Great White Shark Diving Encounter

Great white shark diving: Questions Dive company and performance Seasickness Eco-friendly Tips for shark diving Weather and visibility Disappointments and regrets Dive Rating

Which dive company did you use?

Both my shark dives were done with The White Shark Diving Company (enquire about a shark cage dive with this company).

At the moment they have the smallest boat - used to be the biggest boat - can only take 10 people at a time which I think is perfect because with these other crowds they take up to 30 people… you don't have the possibility to be in the cage for as long as in the smaller boat.

How did they perform?

Very, very good. I've spoken to some of my friends who've been with the other crowd and they didn't have such a nice time.

We actually went back, we had people from Finland here. It was his 50th birthday and his wife asked us to do something for him and he went great white shark diving in the cage. That was in the beginning of April and he totally enjoyed it.

The way they operate is very professional. They don't take any chances and within the first 10 minutes he saw the first great white and half an hour later he saw 8 different white sharks. So they're very well organised, I must say.

How long did the whole great white shark diving tour take?

You go out at about 8 o'clock and you come back - depending on the weather - in December we came back at about 1 o'clock, and in April about 12 o'clock.

Do you need a diving certificate or anything to go out with them?

No. What happens is they have their diving suits there with a hood and booties if you want, a mask. The cage is situated in such a way that your head is above the water all the time and when they spot the sharks then they say "divers down" and you go down to watch the shark going past and then come up in your own time again. So you don't need a diving certificate to go great white shark diving, the cage doesn't go down very deeply.

More great white shark diving trip reports and reviews.

Yes, I did because my son suggested that we do take it. I was in the navy for my military training so I know what it's like when you really get seasick - it can spoil your whole trip. We did take the evening before and early in the morning and we were all fine. Some of the other people did get a bit sick, but we were all fine. I think it's better to take precautions.

Learn more on how to prevent sea sickness.

I have a problem with people actually feeding sharks and they don't do that at all. They chum a little bit and then they have the head of a tuna on a rope and as soon as a shark appears they just pull it away and the shark can't bite onto it. On one occasion a shark came right from the bottom - the guys didn't even see him. But, I think they're very eco-friendly.

How close do you actually get to the sharks?

They actually swim within, I would say, a metre of the cage. In December, my son who was on the right hand side of the cage - the outer side - the shark actually came right up to him and then passed… that was very close. It's also the way the guy takes the head of the tuna away or in front of the cage, that also makes a difference to how close the shark will come.

How many people could go into the great white shark diving cage at one time?

5 at a time, that's why they only take 10. So they put in the first 5 kitted divers and give you ample time. Then they start getting out on the left hand side, and they start putting people in on the right hand side so the second lot has their time. You can go in and out as you want. They just change you all the time.

Article: Is great white cage diving the cause of more shark attacks.

Ja, I would definitely recommend they take a few tablets if they have any doubt whether they may or may not get seasick - or else it spoils the whole day.

Preferably if you can get an under-water camera. I tried to get a casing for my digital camera but I wasn't in town so I got one of those "mik-and-druk" [point-and-shoot] things and that didn't work well; that was a waste of money.

Apart from that, just take warm clothes with.

In December it was quite calm, it wasn't all that rough. But in April it was a bit rough. We wanted to go out on the Sunday and they phoned us and said "no go". They're not taking any chances, they're not going out, but they'll let me know early Monday morning. They phoned about 7 o'clock and said it was fine. It wasn't as quiet as in December but it was still quite nice. That's what I like about them - they really make sure everything's fine before they take people out great white shark diving.

How was the visibility under the water?

In December it was quite nice, I would say not all that clear like in Sodwana or Mozambique. I would say about 5 or 6 metres. In April I thought it would be better but it was actually poorer, I'd say about 3 to 4 metres.

No. It wasn't cheap to go great white shark diving in South Africa - I think it was R1100 per person, but you arrive there early in the morning, they serve you a breakfast. They make sure that you don't eat fatty foods to help prevent you getting seasick… then you walk down to the harbour from the house. Then when you come back they have sandwiches there and warm soup… so it's actually quite nice.

As you get onto the boat, they take a video and then during the whole trip they take a video of the people going in and out of the cage and of the sharks going past and also under water. At the end of the trip you can buy the DVD and they also have footage from other trips that they have done on sharks and great whites for R350… so that was also quite good to have.

I would give it a 8 to 9. It's absolutely worthwhile.

Like I said, I won't go with the bigger boats because they've got 30-35 people on there and the time that you spend under water isn't all that much compared to the crowd that we used.

Somebody from Italy came over through work and he went down to Cape Town for a week and I also recommended these great white shark diving people to him. When he came back he was in awe, really. I think it was quite nice coming from a guy who's been diving in the Maldives and quite a lot of places. This, to him, was really exciting.