Cameron Diaz's thrilling underwater experience after almost being swallowed by a fish during scuba diving holidays in Cancun

American actress and daredevil, Cameron Diaz, already known for her wild side and her love of practising extreme water sports recently told Jay Leno during an appearance on his U.S. TV programme The Tonight Show with Jay Leno of her exciting yet dangerous encounter with a grouper that almost swallowed her whole during her scuba diving holidays in Cancun.

Image thanks to jessicaemily01, on Flickr

According to what she revealed during the TV interview, Cameron Diaz was enjoying some time off in tropical Cancun when she decided to explore Cozumel's thriving underwater world and go for a scuba diving experience she would not soon forget.

Recalling her peculiar and rather frightening encounter with a massive grouper she said: "I t was probably the size of a Volkswagen Bug (Beetle). And he's down there and he has these big old lips and somebody said, ‘Oh you should pet him.'

Image thanks to worldtraveller5, on Flickr

"I'm rubbing its lip and I'm like, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing!' I'm looking into its eyes, we're having this whole moment and all of a sudden it (inhaled) and I go (flying inside)… The only thing that stopped me was literally my neck." - she excitedly recalled.

With more than half of her body inside the marine creature, she bravely faced him as she awaited her release "I'm like inside this fish, and I'm looking at him, he's looking at me and I'm like, ‘What's gonna happen here?' And he… (spit me out) and I go flying backwards. And I have, like, a (oxygen) tank on and everything and I'm, like, rolling backwards in the water."

Image thanks to worldtraveller5, on Flickr

She also went to describe the gigantic size of the grouper, equating it to a "Volkswagen Bug" but nevertheless while the rest of the scuba diving crew was scared she remained calm and in awe of the marine creature. She even described the whole experience of seeing such a big fish in front of her as pleasant and amazing.

Despite the dangerous encounter which some would perhaps describe as terryfing, Cameron seems to have taken it all in her stride as she added at the end of her story: "So that was really good times."