15 of nature’s most awesome, must-see shows

By Helyn Trickey Bradley, Special to CNN
Updated 1:23 PM EDT, Wed April 23, 2014
Bio-luminescence in the tide makes walking along the beach on Vaadhoo Island in the Maldives especially magical. The light is emitted from tiny plankton in the water.
Awash in light —
Bio-luminescence in the tide makes walking along the beach on Vaadhoo Island in the Maldives especially magical. The light is emitted from tiny plankton in the water.
Doug Perrine/Barcroft Media /Landov
The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico's Michoacan state is a winter home to tens of millions of butterflies.
Millions of flapping wings —
The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico's Michoacan state is a winter home to tens of millions of butterflies.
shutterstock
The aurora borealis lights up the night sky in Lofoten, Norway. The spectacular shows occur when charged particles from the solar wind interact with the Earth's atmosphere at the magnetic poles.
Polar flashes —
The aurora borealis lights up the night sky in Lofoten, Norway. The spectacular shows occur when charged particles from the solar wind interact with the Earth's atmosphere at the magnetic poles.
Kerstin Langenberger / Barcroft Media / Getty Images
Cherry blossoms usher in spring in Jinhae in Changwon City, South Korea. The city's cherry blossom festival is South Korea's largest.
A delicate display —
Cherry blossoms usher in spring in Jinhae in Changwon City, South Korea. The city's cherry blossom festival is South Korea's largest.
YONHAP/EPA/LANDOV
The cracking of mammoth chunks of ice in Alaska's Glacier Bay is a sight -- and sound -- to behold.
The thaw —
The cracking of mammoth chunks of ice in Alaska's Glacier Bay is a sight -- and sound -- to behold.
shutterstock
Mount Yasur puts on fiery displays on Tanna Island in Vanuatu.
Natural fireworks —
Mount Yasur puts on fiery displays on Tanna Island in Vanuatu.
Patrick Dancel/Flickr/Getty images
Sometimes nature and man-made endeavors overlap, as is the case at the Galtaji temple complex near Jaipur, India. One of the temples is known as Monkey Temple after the area's resident monkey tribes.
Meeting the locals —
Sometimes nature and man-made endeavors overlap, as is the case at the Galtaji temple complex near Jaipur, India. One of the temples is known as Monkey Temple after the area's resident monkey tribes.
Joanna-Palys/iStockphoto/Getty images
From March through May, millions of tulips draw visitors to Keukenhof Gardens near Lisse, Netherlands.
Art of flowers —
From March through May, millions of tulips draw visitors to Keukenhof Gardens near Lisse, Netherlands.
Courtesy Keukenhof Gardens
At Alaska's Katmai National Park a brown bear grapples with his slippery dinner. The sockeye salmon run starts here in late June and the bears come out for dinner.
Thrill of the chase —
At Alaska's Katmai National Park a brown bear grapples with his slippery dinner. The sockeye salmon run starts here in late June and the bears come out for dinner.
Jon Cornforth / Barcroft Media /Getty Images
Yellowstone National Park's geysers are the result of subterranean plumbing constrictions and water heated by magma under the Earth's surface.
Plumbing malfunction —
Yellowstone National Park's geysers are the result of subterranean plumbing constrictions and water heated by magma under the Earth's surface.
shuttersock
Wildebeest cross the Masai Mara River in Kenya. More than a million travel between Tanzania and Kenya each year during the Great Migration in search of food, water and breeding grounds.
Race for survival —
Wildebeest cross the Masai Mara River in Kenya. More than a million travel between Tanzania and Kenya each year during the Great Migration in search of food, water and breeding grounds.
shutterstock
A meteor streaks past the faint band of the Milky Way galaxy above the Wyoming countryside during the 2013 Perseid meteor shower. The show happens each summer when Earth rotates through debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet.
Summer rotation —
A meteor streaks past the faint band of the Milky Way galaxy above the Wyoming countryside during the 2013 Perseid meteor shower. The show happens each summer when Earth rotates through debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet.
Blaine McCartney/The Wyoming Tribune Eagle/AP
Victoria Falls, on the Zimbabwe-Zambia border, is the world's largest sheet of falling water.
Wall of water —
Victoria Falls, on the Zimbabwe-Zambia border, is the world's largest sheet of falling water.
MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images
Sipadan Island in Malaysia is home to a huge school of barracuda, often seen in a swirling vortex formation.
Fish tornado —
Sipadan Island in Malaysia is home to a huge school of barracuda, often seen in a swirling vortex formation.
Perspectives/Getty Images
Hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes migrate each year and many gather in early spring on the Platte River in Nebraska.
Time to fly —
Hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes migrate each year and many gather in early spring on the Platte River in Nebraska.
Ryan McGinnis/Flickr RF/Getty Images
Stunning natural spectacles

Story highlights

Witness butterflies and wildebeest migrate

See volcanoes and geysers erupt

Experience spring's glory in the Netherlands

CNN  — 

Fireworks are fantastic and human endeavor has its place, but sometimes Mother Nature outshines any performance we can produce.

Check out 15 of our favorite nature shows and a spot where you can witness them.

While a few involve a bit of human enterprise or cultivation, most are pretty wild and easily eclipse anything Hollywood can dream up.

1. Glowing phytoplankton

Where else can you walk on the beach at night and leave nothing but blue, sparkling footprints?

Visit Vaadhoo Island where millions of blue starry lights gleam in the crashing surf. The small island is part of the Raa Atoll in the stunning Maldives archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

The lights emanate from tiny marine microbes which, when jostled by the ocean waters, create a cellular-level chemical reaction that emits light. The effect is startling and romantic and even disorienting when, on starry nights, the ocean appears to mirror the sky.

Stay nearby at the ultra-luxurious Conrad Maldives Rangali Island resort, which spans two islands and features an all-glass undersea restaurant. Day trips to surrounding islands are also available.

Otherworldly travel destinations here on Earth

2. Monarch butterfly migration

Tucked 60 miles northwest of Mexico City in the Sierra Madre is the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, a sanctuary for millions of monarch butterflies that migrate here yearly from east of the Rocky Mountains.

Nearly 35 million monarch butterflies make the 3,000 mile trip from Canada and North America to warmer winter climates. The best time to visit the reserve is late October through early November when most butterflies have arrived.

Take a walking tour of the land around the reserve and watch thousands of these orange-winged beauties cling to the fir trees and dine on milkweed. Grab a bike and take a ride on approved trails, enjoy the scenery on horseback, dine on local cuisine and book a zipline tour, widely available in the region.

Mexico City: Insider Travel Guide

3. Aurora borealis

Video Ad Feedback
Time-lapse video shows Aurora Borealis
00:53 - Source: CNN

Glimpses of this spectacular light show are visible in the Northern Hemisphere’s auroral zone near the northern magnetic pole. These swirling lights – mostly green, but red and blue lights glow at higher altitudes – are produced when charged particles in the magnetosphere and solar wind collide with atoms.

While it’s hard to predict when the northern lights will come out to play, we recommend looking for them in Norway from September to March, where you can chase the aurora borealis by boat, snowmobile, dog sled, snowshoe trek or minibus.

Try heading to the pristine Svalbard Islands in the Arctic Ocean, bunking in a rustic hotel such as Mary-Ann’s Polarrigg and booking a moonlight glacier walk or a dog sledding expedition.

11 best places to see the aurora borealis

4. Cherry blossoms

Each April the South Korean city of Changwon is transformed by nearly 360,000 blossoming cherry trees with light pink and white blossoms that flutter from the trees and cover the ground like a light, spring snowfall.