Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

Step aboard the Turks and Caicos Aggressor II for something completely different: a snorkelling adventure with humpback whales, a truly life-changing experience. With the Turks and Caicos so near, it's also worth checking out the world-class accommodation and diving there.

It all seems faintly surreal. Sitting in a hot tub on the stern of a 120-ft boat, far from land and in the middle of the warm waters of the Caribbean, you behold all around the spectacle of humpback whales breaching, tail-slapping or just swimming by lazily with their newborn calves. Just a glimpse of such activity would be thrilling witnessed from a cold, rain-lashed, whale-watching boat - here it soon becomes the norm.

Watching a whale and her calf playing is not easily forgotten.

This trip is all about snorkelling with humpback whales, and the Turks and Caicos are the only place in the world where it's guaranteed. Every year, from late January to late March, huge numbers of humpback whales brave the 1,500 mile journey from the north Atlantic to the warm sheltered waters of the Silver Banks, close to the windsurfing mecca of the Dominican Republic. For reasons still unknown to science, they travel here to give birth to their 12-ft calves, mate again, and then turn back for the long haul north. During this 3,000-mile round trip, they never feed.

This is a chance to get up close and personal, sharing the water mere feet from these wonderful creatures with your heart caught between fear and awe. Incredible.