Fan Garden in Aore island ranks in 1st place on the list of the best places for scuba diving in Vanuatu. This breathtaking diving site, also known as Aore Wall, is located just a few meters off the beach on Aore Island, near Espiritu Santo. While shoals of barracuda and tuna swim past, giant fans and hard corals cling to the vertical cliff that rises from 35 meters (115 feet) below. Divers can be dragged along the wall by strong currents without depleting too much oxygen for a prolonged dive.

"This drift dive has to be seen to be believed," says Deborah Dickson-Smith, a Diveplanit Travel South Pacific Specialist Agent. "You will feel like Alice in Wonderland as you drift along with the current through a forest of extremely massive sea fans." In the shallows, you'll find nudibranchs, anemones, and a variety of World war 2 artifacts, as well as a colorful mantis shrimp if you are lucky."

Location: Aore island, Sanma, Vanuatu

Million Dollar Point is ranked second on the list of the best places for scuba diving in Vanuatu. Vanuatu, a former French and English colony was a critical Allied base during WWII, and the legacy of US forces stationed here lives on under the sea. After the war, the Americans bulldozed all of their surplus supplies into the sea after the British, French, and Ni-Van people refused to buy them. The site was named after the estimated million dollars in dumped goods, which included tanks, rifles, and jeeps that were discarded underwater.

"It boggles the mind to swim through this rubble, these battle deserts," Dickson-Smith says. "This dive site with tracked and wheeled vehicles, as well as many other devices, is located in approximately 15–25m (49–82ft) of water close off the beach near Luganville, Espiritu Santo." Among all the twisted rusting metal of Million Dollar Point, a vibrant reef has sprung up, so the plentiful marine life is another compelling incentive to visit.

Location: Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu

Diving into a deep underwater tunnel may generate feelings of faith in a higher power in certain people. The Cathedral at Efate, on the other hand, is said to receive its name from the shafts of light that penetrate through the surface and create strange dappled effects on the cavern's walls.

"The Cathedral is a remarkable towering narrow tunnel located around a 20-minute boat ride from Port Vila," Dickson-Smith says. "The cavern's entrance is tall and wide, about 22m (72ft) deep at the sandy bottom, and it narrows as you approach the "pulpit" at the apex." Beyond the pulpit is a short chimney that goes to the surface, where you can pop up and wave to the boat before swimming back down and out of The Cathedral to inspect the coral on the reef wall outside."

Many different fish species live on the reef, and if divers go close enough, animals like nudibranchs and leaf scorpionfish can be found concealed amid the coral.

Location: Efate Island, Vanuatu

The Coolidge is one of the world's largest wrecks, measuring slightly over 200m (656ft) in length. The Coolidge was sunk in 1942 during WWII after it collided with a friendly mine. It became stranded on a steep sandbank and slid down to where the wreck currently sits 30m (98ft) below. It takes several dives to investigate the full former luxury liner converted troop transport and acclimate to the wreck's deepest point of 70m (230ft).

"Divers come to Vanuatu just to dive the Coolidge, and spend the best part of a week doing so, starting with an orientation dive and working their way down to The Lady – a porcelain figure riding a unicorn in the first class dining room – and on to the engine room and the stern, the wreck's deepest point," Dickson-Smith says. The aquatic life on this wreck is a highlight, with a huge resident moray eel named Nessie and the spotlight fish in Cargo Hold Two."

Location: Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu

Turtle Reef in Tranquility Island is the best site in Vanuatu to watch turtles - both in their natural habitat and at the dive resort's turtle sanctuary. Tranquility Island Eco Resort's house reef, also known as White Rock, is a gently sloping wall that slopes down to 90m (295ft), allowing divers to descend to whatever depth they are qualified for.

"Hawksbill and green turtles can be seen here," adds Michael Burbeary, the resort's Dive Operations Manager. "Dugongs prefer to graze in this region as well, so keep a lookout for the shy critters." "We also have many hard and soft corals and reef fishes, and eagle rays and large pelagics pass by on occasion," says Vicky Langford, Tranquility's Dive Operations Manager.

Staff at the resort also run the island's turtle sanctuary, which rehabilitates sick or damaged turtles and cares for young turtles until they are old enough to be released into the ocean. Guests and day-trippers can release turtles at Tranquility for a nominal donation for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Location: Tranquility Island, Vanuatu

Tanna's volcanic island is bordered by a plethora of amazing underwater features, ranging from caves to vibrant reefs and jaw-dropping drop-offs. One of Tanna's most popular dives is the Blue Holes, a network of underwater sinkholes and caverns. "This is without a doubt my favorite dive in Vanuatu," Dickson-Smith says. "Several blue holes have names such as Pikinini Blue Hole, Blue Hole One, and Blue Hole Two."

Dives begin at White Grass Ocean Resort's house reef, with the first swim-through taking divers into a blue hole and out the reef wall. "Blue Hole One is a nearly infinite swim-through," Dickson-Smith continues. "A modest entry in the shallows leads through a labyrinth of tunnels that open up into shallow basins, colorful coral gardens, caverns lighted from above through slots, and occasionally out onto the reef wall." These dives frequently feature schools of tuna, fusiliers, and pelagics, as well as whitetip sharks.

Location: Tanna island, Vanuatu

The Bonzer Wreck ranks 7th on the list of the best places for scuba diving in Vanuatu. The Bonzer tug boat is an excellent site to begin for first-time and unskilled wreck divers. This coral-covered ship is scuttled upright in Mele Bay's shallow lagoon area, only a short boat ride from shore. The soft coral gardens that surround the freighter wreck are also magnificent, and they are filled with various fish species.

"The Bonzer Wreck is a cute little wreck about a minute's boat ride from Hideaway Island Resort in Port Vila," Dickson-Smith explains. "Normally, the dive boat moors a little further away, so there's a scenic reef to traverse along and progressively down until getting at the wreck at 18m" (59ft). "Along the way, you'll come across one of the biggest anemone gardens you'll ever see, packed with reef fish and cheeky red and black anemonefish."

Location: Efate, Vanuatu

Owen’s Reef is the last place on the list of the best places for scuba diving in Vanuatu. This figure-of-eight-shaped coral is one of the most popular places on Moso Island, which is only a short boat trip from Tranquility Island Eco Resort. A variety of marine species can be seen here, including groupers and sweetlips, as well as white-tip reef sharks relaxing on the sandy region.

"Fields of staghorn coral, towering pinnacles, giant brain corals, and colorful soft corals and fans; I honestly lost count of the number of different varieties of coral I saw on a single dive on Owen's Reef," Dickson-Smith recounts. "Owen [the owner of Tranquillity Island Eco Resort and the reef's namesake] informed me that a visiting marine biologist once remarked he had never seen so many distinct species of coral on a single dive." The site has a maximum depth of 25m (82ft) and is appropriate for divers of all skill levels.

Location: Tranquillity Island, Vanuatu