Top Destinations to Scuba Dive With Sharks Around the World
Sharks are often misunderstood, but for divers, they’re among the most compelling creatures to encounter. These animals are ancient, finely tuned, and nothing like their Hollywood image. Around the world, certain dive sites stand out for offering reliable, close-up encounters with species ranging from whale sharks to threshers.
Each location delivers something different. And if you’re serious about shark diving, or just curious where the best action is, these destinations are where the real encounters happen.
Cocos Island, Costa Rica
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Cocos Island is hard to reach, with over 36 hours by boat from mainland Costa Rica. But divers make the trip for the hammerheads. Bajo Alcyone is the prime draw, where scalloped hammerheads gather in vast schools. Add in tiger sharks, whale sharks, and dramatic night dives with white tip reef sharks, and it’s clear why this site draws global attention.
Beqa Lagoon, Fiji
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This one doesn’t ease you in as it throws you straight into the deep end, bull sharks and all. Divers descend onto a scene that’s more gladiator pit than peaceful reef. Bull sharks take center stage, but blacktips, silvertips, lemon sharks, and a few others often show up for the frenzy.
Tiger Beach, Bahamas
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You don’t swim here as much as kneel on the ocean floor while tiger sharks pass like they own the place. Some stretch longer than a midsize car. Lemon sharks, nurse sharks, and Caribbean reef sharks often make appearances too, adding depth to this already thrilling experience.
Monad Shoal, Philippines
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Here’s one for the early risers. At sunrise, off Malapascua Island, divers descend to meet threshers—sharks with tails so long they look like underwater scythes. They visit cleaning stations like clockwork, rising out of the blue in quiet, looping orbits. Few other places offer such reliable sightings of these deep-sea oddballs.
Gordon Rocks, Galápagos Islands
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It’s one of three hotspots that make up the so-called Hammerhead Triangle. This volcanic crater near Santa Cruz isn’t subtle. The currents are fast and the entry is intense, but the rewards are worth it. Hammerheads sweep through in layers, often with eagle rays and sea lions darting between.
Pipín, Jardines de la Reina, Cuba
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Years of strict marine protection have allowed sharks in Cuba’s Gardens of the Queen to flourish. At Pipín, it’s common to see groups of Caribbean reef sharks and silkies cruise effortlessly past. The area’s remoteness and liveaboard-only access help keep this underwater wilderness largely undisturbed.
Blue Corner, Palau
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You’ll need a reef hook and strong nerves for this one. The current rips, the visibility dazzles, and the sharks—gray reefs in particular—fill the water like traffic in rush hour. Stay clipped in as blacktips and barracuda sweep through. Every pass feels like watching the ocean’s version of organized chaos.
Gladden Spit, Belize
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Each spring, whale sharks converge on Gladden Spit to feast on the eggs of spawning snappers. The timing is everything: the best chances of a sighting happen around the full moon from March to June. Unlike faster, predatory sharks, whale sharks exude calm, drifting by like gentle submarines.
The Canyons, Rangiroa, French Polynesia
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Incoming tides in Tiputa Pass funnel through deep coral corridors packed with sharks. Gray reef sharks dominate the scene, but from January to March, great hammerheads often make surprise visits. Divers cling to rocky ledges, watching the current do all the work of bringing the show straight to them.
Osprey Reef, Australia
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Part of the Coral Sea off Queensland, Osprey Reef is a remote spot known for its shark feeds. Silvertips and gray reef sharks dominate, while carpet-like wobbegongs rest among the corals. This is one of the few places where multiple species gather so predictably, providing dramatic scenes for divers and photographers.
San Diego, California, USA
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You will only find chilly Pacific water and open blue as far as you can see. But this is where mako and blue sharks roam. They’re sleek, fast, and often approach the boat like curious torpedoes. Most dives take place miles offshore, where the ocean feels vast and personal.
Inner Hebrides, Scotland
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For a colder kind of thrill, head to Scotland’s west coast in summer. This is prime time for basking sharks. Most people snorkel instead of diving, since the sharks skim near the surface. On rarer days, porbeagles and makos show up too.
Lemon Drop, Jupiter, Florida, USA
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Each winter, lemon sharks follow the Gulf Stream south, aggregating in Florida’s deeper ledges and wrecks. Jupiter divers regularly encounter dozens in a single outing, often mixed with bull sharks. The sharks’ size—some over 10 feet—and their slow, deliberate movements make them easy to observe at close range.
Pyramid Rock, South Africa
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If you’ve never seen a sevengill shark, Pyramid Rock delivers. These prehistoric-looking creatures hang out in the kelp forests of False Bay, often in social groups. Instead of zipping around, they drift, glide, and occasionally stare back. There’s something oddly cinematic about seeing 18 of them weaving through the green.
Elphinstone Reef, Egypt
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Off Egypt’s Red Sea coast, Elphinstone offers some of the clearest chances to see oceanic whitetip sharks. These long-finned pelagic predators patrol the deep walls and plateaus, especially from October to December. With luck, divers may also encounter hammerheads, thresher sharks, and silvertips along the vertical reef faces.