No place for the Great Barrier Reef
ArticleThe Australian tour operators don't like the new top 10 dives list of the Lonely Planet.
"When you talk to serious divers, the Great Barrier Reef is on everyone's bucket list, so it's ridiculous there's not one site mentioned ... There are diving experiences you can have on the Barrier Reef that you can't do anywhere else in the world," said Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators Executive Director Col McKenzie. They think the Cocklebiddy Cave in Australia and Rainbow Warrior wreck in New Zealand can't be compared to the Yongala wreck or the Osprey Reef.
Lonely Planet spokesman Adam Bennett admitted the list is open to debate and it was not intended to be definitive, but rather a representative selection of diving sites from all around the world. Certainly the Great Barrier Reef was recommended as a dive destination in Lonely Planet guides.
If you think about it, this debate sounds rather funny. Even a top 100 list wouldn't be enough to collect all the great dive sites of the world. There is only one dive site from the Caribbean, the Blue Hole in Belize, but what about the other great spots? From the Red Sea they chose the Ras Mohammed National Park which is one of the best sites, but where is the Thistlegorm wreck? The Elphinstone reef? Or the pristine, colorful reefs of the Sudanese Red Sea like the Sanganeb or the Shaab Rumi? And there aren't any freshwater sites, so the cenotes in Yucatan didn't make it onto this list. We recommend to make your own list of your favorite dives and when you plan your next trip, browse your friends' lists.
Or the top 10 of Lonely Planet- we paste it here for you:
1. Great Blue Hole - Belize
2. Chuuk Lagoon - Micronesia
3. Manta Ray Village - Hawaii
4. Samarai Island - Papua New Guinea
5. Sipadan - Malaysia
6. Cocos Island - Costa Rica
7. Gansbaai - South Africa
8. Ras Mohammad National Park - Egypt
9. Cocklebiddy Cave - Australia
10. Rainbow Warrior wreck - New Zealand
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