The awards programme is designed to recognize the freshest, most inspiring travel experiences across the globe.

Pictured left: Imperial Boathouse, Koh Samui

Topping the list is the water slide at Golden Nugget Las Vegas for top honors as the sharkiest discovery for the first quarter of 2012. The slide at The Tank shoots guests through a 200,000-gallon saltwater aquarium filled with 300 kinds of fish, including sharks (see video below).

“We’re thrilled to let the world know about this first especially sharky group of Sharky Award Winners,” said Sue Heilbronner, CEO of TravelShark. “It’s a mere coincidence that this quarter’s top Sharky honoree actually features sharks; anything that creates surprise and delight in travellers – includinghotel rooms in igloos, retinal scanners for security and general managers who exceed the wildest guest expectations – is a qualifying feature for a Sharky Award.”

Also on the winning list are:

• The Imperial Boathouse in Koh Samui – a luxury hotel that features boat-shaped guest bungalows and an enormous boat-shaped pool.

• Flamingo Air in Cincinnati, Ohio – a charter flight service that actually encourages, shall we say, “mile-high” activities.

• Randy Rivera of The Andaman in Langkawi – a “Coral Curator” who spearheads the Andaman’s coral conservation project, and offers children the unique opportunity to learn about and nurture their own coral polyps.

Other winners include the Crowne Plaza Semarang, Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma, the Wanderlust in Singapore, Hotel Marlowe, Hotel Monaco, Hotel Tomo, Hyatt Regency Maui and Ace Hotel Seattle.

This quarter’s Sharky Award winners can be found in14 different countries and comprise hotels, monuments, hotel employees, restaurants, and everything in between.

TravelShark announces a new Sharky Award winner each week, with a larger group of winners announced once every quarter.The awards are open to the public and members of the travel industry.

Each Sharky Award winner is featured on TravelShark.com and receives extra prominence on location-based TravelShark sites in the form of an eye-catching badge.

Click here to see all the winners or nominate your own Sharky Award candidate.