. It might be discarded bottles and other rubbish that first catch your eye while diving along the sandy bottom, but a closer look will soon have you seeing all manner of oceanic oddballs. Pygmy seahorses as tiny as your pinkie nail cling to sea fans; snake eels rise like something from a horror film; and mimic octopuses do their “I’m a flounder, I’m a lionfish, no, I’m a sea snake” thing. You’ll think you’re hallucinating this impossible critter cast. GO NOW /indonesia

Best Wall Diving

1. Palau (pictured)
2. Fiji
3. Brothers Islands, Egypt, Red Sea
4. Sipadan, Malaysia
5. Papua New Guinea

Wall dives are like underwater art galleries — floating from one scene of beauty to the next — and Palau is the Louvre of the Pacific. So it was no big surprise to us that the remote archipelago is our readers' pick for Best Wall Diving for 2014. The South Pacific destination has been a top target for fans of vertical expanses since we started this survey more than two decades ago. Such landmark sites as Blue Corner, Peleliu Wall and Big Drop-Off have challenged and inspired visiting divers since the region's scuba pioneers first began sharing their discoveries decades ago. Colorful soft corals, plentiful tropical fish and a near-constant parade of sharks, jacks and rays add to the attraction of Palau's walls. But it's the mind-expanding idea of hovering above hundreds of feet of blue water that cements the memories for a lifetime. GO NOW /palau

Best Wreck Diving

1. Chuuk Lagoon, Micronesia (pictured)
2. Palau
3. Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, Red Sea
4. Solomon Islands
5. Coron Bay, Phillipines

A Japanese naval stronghold during World War II, the tiny Micronesian atoll of Chuuk earned an infamous place in history when U.S. Operation Hailstone sent more than 40 vessels to the bottom during the three-day attack in February 1944. Seventy years later, the protected, shallow basin known as Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon is an unmatched wreck-diving destination — and a regular top vote-getter in our annual reader survey. For divers with the proper training, the Ghost Fleet of Chuuk Lagoon offers famous shipwrecks in classic South Pacific splendor. Here lie enough notable warships — such as the Rio de Janiero Maru (461 feet), with intact propellers, the San Francisco Maru (375 feet), featuring tanks still parked on deck, and the Fujikawa Maru (439 feet), containing the remains of Zero airplanes — to make any wreck hound drool. GO NOW /micronesia

Best Shore Diving

1. Bali, Indonesia (pictured)
2. Red Sea, Egypt
3. Wakatobi, Indonesia
4. Maldives
5. Western Australia, Australia

Indonesia has so many dream destinations that many divers rush through Bali on their way elsewhere. But the Island of the Gods has more going for it than cheap massages and fancy villas. The shore diving here is some of the best on the planet. Start your adventure on the northeast coast in the shadow of Mount Agung at Tulamben, where the Liberty wreck, less than 100 feet offshore, teems with schooling jacks, sweeper glass fish and bumphead parrotfish. For next to nothing, locals tote your tanks atop their heads back to your hotel or car when you’re done diving. Muck divers head to Bali’s north coast for shore dives at Secret Bay, a macro site where weird and wonderful things like dragonets and bizarre gobies lurk on the black-sand bottom. The critters thrive on the supply of nutrients sweeping through the Bali Strait, and regulars swear the bay’s just as good as Lembeh on the right day. GO NOW /indonesia

Best Big Animals

1. Galapagos Islands
2. Yap, Micronesia (pictured)
3. Cocos Island, Costa Rica
4. Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines
5. Maldives

How many manta-ray sightings does it take to make a dive trip successful? Ten? Fifty? Yap locals claim there are 100 resident manta rays living in their waters year-round. That kind of bio- mass really increases your odds of scoring that once-in-a-lifetime encounter with the ocean’s most graceful animal. It’s also one of the reasons the tiny South Pacific island is always a contender for the top spot in the Best Big Animal category. Blessed with a barrier reefprotecting warm, shallow lagoons where teams of cleaner fish await dirty rays at reliable stations like tiny NASCAR pit crews, Yap is one of the most consistent dive destinations in any ocean for manta encounters. There are scores of sharks prowling the reefs here too. But the manta reigns supreme in Yap, so much so that dive operators celebrate the species with an annual festival. GO NOW /micronesia

