Eyeball a shark... and nine other holidays you may (or may not) want to take this summer

Eyeballing a shark
A shark can smell one part blood in one million parts water and if you are in cage surrounded by decapitated tuna heads in the shark infested waters of South Africa, you are 99 per cent certain to get up close and personal with one of the world’s deadliest predators, promise sharkbookings.com. Most people are out of the water at the first whispers of a fin on the horizon, but this company specialises in shark diving holidays in Southern Africa, the highlight of which is the great white shark cage dive, where the website assures “you’ll spend lots of time with the great white sharks face to face in their domain”.

Warrior training
For those who find a holiday lacks a little something without a horseback conquest or a raid on an unsuspecting village, a Genghis Khan warrior-training holiday in Mongolia should appeal. Wannabe warriors can hone their military tactics and refine their archery skills, on a 9 day gallop across the Mongolian steppe all whilst wearing a traditional Mongolian ‘deel’ and staying a in nomadic style camp.  And if any troops are injured or fall ill, the practise of shaman ritual should help nurse them back to health or better still can be used to call upon the spirit of the man himself for a bit of advice.

Winter Swimming
The benefits of immersing yourself in very cold water are a boosted immune system and increased blood flow. These must be the only reasons why anybody would take a four-day outdoor swimming holiday in Slovenia. In winter. The admittedly beautiful glacial Lake Bled with an island church and breathtaking mountain scenery is the setting for this most bizarre of vacations. Trips are suitable for all levels of swimmers including non-swimmers, although it might be more advisable for beginners to visit in the less hypothermia-inducing months of July or August.

Live like an ancient mariner
The life of a seaman has dramatically improved over the years. Notions of grimy, rum and brine soaked crews toiling on the decks have been relegated to history books and the never ending saga of Pirates of the Caribbean – but don’t let that deter you from choosing your holiday as an opportunity to go back in time and see what life was like aboard a cargo ship in 600BC. Join the Phoenicia, a replica of the ship of the same name, which became the first to circumnavigate Africa over 2000 years ago. The wooden vessel, painstakingly reproduced using data from ancient shipwrecks, coins and pottery, will set sail this April from Sardinia on its 6 -8 week journey to the UK.

Stay in a haunted house
If you are bored of the classic British country retreat, or have some friends and family you really don’t like, why not book a group trip to The Castle On the Lake in Dublin. It has space for 20 guests, is set in 320 acres of rolling green countryside and it’s haunted. Dating back to 1614 with lavish Georgian furnishings, golf courses and fishing lakes, guests can simultaneously luxuriate in their surroundings and be scared silly by a paranormal investigator’s tales of the unexplained.

Meet your ancestors
It is always nice to visit somewhere with great significance but some travellers like to take this to the next level with a holiday that traces their genealogy. There are various companies tracing family histories everywhere from the Baltic States to South Africa. On a tailor-made tour holidaymakers can explore the church in which their granddad was baptised, have a croissant in their great aunts favourite patisserie or even drop in on an old relative (although it is advisable to warn them in advance especially in the case of the very elderly).

World of vampire
If the inescapable Twilight movies and the multitude of vampire spin offs it has spawned hasn’t satisfied your appetite for the undead, then the Dracula tour Transylvania Live could be the final bloody helping you are searching for.  Among the gothic delights on offer on this seven-day tour are the opportunity to help a haunted spirit gain peace in a ritual killing of the undead, a chance to meet the descendants of Dracula and a vampire dinner where you will be bestowed with the virtues of killing for a meal. You’ll also get to see an impressive hilltop fortress, visit 2007’s capital of culture Sibui and explore Bran Castle, the symbol of Transylvania that inspired Bram Stocker’s Dracula and dates back to 1337.

Japan Manga tour
You may think that Anime is only enjoyed by Japanese children and comic book enthusiasts, but Japan Journey’s Manga tour completely sold out, as did the second one they put on to cope with demand. None of Japan Journeys other tours have sold out, none of their other tours have had to add extra dates. Either anime has a much broader audience than some might imagine, or there are a lot of Japanese children and comic book enthusiasts out there. The packed eight-day itinerary includes a trip to the Ghilbi Museum designed by top animator Hayao Miyazaki, visits to countless anime and manga stores and a tour of a working anime studio, and if your eyes are not square by the end of the trip there is the opportunity to extend your trip for an extra week in Japan.

Survival training
For many people the objective when on holiday is to relax and do as little as possible, those people would probably not enjoy the Great Canadian Adventure; a survival training vacation that teaches holidaymakers how to survive in remote and difficult situations in the Canadian wilderness. Where you will undertake the popular holiday activities of constructing your own shelter to sleep under and building fires for cooking.

Become a circus performer
If you’ve ever fancied running away with the circus here’s your chance, though the fact that you’ll probably have to take your family with you may shatter any romantic illusions you have about the experience. At the Creative Centre in the Dordogne region of France The Generating Circus company runs a seven-day holiday with daily workshops covering juggling, trapeze, stilt walking and aerial acrobatics. The week culminates in the opportunity to show off what you have learnt in a holiday finale show – which will be forever preserved on film so you can proudly show your newly acquired skills to everyone back home!

Shark photo: istockphoto.com