Reef Sharks

Reef sharks are the entry point to shark diving: small (1.5–2.5m), generally unaggressive, and present at most healthy tropical reefs. The three species you'll see most are black-tip reef (skittish, in the shallows), white-tip reef (often resting on the bottom) and grey reef (more confident, patrols the wall).

They're essentially harmless to divers in normal conditions; bites on recreational dives are extremely rare. Grey reefs are the species to watch for warning behaviour (arched back, dropped pectoral fins), so back off if they display. They're usually more wary of you than you are of them, and spotting them takes patience and good buoyancy.

For abundance: Maldives atolls (especially Fuvahmulah for tigers, threshers and hammerheads), Andaman, Phuket and Komodo. Most destinations have at least one shark dive per trip, and the Maldives delivers most reliably.