Big Animals

PACIFIC

Galapagos: No destination on the planet epitomizes the love affair we have with big pelagics better than the Galapagos. Hundreds of miles off the Ecuadorian coast in the vast Pacific Ocean, the handful of islands acts as a homing beacon for the biggest of the big. The best diving is in the north, off Darwin and Wolf islands’ prodigious walls, where whale sharks and manta rays, mammoth turtles, eagle rays, and photogenic Galapagos and silky sharks are all big draws. But the biggest attractions are the schools of hammerheads, which cruise the blue year-round at sites like the Arch off Darwin, or Wolf Island’s Rockslide. One glimpse of the hundreds of silhouetted sharks and you’ll almost forget about the frigid thermocline that just hit you like a Mack truck. Go Now » 2. French Polynesia 3. Costa Rica.

NORTH AMERICA

North Carolina: The obvious reason North Carolina would top the list for big animals in North America? Sand tiger sharks. These ferocious-looking sharks are actually quite docile and easy to dive with, and they’re pretty much a guarantee on the wreck of the Papoose, a large oil tanker torpedoed off the coast that now sits in about 100 feet of water. The sand tigers are the main attraction here, but they also steal the show on the Spar, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter sunk as part of an artificial-reef program. You can also regularly see the big guys on the wrecks of the Aeolus, Atlas and the Caribsea. Go Now » 2. Canada/British Columbia 3. Florida & the Florida Keys.

CARIBBEAN & ATLANTIC

Bahamas: The Bahamas tops the big-animal list in the Caribbean for good reason: sharks. They are so common here you’d be hard-pressed to dive one of the signature shark sites like Runway and Shark Arena without spotting the fellas. Caribbean reef sharks are the main attraction, with both feeding programs and good old-fashioned open water dives, where these prehistoric predators act as wingmen as you fly along a wall. There are other sharks here too, including nurse, silky and even the occasional tiger shark, but if you’re looking for something a little less intimidating, the Atlantic bottlenose dolphins that play in the waters around Grand Bahama might be more your style. Either way, you could probably spend your entire trip at these balmy islands doing nothing but swimming with the big guys. Go Now » 2. Belize 3. Turks & Caicos.