5 trips to take to make your own actual Shark Week

It’s Shark Week and for the country’s most adventure-prone people that means one thing, actual shark diving. Sure, it’s fun to watch a two-hour special on a fictitious prehistoric shark, but why not watch leviathans in real life?

In honor of Discovery’s Shark Week, which drew in a record 5 million viewers during its premiere on Sunday, we’ve come up with the best places to see actual sharks. So if you’re tired of diving into your Cheetos this week, try diving into these waters instead. Here are 5 trips to make your own actual Shark Week:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA (Natural Habitat Adventures)

1. Whale Shark Tour, Mexico

Isla Holbox lies just off the tip of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. It is a small island largely untouched by tourism and is home to the world's largest fish, the whale shark. These plankton-eating giants average a length of 40 feet and weigh an average 15 tons. With Natural Habitat Adventures you will take a 6-day trip to the the remote Isla Holbox island and immerse yourself in the world of whale sharks.

(Alexander Safonov/Beqa Adventure Divers)

2. Shark Dive at Beqa Lagoon, Fiji

This harrowing dive starts off on a reef ledge next to the drop-off into the abyss of Beqa Passage. It's not for the faint of heart and designed for the world's truest shark lovers. The tour boasts 8 different species of sharks: Bulls, Tigers, Sicklefin Lemons, Silvertips, Grey Reefs, Whitetip Reefs, Blacktip Reefs and Tawny Nurses.

(Ethan Gordon/Shark Diver)

3. Deep Sea Shark Dive, Honduras

For a view of the prehistoric Six-Gill Shark in its natural habitat, you'll have to travel up to 6,000 feet below the ocean’s surface. Luckily, the tour company Shark Diver has made it possible to view the 20-foot-long creature. To see the shark, visitors venture 2,000 feet beneath the sea in a specialized submarine in this deep sea diving excursion into the Cayman Trench off of Honduras.

(iStock)

4. Shark Cage Diving Tour, South Africa

If you're going to go cage diving, the classic first choice destination would be Cape Town, South Africa. Specifically, you should take a dive with great white sharks in the aptly named "Shark Alley," which is located next to the fishing village of Gansbaai just outside Cape Town. Other local shark hangouts include False Bay and Aliwal Shoal in KwaZulu-Natal. If you go, book a trip with followme2AFRICA and enjoy a cage diving tour in all the best spots the region has to offer.

(Hawaii Shark Encounters)

5. Hawaii Shark Encounter, Oahu

This cage diving experience takes place three miles off shore of the beautiful Oahu. It doesn’t require any prior experience with diving, so it’s the perfect tour for a shark rookie. Along the way, tour guides present visitors with fascinating facts about shark biology and behavior, as well as the significance of sharks in Hawaiian culture and mythology. That way when you take your first shark dip, you’ll know just what you’re jumping into.