Well, the sites are few and far between, but, the dive community often travels to the Sea of Cortez to see 40-foot long whale sharks. Divers in Palau are almost guaranteed to spot Tiger Sharks hunting along the outer reefs and in the cold waters off the Galapagos Islands Hammerhead Sharks school by the thousands. However, as I found out late last year, just because you look for Hammerheads doesn't mean you always get what you came for. The Big Stuff Academy Bay on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos is home to half a dozen dive shops and live-aboard boats. All of the operators promise Hammerhead encounters.
Hammerheads are long, ugly killing machines.
When encountered singly, the Hammerhead is considered a dangerous shark. When Hammerheads school, they become oblivious to spectators. I had a chance to look for Hammerheads while on a one-day stopover in Santa Cruz. Because there were no deep-water charters going out that day, I settled for a dive in Academy Bay. Storm clouds rolled in and the seas mounted as our group of four divers headed out in a small wooden punt to dive alongside a stone point that jutted out into Academy Bay.