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Bikini is a highly evocative word. Some people think of the skimpy suit designed by Frenchman Louis Reard in 1946. Other people think of the atomic and hydrogen bomb tests of the 1940s and 50s that rendered 167 native Bikinians homeless and left a breathtaking atol l in Micronesia irradiated. More recently, people are thinking of Bikini Atoll as a world-class dive destination. "What good does that do me if I'm going to come home with a permanent orange afr07" you ask? Lots. Radiation has fallen to levels that scientists deem safe and in 1996 the area was opened to divers. Thi s means untainted reefs, unfished marine life and, due to its remote location and lingering memories of fallout, very few divers. The most eye-popping wreck is the 880-foot USS Saratoga. a ship bigger and heavier than the Titanic. It has a fleet of Hellcat dive bombers and a torpedo room full of bombs and rockets. The HUMS Nagata was the flagship of Admiral Yamamoto during World War II. Yamamota was standing on the bridge when he ordered the attad Pearl Harbor. And all th is in fish-congested waters w enough to dive wearing only a bikini .- Robert Longne' DIVE TRAVELER FACTS LEVELS: The range of depth (0 to 200 feet) prov something for all divers. Wreck dives usually involve stc decompression. WATER CONDITIONS: Water temperature around Visibility from 80 to 150 feet. LIFE ON LAND: Pretty much none since 1946. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: Officially none, but take passport. ENTRY POINT: Majuro, Marshall Islands. CONTACTS: Mad Dog Expeditions, 212-744-6763, www.mad-dog.net. This little English-speaking sliver of Cent ral America has the longest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere and a human population of just 235,000. That means, 180 miles of coral-rich waters and not enough fishermen to despoil the marine life, now matter how hard they may try. In the north, Ambergris Cay hosts the Hoi Chan Marine Reserve, where five square miles of shallow waters are so chock-full of morays, octopi, pufferfish, drum fish , cowfish and horse-eye jacks that you'll start to feel as if someone emptied a giant aquarium into your bathtub. When you're ready to dive deeper, head south. The Blue Hole at the Lighthouse Reef Atoll has been a cult favorite among divers ever since Captain Cousteau's Calypso explored it in 1970. Descend to 120 feet and watch 30-foot stalactites from the Ice Age hang down around you. Peer into the black to spot circling black-t ip sharks, or look along the overhangs for scattered fish feeding while swimming upside down. Then, visit Half Moon Cay for gargantuan barrel sponges and equally large groupers, and the world's second-largest colony of red-footed boobies frolicking on land. Oh, and have we forgotten to mention the passing whales and diver-friendly schools of dolphins? DIVE TRAVELER FACTS LEVELS: Beginner to advanced (especially in the atolls). WATER CONDITIONS: High 70s (winter), mid-80s (summer). Visibility to 100 feet. LIFE ON LAND: Where else in the Americas is the national animal a tapir? Explore the local jungles or the Mayan ruins of Altun Ha and Lamanai in northern Belize. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: Passport and proof of return ticket. ENTRY POINT: Belize City, Belize. CONTACTS: Belize Tourism Board, 800-624-0686 or