Actress Nina Dobrev channelled her inner daredevil by strapping on her snorkel gear and swimming with sharks.

The Vampire Diaries star jetted out to Bora Bora with boyfriend Ian Somerhalder earlier this year (12) and dived into the sea to swim, cage-free, with sharks.

Dobrev insists she loved the adventure - until she learned the big fish she encountered weren't actually as tame as she was led to believe.

She tells Chelsea Handler, "I went to Bora Bora and it was really freaky actually. At first there's an adrenaline rush. I'm equally as fascinated as I am terrified of them. Those were black-tips, but we swam with lemon sharks too, which I thought were docile, later to find out on (TV documentaries) Shark Week that a dude got his arm eaten off by one, which really freaked me out!"

The 23 year old also shared her plan for fighting back if the sharks became aggressive, joking, "They say you're supposed to punch them in the nose so I just decided I'd just go swimming with heels, and I find that they're a lot more effective."