Go Niche

The humpback whales of the Dominican Republic.

• It's official: swimming with dolphins is for wimps. For a really spectacular underwater experience the only cetaceans worth getting wet for are whales – specifically, the humpbacks of the Dominican Republic.

• Conscious Breath Adventures runs cruises that net you a chance of getting up close and unbelievably personal with these mammoths of the sea, which range from 12m to 15m long.

• From January until this month the world's largest congregation of North Atlantic humpbacks whales takes place in the 800sq km Silver Bank sanctuary, when up to 5,000 of them gather. Because they have migrated from rich northern waters provisioned with tons of blubber, they don't feed for the duration of their stay. Instead they devote all their energy to birthing and nursing. They court, too, with pairs of 40-ton dancers performing all around you.

• The company is very strict about what you can and can't do. For starters, no diving kit or breathing apparatus is allowed. Instead participants stay in a group and float on the surface, waiting for curious whales. Fungi, eat your heart out.

• A seven-night, six-day cruise costs $2,895 (about €2,150). See consciousbreath adventures.com.