There are some travellers who prefer to sleep with the fishes—or at least swim with them. Thrill-seeking tourists staying in Costa Rica need to look no further than one of the many locations to swim with the region’s dense shark population.

Named by multiple travel publications and authorities as one of the best places in the world to take a shark tour, Costa Rica is ripe with prime shark-infested waters.

One of the best places in the country to don some flippers with the fierce sea-faring creatures is Cocos Island. While accessing the remote island is a little tricky—it’s about 300 miles off Costa Rica’s west coast—the journey is worth it to see the scores of sharks floating through the blue waters of the Pacific. The waters are a haven for hammerheads, and divers can also expect to see giant manta rays, reef sharks and dozens of species of brightly coloured fish. This underwater world is a smorgasbord of congregating fish species and isn’t to be missed by divers or tourists looking to tell a tall fish tale.