Top 15 selfies at sea

Whether taking a luxury yacht charter or participating in some seriously extreme water sports, sharing your nautical adventures with your social media followers can be hard to resist. Click through our round-up of the best selfies at sea for a little inspiration for your next marine voyage.

Usain Bolt

Olympic athlete Usain Bolt took some time off from his gold medal-winning ways to take this great selfie - which he wittily captioned '#squadgoals' - with a group of sharks while on vacation in the French Polynesian destination of Bora Bora. While Bolt didn't brave taking a shot with the sharks while actually in the water, the 306,000 likes this snap received on Instagram are more than enough to make it into our pick of the best selfies at sea.

Australian nature photographer Craig Parry is well known for his incredible underwater shots of the marine life spotted around Byron Bay in New South Wales. Although he doesn't normally feature in his photography, when Parry spotted these 40-tonne humpback whales he just couldn't resist jumping in the water for a snap of himself with these giant creatures and these results landed him firmly in our pick of the best selfies at sea.

Despite Annabel Anderson protesting that the life of a pro-paddleboarder, with its constant travel and gruelling workouts, isn't as incredible as it seems, we can't imagine anything much more idyllic than this selfie taken in Wanaka, New Zealand. Anderson (right) is a two-time Standup World Series champion and shared this snap during a rare moment of downtime between year-round paddleboard competitions.

American pro-kitesurfer Reo Stevens' Instagram feed is stuffed full of incredible selfies taken from his many sea bound adventures but it is the daring angle of this shot - snapped just as a wave is about to come crashing down - that made it stand out.

Photographer Jake Marote is usually found behind the lens capturing the impressive feats of North Shore's surf pros but check out his social media feeds and it becomes clear that he's more than happy to take to the waves himself. The unusual composition (and the level of Marote's ring-blowing game) make this shot an absolute winner.

As his Instagram handle @goprohobbit suggests, professional kiteboarder Wes Matweyew is almost as skilled with a top underwater camera as he is with a kiteboard. Shot at Long Bay Beach in Turks and Caicos, the angle, scenery and Matweyew's hilarious pout earned this image a place on our list.

When personal trainer Spot Anderson, who runs the popular Sydney-based fitness group Bondi Fit, took a group of clients swimming off Bondi Beach all he had in mind was some leisurely exercise in the sea. However, in what must be one of the scariest cases of photo bombing ever, this snap shows the group came much closer to Australia's famous sharks than they had planned.

Amazingly none of the swimmers remained completely oblivious until Spot returned home and uploaded photos from the swim to his computer. Australia has long been known as one of the best places to swim with sharks - it's just good to be aware that's what you're doing!

Brazilian photographer Thiago Correa has made quite a name for himself thanks to his incredible underwater selfies. Currently boasting 375,000 followers on Instagram, he has been posting these extreme shots since 2012 but our prize for the best goes to this amazing group shot which (understandably) went viral when it first hit the Internet. The jury is still out as to whether or not the image has been Photoshopped but - even if it is - we still give it top marks for creativity.

White water kayaking is hard enough but to take a selfie while white water kayaking and performing a tricky kickflip that sends you upside-down takes some serious skill. Of course, that’s all in a day’s work for expert kayaker Dane Jackson, whose Instagram account has racked up a healthy 16,700 followers thanks to his incredible adventure shots (and adorable pictures with his nephew).

With a decade’s worth of experience as one half of underwater photography team Scuba Diver Girls, free diver Stephanie Adamson knows a thing or two about getting the perfect marine photograph. From hanging out with turtles to taking a quick snap with a shark, this all-girl team is pretty fearless, but we love this up-close shot of a rather surprised looking fish.