Where to Dive in November: 12 Destinations, Water Temps and Risks

Where to dive in November: the short list

November is a changeover month. The Red Sea is still warm, the calm seasons in Raja Ampat and the Andamans are starting, and Socorro's liveaboard season opens. At the same time the Mediterranean is cooling and the Caribbean is in the last weeks of its hurricane season. The table lists twelve places that work in November, grouped by region, with the main catch for each. For the rest of the year, see where to dive each month.

Temperatures are monthly averages at the surface, so expect cooler water below a thermocline. Where a range appears, it combines two datasets: 10-year averages from seatemperature.info and NOAA Coral Reef Watch's 1985-2012 climatology for the nearest regional station. The suit column applies our wetsuit chart to a single dive: a 3mm full suit at 24-27°C (75-81°F), a 3mm or shorty at 28°C and above, and a 5mm with a hood in the bag at 20-23°C (68-73°F). Cold adds up over a week of several dives a day, so pick the suit for the last dive, not the first.

Is the Red Sea good for diving in November?

Yes. With October, November is the best all-round month in Egypt's Red Sea. Ten-year averages put the sea at 26.3°C off Hurghada, 26.6°C off Marsa Alam and 26.8°C off Sharm el-Sheikh, and Emperor Divers gives 25-26°C for November against 23-24°C in December. Emperor says many divers are comfortable in a 3mm in the warmer months and prefer a 5mm full suit in winter or when making several dives a day.

The wind data and the operators disagree a little. Emperor calls September to mid-November one of the most popular times to dive in Egypt and says winds can be stronger from mid-November to March, when boats and sites are quieter. Weatherspark's long-term averages make November Hurghada's calmest month. Dahab, on the Gulf of Aqaba, is about a degree cooler at 25.0-25.7°C, and Windfinder's records make November (8.3 knots) and February its calmest months. Dive The World gives Egyptian visibility as 10-40 m (33-130 ft): often 20-40 m at Sharm, 10-30 m at Hurghada. Our Hurghada month-by-month guide has the wind tables.

For sharks, go south. Oceanic whitetips are the reason most November divers book the Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone. Elke Bojanowski, whose photo-ID catalogue held more than 560 individual whitetips by July 2009, called October and November the main season, and Dive The World puts the Elphinstone peak at October to December. The Brothers and Daedalus need a liveaboard and 50 logged dives, and Emperor's trips on that route run from March to November. Elphinstone can be dived on a day boat from Marsa Alam. Our Red Sea guide covers the areas and entry rules.

Indo-Pacific in November: Raja Ampat, Palau, the Great Barrier Reef and the Andamans

Raja Ampat is the strongest Indo-Pacific pick. Its calm season starts in October, and Stay Raja Ampat narrows the best chance of flat water to mid-October to mid-December. PADI gives 27-30°C for the season, and NOAA's West Papua station averages 29.1°C in November. The catch is current: liveaboards such as Emperor Divers ask for Advanced Open Water and 50 logged dives, and there is no reliable chamber in Papua. Our Raja Ampat guide splits the regions.

Palau stays at 29.1-29.7°C, and during November the wind swings back toward the northeast (55% of daytime airport readings). Storms are the risk. A Coral Reef Research Foundation review of storm tracks from 1945 to 2013 found that November and December had the most significant ones, and Typhoon Haiyan's eye crossed Kayangel on 6-7 November 2013. Read the cancellation terms before you pay.

On the Great Barrier Reef the water is about 27°C, and Spirit of Freedom describes September to December as the light-wind months. November also opens two seasons. Stings are more frequent from November to May, and the Whitsunday Regional Council names a full-body lycra or neoprene suit as the main protection. The Bureau of Meteorology's cyclone season starts on 1 November, so leave slack in the itinerary. Our Great Barrier Reef guide compares Cairns, Port Douglas and the liveaboards.

The Andaman Islands open their season in October, with December to March as the peak, according to PADI. An India Meteorological Department paper describes a northeast monsoon from November to January, so early November can bring showers inside the season. NOAA's Andaman station averages 28.4°C in November. At Nusa Penida the reef mantas stay all year, at 28.6°C in November, but the sunfish months (July to October) are over.

October or November trip with good visibility and mantas or reef sharks

Go to Raja Ampat if visibility and mantas come first, Palau or Yap if you also want reef sharks on most dives, and Socorro if your dates fall in November. For Yap, Socorro and Komodo, late November is the better half of the window.

