Russia. I am here. I am gripped by a sense of disbelief. As the tundra flies past the train window recollections of grainy tv-images from my childhood keep popping up. The marching soldiers and missile batteries being paraded across the red square before the pouty looking Leonid Breshnev and the politbureau looking on from the top of Lenin’s mausoleum. That was scary days. The Iron curtain was impenetrable and Russia was a place only for spies and covert business men and diplomats. That is what it felt like anyway. So here I am, sipping tea in a old, but very confortable sleeper wagon heading up north from Sct. Petersburg towards the artic circle and some spectacular diving during the long days.

Situated 25 km (15 miles) north of the Scottish mainland, the Orkney Islands are located on the same latitude as southern Greenland, Alaska and Leningrad, however Orkney is bathed in the warm waters of the North Atlantic Drift that first started out as the Gulf Stream in the Caribbean. Hence, a profusion of marine life, water that rarely gets too cold and mild winters, whilst the islands are inevitable windy, the almost landlocked bay of Scapa Flow is sheltered for diving all year round. The Orkney Islands are created by submergence and give the impression of tipping westwards into the sea. There are great sea stacks, arches, caves and caverns all around the coast, some of which are world famous such as the Old Man of Hoy, and they have a total land mass of around 971.25km2 (375 square miles).

Four hundred and fifty kilometres north of Maputo, Mozambique’s capital, and half an hour from the historic Portuguese trading town of Inhambane and its airport, Tofo is a laid-back village popular for its endless pristine beaches and, of course, scuba diving. The warm waters of the Indian Ocean provide sustenance for an abundance of marine life here, but the mantas and the whale sharks are the stars of the show.

The spacious, purpose-built dhow slid through the calm Indian Ocean. We were briefed sitting under the shade area of the deck, then kitted up and went through our buddy checks before a giant stride took us into the 30°C sea. Looking down, I could just make out the dive site, an old British lighter, 27 metres below me. It was 9:30 a.m. and the day was going fantastically.

Puget Sound • San Juan Islands • Strait of Juan de Fuca • Vancouver Island • Alaska • The waters of the northern Pacific coast of North America are some of the richest in the world in terms of marine life and natural resources due to a continual influx of nutrients brought by currents that circulate in the region. Divers will find both awe-inspiring and challenging experiences to enjoy here.

Australia — the land ‘Down Under’ — renown for Uluru (the rock formerly know as Ayers), its red desserts and kangaroos. But the smallest continent on earth features one of the largest varieties of habitats ranging from tropical rainforest to old-growth temperate forests and alpine heaths—and that goes for underwater as well.

Depending on your yardstick, or which encyclopedia you consult, Malaysia boasts a colossal coastline of 4,675 km. This area includes 2,068 km for Peninsular Malaysia and 2,607 km for eastern Malaysia.

Kilimanjaro, Ngorongoro Crater, the Serengeti... boasting a wealth of natural beauty that reads like a lexicon of African icons, Tanzania is a wildlife enthusiast’s dream destination. However, this rich bounty isn’t limited to just the land, as the warm waters fringing its coast are home to some of the most spectacular reefs in all of East Africa.

“Tasmania is a secret garden at the edge of the southern ocean. Every dive in Tasmania displays an exquisite combination of lyrical beauty and the wistfully bizarre.” -- David Doubilet

Situated in the sparkling Caribbean Sea, the three Cayman Islands, known as Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, lie some 250 km south of Cuba and about 300 km west of Jamaica. Geographically