Best Visibility

1. Tahiti, French Polynesia
2. Palau
3. Fiji
4. Maldives
5. Raja Ampat, Indonesia

Healthiest Marine Environment

1. Raja Ampat, Indonesia (pictured)
2. Palau
3. Lembeh-Strait, Indonesia
4. Socorro Islands, Mexico
5. Galapagos Islands

The Coral Triangle is the bull’s-eye of the planet’s marine biodiversity. Home to more than 75 percent of the world’s coral species and more than 2,200 species of reef fish, it’s a diver’s dream. And the archipelago of Raja Ampat — more than 1,500 islands off western New Guinea that belong to Indonesia — is the epicenter’s epicenter. A liveaboard dive trip is the best way to maximize your diving to see all creatures great and small. Dives deliver everything from pinnacles covered in candy-colored soft corals and sponges, to whale sharks, to tiny jewel-toned blennies peeking from hidey-holes, to soaring mantas. Sperm whales have even been spotted by snorkelers and divers in the Dampier Strait here. For seeing it all in one place, Raja is the target. GO NOW /indonesia

Best Underwater Photography

1. Raja Ampat, Indonesia
2. Lembeh Strait, Indonesia
3. Galapagos Islands
4. Sulu Sea and Tubbataha, Philippines (pictured)
5. Maldives

Underwater photographers are always off to the next hot spot. Some of the best opportunities await in the southern Philippines’ Sulu Sea at the UNESCO World Heritage coral reefs of Tubbataha, one of the oldest ecosystems in the Philippines. Late February to mid-June is the only time of year that the weather is calm enough to safely dive around two atolls here that are separated by a 5-mile-wide channel, making the window for snapping iconic shots all the shorter and sweeter. The minimized boat and diver traffic, paired with the remoteness of the region, has led to better protection of Tubbataha’s marine life than elsewhere in the Coral Triangle. Sharks, turtles, mobulas, eagle rays and manta rays soar through water that consistently passes the 100-foot visibility mark. Cutouts in underwater canyons, and walls covered with enormous barrel sponges and gorgonians, make for excellent backdrops. Here, your wide-angle wishes are just waiting to be granted. GO NOW /philippines

Best Advanced Diving

1. Galapagos Islands (pictured)
2. Chuuk, Micronesia
3. Cocos Island, Costa Rica
4. Tahiti, French Polynesia
5. Poor Knights Islands, New Zealand

Every diver — even a rookie — gets a dreamy, faraway look in his or her eyes at the mere mention of the Galapagos Islands. Inspired by tales of prolific encounters with exotic animals, most enthusiasts set their sights straightaway on this hallowed volcanic archipelago, 600 miles west of mainland Ecuador. But the underwater experience in the Galapagos is far from appropriate for the inexperienced diver. The islands are continuously lashed by a convergence of strong oceanic currents from nearly every direction, so any dive here can become a wild ride without warning. And while the Galapagos straddle the equator, water temperatures at some sites can dip into the 50s and 60s F. Operators typically advise their customers to be comfortable in thick wetsuits and heavier-than-normal weighting due to high salinity. Add to the difficult equation the fact that most dives end floating in the blue with sharks circling your fin tips, and you can see why diving in the Galapagos isn’t for the faint of heart — but totally worth the effort. GO NOW /galapagos

1. Great Barrier Reef, Australia
2. Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, Red Sea
3. Tahiti, French Polynesia
4. Anilao, Philippines
5. Maldives

Best Overall Diving

1. Indonesia
2. Maldives (pictured)
3. Galapagos Islands
4. Palau
5. Australia
6. Philippines
7. Cocos
8. Fiji
9. Red Sea
10. French Polynesia

Bring your safety sausage and advanced-diving cred to the Maldives chain of atolls plunked in the Indian Ocean — the Indian Monsoon Current that can run like an express train through these waters will sometimes push divers along at a pretty decent clip. And also be prepared for sensory overload: Divers dropping into the current on many of the thilas and lush coral reefs here will drift with an astonishing hit parade of big marine life, including white tip, hammerhead and gray reef sharks, tuna, barracuda, bigeye trevally, schooling sweetlips, butterflyfish, and grouper. The southwest monsoon season from May to November sounds like something to avoid, but instead, underwater photographers from around the globe have discovered that the current brings a massive concentration of plankton to the atolls, which in turn attracts huge numbers of whale sharks and manta rays. Some of the atolls are better known, like Baa, but the truth is that you can dive anywhere in this gorgeous chain — from a liveaboard or a resort — and be amazed. GO NOW /maldives