Raja Ampat's dry season runs from October to April, and the Raja Ampat Biodiversity Eco Resort says visibility then often exceeds 30 m (100 ft). A 2024 tracking study describes reef mantas moving between aggregation sites with the monsoons but names no peak month, so agree the region (Dampier Strait, Misool or the north) with your operator before you book.

Palau has the best shark record. In a 2014 study, dive guides saw grey reef sharks on 86% of dives at the monitored sites. October and November had the lowest monthly averages, 8.1 sharks per dive against 12.4 in March and April, and strong-current dives had three times as many. At German Channel, whitetip reef sharks rest on the sand on about 90% of dives, and reef mantas there have been seen feeding from November to January. In Yap's Mi'l Channel, surveys count 5-10 mantas from November to April against 1-3 from May to October, and groups of 10-30 grey reef sharks turn up on almost every dive from late northern summer into autumn. Our Palau season guide lists the shark sites.

The Red Sea answers only the shark half. Oceanic whitetips peak offshore in October and November, but Emperor Divers says Egypt's manta rays are an April to June encounter. Socorro's oceanic mantas arrive with the season start in November, and Komodo's central cleaning stations, Karang Makassar and Mawan, get more manta visits from November to April. Hanifaru Bay in the Maldives is past its August peak and is snorkel only. More sites are in our manta ray list by month.

November animal events you can plan around

A few seasons start or peak in November. Each is a probability, so ask the operator about recent sightings before you pay a deposit.

• Whale sharks and oceanic mantas at Socorro. Nautilus runs the season from November to July and says whale sharks are best seen from November through December. The islands are 250 miles (about 400 km) from Cabo San Lucas, a 24-hour crossing, and DAN's Alert Diver calls them a destination for experienced divers.
• Oceanic whitetips in the southern Egyptian Red Sea, October and November, at the Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone.
• Coral spawning on the outer Great Barrier Reef, in the nights after the November or December full moon, according to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. Check the lunar calendar before you fix dates.
• Blackstreak surgeonfish spawning at Blue Corner, Palau, from the first quarter to the full moon in October and November, with grey reef sharks hunting the schools.
• Mantas at Yap's Mi'l Channel and Komodo's central sites, from November to April.
• Ending: the sunfish season at Nusa Penida (July to October in most sources) and the Hanifaru Bay manta season, which PADI calls a last chance in November.

Caribbean, Atlantic and Mediterranean diving in November

The Atlantic hurricane season runs to 30 November, and NOAA's National Hurricane Center puts most activity between mid-August and mid-October, so November is the tail. Bonaire is the safest Caribbean pick. The Meteorological Department Curaçao says the Dutch Leeward islands sit on the southern edge of the Atlantic hurricane region, so direct impacts are relatively rare. Bonaire's rainy season runs from October to January, but the steady easterly trade winds keep the west coast dive sites in the lee. NOAA's ABC Islands station averages 27.7°C in November. Our Bonaire guide explains the shore diving system.

Madeira averages 21.7°C in November, and Azul Diving puts its best period, for calm seas and visibility, at June to November. In the Mediterranean, the eastern and southern coasts hold their heat longest: 10-year averages give 22.9°C at Larnaca, 22.5°C at Kaş and 21.7°C at Gozo. That is 5mm water. December drops to 18.6-20.2°C on the same pages, and PADI gives May to October as the Kaş season.

Where to avoid diving in November

None of these places closes, but each has a sourced reason to choose another month or to book flexible dates.

• Koh Tao and Thailand's Gulf coast. SSI names October to December as the monsoon on Koh Tao, with rain and rough seas, and a JICA climate study of the coast to the south found the highest waves between October and January.
• Roatán, Utila and the western Caribbean. October and November are the wettest months on Roatán. Of the 26 tropical storms and hurricanes that passed within 150 km of the island from 1950 to 2025, four came in November, the latest Tropical Storm Sara in November 2024. Northerly wind blew in 35% of daytime airport reports in November. Dive The World still rates Utila's visibility best from March to May and September to November, so it is a weather gamble rather than a bad month.
• The northern Mediterranean. Rovinj in Croatia and L'Estartit in Spain already average 19.8°C and 19.4°C in October, on the border between a 5mm and a 7mm on our chart.
• Tubbataha, Philippines. Its liveaboard season runs only from mid-March to mid-June.
• Nusa Penida for sunfish. Emperor Divers and Blue Season Bali both end the season in October.