There’s a particular thrill in dropping beneath the surface and realising — almost immediately — that you can’t predict what’s coming. You prepare the way you always do, steady your breathing, settle into the water. Still, the ocean decides the rest. I’ve always liked that about diving, the unpredictability of it. Especially in places where the animals are so large, so unmistakably present, that you feel something shift inside you when they appear. And starting this kind of journey with scuba diving in the Azores feels right somehow. The archipelago has that raw, volcanic pulse that makes even the calm days feel charged with possibility.
From there, the circuit opens up. Not in a linear way, but more like a scattering of far-flung places that — together — form a loose path through encounters with mantas, sharks, whales, and other giants. None of it is guaranteed. Yet somewhere across these oceans, you find moments that stay with you long after the salt dries on your skin.
Here are six destinations where the ocean’s biggest characters take over the story.
1. The Azores, Portugal – blue sharks in the deep Atlantic
The Azores have a way of balancing drama and calm. Tall volcanic cliffs meet the sea in those sharp, almost sculpted angles, while the sky tends to gather clouds that look like they’re thinking about something. Underwater, the mood changes again — quieter, still charged, but somehow more focused.
Venture out to Condor Bank or Princess Alice Bank and you’ll meet blue sharks gliding through water so clear it almost feels unreal. They seem delicate at first glance, all long lines and gentle curves, but the closer they come, the more you feel the confidence in their movement. Sometimes it’s one shark, sometimes a small group drifting in from the blue. They circle, they pause, and then they disappear in the same unhurried way they arrived.
And every now and again, mobula rays rise in great, swirling groups — hundreds at times — moving like a slow cloud that forgot it was made of fish. It can be strangely emotional watching them. Maybe because the Azores themselves feel a little untamed, and these moments feed into that feeling.
2. Mexico – whale sharks and the gentle weight of wonder
Every summer, parts of Mexico transform into one of the most dependable gathering points for whale sharks. Around Isla Mujeres, Holbox, and the Yucatán coastline, warm currents collect plankton into drifting clouds that the sharks can’t resist.
It’s mostly snorkelling, which might sound simple, but when a whale shark appears beside you — steady, enormous, moving with that unbothered rhythm — the scale of the moment hits hard. There’s no rush. Nothing dramatic. Just the soft opening of its mouth and the slow beat of its tail.
What I love about Mexico is the calmness of it all. Encounters feel unforced, and the warm water makes everything slow down even more. You see the shark, you follow for a while, and then — in a strangely gentle way — it moves on. The memory, though, grows bigger the more you replay it in your mind.
3 South Africa – the adrenaline of tiger sharks
If Mexico feels soft and inviting, South Africa throws something entirely different at you. Shark diving here — especially around Aliwal Shoal and Protea Banks — carries a charge. Tiger sharks appear with an unmistakable sense of authority. They don’t rush. They don’t need to.
The conditions can be lively: shifting visibility, swelling currents, a bit of surface chop. Oddly, those elements sharpen the moment instead of distracting from it. When a tiger shark glides through, striped and unmistakably powerful, your senses settle into a strange mix of calm and clarity. Not fear. Something more like awareness.
For divers who want intensity blended with respect, South Africa is a defining chapter. It’s not peaceful like the Yucatán. It’s not contemplative like the Galápagos. It doesn’t try to be. And that difference gives the circuit its contrast.
4. Fiji – bull sharks in warm, glowing water
Fiji always feels generous. Warm water, soft corals that move as though the whole reef is breathing, colours that seem almost too bright. But then you descend into Beqa Lagoon and meet a different kind of presence: bull sharks.
Here, they appear in numbers you rarely see elsewhere. Thick, solid, powerful — yet surprisingly calm. The operation is handled with care and precision, shaped by years of local knowledge and a deep respect for the ecosystem.
The first time a bull shark swims past, you might feel something shift inside — maybe an old idea about them falling away. And when you surface again, with the lagoon lying calm and quiet behind you, the contrast between that serene world above and the raw power below leaves a mark.
5. The Galápagos, Ecuador – hammerhead sharks in a cathedral of blue
If there’s one encounter that feels almost mythical, it’s hammerhead sharks in the Galápagos. You hold onto rocks in the current, watching the blue ahead of you. Then, slowly, shapes materialise. One. Then another. Then an entire school moving in silhouettes that rise and fall like a tide of shadows.
Their strange heads give them a presence unlike anything else in the ocean. There’s no mistaking them. They move in confident lines, almost choreographed, as though the sea rehearsed the scene.
The Galápagos aren’t easy — strong currents, cool water, long travel days. But that difficulty is part of the experience. These islands feel like a frontier, a place where life evolved according to its own rules. Encounters here carry a weight that’s hard to match.
6. Sri Lanka – blue whales and the immensity of the ocean
Not all big-animal encounters require a dive. Sri Lanka’s signature experience sits at the surface: blue whales. The largest animals on Earth follow deepwater channels close to the island, rising to breathe in slow, powerful movements that make everything else seem small for a moment.
Most visitors see them from boats, watching for the blow or the long, rolling back that breaks the surface. And although it’s very different from shark diving or manta encounters, it belongs on this circuit. It shifts your sense of scale in a way few things can.
It’s quieter, gentler, maybe even a little introspective. The final note in a journey shaped by giants.
A journey shaped by giants
What ties this circuit together isn’t just the size of the animals. It’s the feeling they give you. The shift in perspective. The reminder that the ocean is vast and full of lives that don’t revolve around us.
Each destination brings a different emotional texture: the softness of whale sharks, the tension of tiger sharks, the almost spiritual sweep of hammerheads. And somewhere in between rinsing gear, swapping stories, or staring at a horizon that looks wider than usual, the trip turns into something more personal — less a checklist, more a quiet conversation with the sea.
Maybe that’s why divers keep chasing these encounters. Not just for the photographs, but for the simple privilege of sharing space with something undeniably alive.
About the author
Kyle is a travel writer and a regular contributor to several leading travel blogs, including The Traveller World Guide. He writes about wild landscapes, underwater experiences, and the quieter moments that give travel its meaning.