THIS IS THE NO. 1 ‘NATURAL BUCKET LIST’ EXPERIENCE IN THE WORLD—AND IT'S AN EXTREME WILDLIFE ADVENTURE
Search interest in the thrill-seeking experience has jumped more than 1,400 percent.
Calling all daredevils and thrill seekers: an underwater activity on some travelers’ bucket lists may be just for you, and it’s growing even more popular.
Global search interest in “shark cave diving” spiked more than 1,400 percent year-over-year, according to a study from United Kingdom-based travel insurance provider InsureandGo that was shared with Travel + Leisure. The adventurous activity allows travelers the chance to come eye-to-eye with a shark from the safety of a cage, from the Galapagos Islands to the Western Cape of South Africa.
When vetting vet tour operators, it's important to check for safety but also consider if the experiences helps fund conservation and education.
“Our research proves that travellers are looking for extraordinary moments that bring them closer to nature," Letitia Smith, the head of communications at InsureandGo, said in a statement shared with T+L. "Adventures like these deserve to be enjoyed, but it’s important to have comprehensive cover. Many policies will already cover activities like hiking or snorkelling, but for some more extreme options, like shark cage diving, you may need an extreme sports add-on."
After shark cage diving, seeing the northern lights ranked as the second-fastest rising natural bucket list experience, according to the company. In fact, it saw a 573 percent surge in interest as the world experiences the tail end of the 11-year peak of aurora activity known as solar maximum.
That was followed by tours of Iguazu Falls on the border between Brazil and Argentina, which saw a 543 percent increase in interest, with gorilla trekking tours in Uganda and tours of Banff National Park in Canada rounding out the top five. In fact, nine out of the top 15 bucket list experiences were closely tied to wildlife, including horseback riding in Mongolia at No. 10 and a safari in Africa at No. 13.
To come up with its study, the company said it analyzed more than 1,500 social media comments to discover the most-talked about bucket list experiences before comparing those findings to Google search data.
This is the full list of the world’s top trending natural bucket list experiences, according to InsureandGo.
- Shark Cage Diving Tours
- Northern Lights Tours
- Iguazu Falls Tours
- Gorilla trekking in Uganda
- Banff National Park in Canada’s Alberta province
- Galapagos Islands in Ecuador
- Grand Canyon in Arizona
- Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe
- Amazon Rainforest in South America
- Horseback riding in Mongolia
- Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia
- Exploring Antarctica
- Safari in Africa
- Patagonia in Argentina and Chile
- Svalbard in Norway
Read the original article on Travel & Leisure
2026-05-14T14:18:09Z
