How OkToDive scores dive sites and operators
Every number on this site traces back to a formula on this page. No vibes, no pay-to-play rankings. Two separate systems are in play — a 12-category editorial score for the 292 dive destinations in our directory, and a much narrower provisional score for the 176 dive operators we track. They are not interchangeable, and this page is explicit about which is which.
Destination scoring — the OkToDive Score (0–100)
Each dive destination is rated across 12 categories, sub-scored 1–100 and weighted to a fixed share of the final composite. Weights sum to 100%. This is an editorial score assembled by OkToDive's team from public data sources, expedition reports, and firsthand accounts — it is compiled and updated periodically, not a live automated feed.
| Category | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Marine Life Diversity | 12% | Species count, pelagic encounters, endemic species, macro life, megafauna probability, seasonal variation, coral fish density. |
| Coral & Reef Health | 10% | Coral coverage %, bleaching status, reef type diversity, conservation efforts, reef resilience, water quality. |
| Visibility & Conditions | 10% | Average visibility, current strength, thermocline, surge and swell, predictability, water clarity factors. |
| Dive Site Variety | 9% | Number of named sites, dive type diversity, depth range, wreck availability, cave/cavern access, night diving quality. |
| Water Temperature | 5% | Annual temperature range, wetsuit requirements, seasonal variation, comfort across diver types, thermocline impact. |
| Depth Range & Access | 7% | Beginner-friendly shallows, advanced deep options, shore vs boat ratio, technical diving support, liveaboard access. |
| Dive Operator Quality | 9% | Number of operators, certification agencies, equipment condition, safety record, guide quality, nitrox/tech support. |
| Topside Experience | 8% | Accommodation quality, food quality, nightlife and culture, non-diving activities, infrastructure, companion friendliness. |
| Getting There | 6% | Airport distance, transfer service, flight connections, visa requirements, in-country transport, climate considerations. |
| Value & Cost | 8% | Average dive cost, accommodation range, food costs, gear rental value, hidden fees, overall budget tier. |
| Diver Volume & Crowding | 6% | Annual diver visits, permit systems, max divers per site, seasonal patterns, underwater congestion, booking advance required. |
| Social Proof & Reputation | 10% | Google reviews, TripAdvisor rating, review volume, ScubaBoard sentiment, magazine rankings, YouTube video count, social engagement. |
Each category also breaks down into 3–7 sub-criteria (visible on every dive site page) — over 70 sub-criteria feed the 12 category scores above.
Score tiers
- 90.0 – 100World Class
- 80.0 – 89.9Exceptional
- 70.0 – 79.9Highly Recommended
- 60.0 – 69.9Good
- Below 60.0Listed, not endorsed
Operator scoring — the Provisional Score (0–100)
This is deliberately notthe full 7-category audited rubric (safety record, DAN membership, fleet condition, guide-to-diver ratio, etc.) described in OkToDive's brand methodology — building that requires manual verification data we don't have yet for every tracked operator. What ships today is narrower and says so on every scorecard:
score = round(rating_component × 0.7 + volume_component × 0.3)
- Rating component (70%): the operator's tracked star rating, stretched from a 3.5–5 realistic band to 0–100 (real dive-shop ratings cluster tightly between 4.0 and 4.9 stars, so a straight 0–5 → 0–100 map would bunch everyone in the high 80s and stop differentiating anything).
- Volume component (30%): log-scaled review count, capped at 1,000 reviews for full marks.
Recency is intentionally not scored — the underlying data source doesn't reliably capture individual review dates, so we don't fabricate a signal we don't have. Badge eligibility (the "Top Rated" embed) starts at 80/100.
Provenance: as of this writing, 175 of 176 tracked operators are sourced from a hand-curated seed snapshot of Google ratings/review counts, not a live pull or a successful automated scrape. Every scorecard states its own provenance and, where available, the date data was last verified — see the operator directory for individual scorecards.
Commissions disclosure
OkToDive may earn commissions when readers book liveaboards, dive packages, or gear through outbound links on this site. Commissions never affect which destinations or operators are scored, how the formulas above are weighted, resulting ranks, or whether an entity is included in our data at all. Scores are computed the same way whether a destination or operator has an active affiliate relationship or none at all.
Hosted-trip policy
OkToDive does not currently accept hosted, comped, or press dive trips. If that changes, any hosted visit will be disclosed in plain language on the relevant destination or operator page, and — consistent with the commissions policy above — will never influence a score, rank, or inclusion decision.
Questions about a specific score? Read the full scoring philosophy or see the machine-readable data at /api/scores.json and /api/costs.json.