This handbook represents a major landmark of interdisciplinary encounter histories, providing a wide-ranging collection of essays on human and non-human actors on the oceans, seas, beaches, bays and estuaries where cultures and species often meet. Focusing primarily on Pacific, Indian and Australasian histories, contributions cover First Nations accounts of seafaring and Indigenous intermediaries; interactions across oceans; shipwrecks and material culture; and maritime interaction sphere like the Swahili Coast, the Maritime Silk Road, and the Manila Galleon Network. In doing so, it provides a cutting-edge assessment of the vibrant field of oceanic and maritime history, and charts a blueprint for future research in the field.