With its miles of coral reefs and warm crystalline waters, the Caribbean is the world’s most popular dive destination.  The Caribbean’s ocean currents, rocky reefs and tropical storms have also created a trail of Caribbean ship wrecks you can dive on. These once proud vessels are now happy new homes for myriad marine life and a prized underwater experience. For some divers, wreck diving is the ultimate way to dive. And if it’s wreck diving you want – the Caribbean is full of shipwrecks waiting for you.

So pack your gear and get ready to explore these popular Caribbean shipwrecks and dive deeper into the region’s history and natural beauty.

Kittiwake, Grand Cayman It only makes sense that the destination where scuba diving was invented in the 1960s is home to one of the Caribbean’s most fascinating wrecks. Submerged in 64 feet of water, the submarine rescue vessel’s five decks promise divers and snorkelers sightings of sponges, grouper, urchins and squirrelfish.

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You don’t always need a boat to appreciate the Caribbean’s underwater wonders. Because some of the Caribbean’s best snorkeling spots are right on the sand.

At these snorkel-friendly beaches in the Caribbean, you can wade right in and enjoy some of the best submarine sights simply by dipping your face in the sea.

The Baths, British Virgin Islands Wade into the warm waters of Devil’s Bay or Spring Bay to snorkel the crystal-clear pools formed by the giant granite boulders that are the Virgin Gorda’s marquee attraction.

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The island of Martinique is playing host to a major new global arts festival this week: the International Festival of Performance Art.

The event is being held through April 22 at the Hotel Imperatrice in Fort de France.

It’s being directed by Annabel Gueredrat and Henri Tauliaut, with the aim of connecting performers, art critics, academics, international curators and art communities of Martinique, the Caribbean basin, the Americas and Europe.

Performance artist Ayana Evans.

It’s the first-ever edition of the festival, with “body-based” performance practices by both French and international artists.

More importantly — it’s the first-ever international art festival on Martinique, one of the Caribbean’s hubs for art.

For more information, visit Art Incidence.

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The Caribbean’s newest dive site is one of the only ships to survive the World War II attack on Pearl Harbor.

It’s called the Kodiak Queen, and it’s just been sunk in the heart of the British Virgin Islands near Necker Island by a group of conservationists led by Sir Richard Branson.

After reaching the ocean floor, the ship will now be a permanent eco-friendly underwater art installation known as the BVI Art Reef.

The installation is headlined by a huge art piece, a giant kraken, along with a host of other sculptures set inside the heart of the old ship.

The Kodiak Queen during its heyday.

The aim of the project is to help draw attention to major global environmental issues, from climate change to protecting coral reefs to the rehabilitation of vulnerable marine species.

“I’m already looking forward to returning for a dive once it has become a thriving marine habitat,” Branson wrote in his personal blog on Virgin.com. “Everything from corals to sea sponges, sharks and turtles will live on, in and around the wreck as it helps rehabilitate heavily over-fished marine populations.”

The project was a joint effort including the government of the British Virgin Islands, Unite BVI, Maverick1000, Secret Samurai Productions, Beneath the Waves, Commercial Dive Services and the Association of Reef Keepers.

Branson has long been a proponent of conservation as a means of economic growth, and it’s hoped that this latest venture will become a popular Caribbean diving destination.

For more information visit the BVI Art Reef.

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Tour company Chukka Caribbean Adventures is upgrading its famous Good Hope property in Falmouth, Jamaica.

The company will be embarking on a $4 million enhancement project.

“The Chukka Good Hope property is the kind of facility that will certainly be a pull factor in bringing more visitors to the island,” said Paul Pennicook, Jamaica’s Director of Tourism. “I was accompanied by some key members of the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association on a visit to the property and we were all blown away. It is truly another piece of jewellery in Chukka’s growing collection.”

The Good Hope tour includes a zip line canopy, ATV and dune buggy adventures, jungle river tubing and kayaking and Appleton Rum tastings, along with a great house tour and a bird aviary, all set across 17 buildings.

“The addition of the Adventure Falls has created an even more family fun atmosphere, which features a six pool terraced playground, a 50-foot cascading waterfall, and a 300-foot slide that spills into a 14,000 square feet pool,” said John Byles, CEO of Chukka Caribbean Adventures.

“There is a wow factor on arrival here at the facility, which is very difficult if not impossible to duplicate. There is also something for everyone to gravitate towards. We believe in giving our guests a wide variety of options where they will always remember this experience. Whenever we put a memory into something, it usually last for a lifetime,” he said.

Chukka offers 60 tours in Belize, Jamaica and Turks and Caicos.

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