Wildest Dream Trip: An Indian Ocean Dive Journey

“‘Dive’ to me means something a little different than it does most people,” admits Katy Croff Bell. “I would love to dive with remotely operated vehicles [ROVs] all over the Indian Ocean, because it is the least explored ocean on the planet and we have no idea what kinds of secrets it holds.”

On her dream trip, Croff would sail between life-list destinations such as the Maldives and the Seychelles—two remote archipelagos known for their abundance of marine megafauna, wildly colorful reefs, and dearth of divers—and then over to the eastern end of the Indian Ocean where Indonesia hides countless remote islands and reefs, some reachable only by long boat crossings. Many believe these places hold the most as-yet undiscovered species in the world, and scientists often come back with stories of wild new critters. “I've never been to that part of the world,” says Bell. “It’s the hot spot of biodiversity on the planet.”