White Shark Diving South Africa - Review

Great white shark diving: Questions Dive company and performance Why South Africa? Logistics and order of the day Weather and ocean conditions The shark experience itself Tips for shark diving Overall rating Cape Town accommodation MORE CAGE DIVE REVIEWS

Which dive company did you use?

The White Shark Diving Company (enquire about a shark cage dive with this company).

How did they perform in terms of staff, arrangements and everything?

Outstanding. They were a great group of people, very real people you could talk to and hang out with. We were out on a boat doing something so dangerous - obviously you want to be in great, safe hands, but having entertaining quality people around you… and knowledgeable as well. That was a bonus.

How did you get to hear about them?

Micato Safaris set it up for us. They're a big time safari company. They just won for the 5th year in a row, Travel & Leisure's award for the best safari and tour company. They're the only company to ever win it 5 years in a row, it's a first in history. They're pretty good.

Our whole trip was done through them.

Did you feel that they (White Shark Diving Co.) were eco friendly about their operations?

Absolutely.

Did they provide the wet suits?

All the equipment was provided.

I'm a big fan of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel and they always do a special on that: Dyer Island, Shark Island and the big sharks of South Africa. I was planning a trip to South Africa; I was pretty hyped to go great white shark diving while I was there.

Did they (White Shark Diving Co.) collect you at your accommodation?

We were at the Cape Grace hotel in Cape Town. We had a private driver guide from Micato so he picked us up and took us.

Please could you run through the order of the events at Gansbaai?

They had a hot and cold breakfast buffet: they cooked eggs, bacon, toast, cereals and yoghurts and set it all up. My fiancée and I actually arrived and weren't dressed properly, outfitted to be on the boat - so we purchased these really cool fleeces that turned out to be one of my favourite souvenirs because it shows that I went on a cage dive in South Africa.

And then of course they gave us a full safety briefing, showed us videos and gave us the necessary knowledge to go out on the boat for the white shark diving experience.

The breakfast was good, too.

How long did you stay at sea each time?

About 4 hours. Unfortunately I just went white shark diving the one time. Actually when the boat landed I was tempted to jump back on and hide on the boat to go out again!

How do you go under water, with what equipment?

Just snorkel, because great whites are top feeders; you don't need scuba equipment. You're actually more often on the surface to watch them feed and attack. You don't need to go deep… going deep would be a waste of time.

When you're in the cage, is your head actually above water?

You're above water and then there's a bar on the cage where you can pull yourself down and see the shark under water. You can come to the surface when they're just a few feet deep and see them out of the water as well.

So you get both views, you're not just trapped under water.

How many of you were (a) in the boat and (b) in the cage simultaneously?

(a) I can't remember exactly… about 10.
(b) The maximum is 5.

Article: Does cage diving cause shark attacks?

Was it cold? [August is the end of winter in South Africa - Ed.]

When there isn't a shark in the water it's freezing but as soon as that shark comes, you don't feel a thing! It's nothing but adrenalin and magic.

I've already told my friends, I think I could go live there for a few months and just go out white shark diving every day; just study them and learn, even work on one of the boats. It's pretty amazing.

The sea was calm; the sun was shining. We did the early morning white shark diving trip, so it was a little cool in the morning. But it only takes about 15-20 minutes to get out to the area where they're going to be. Temperature-wise it was great.

We had beautiful weather and very calm seas.

The visibility was perfect. You could actually see the bottom of the ocean, from the boat. It was super-clear; it was unbelievable… you could see the reef.

Did you struggle with sea sickness?

No. I live in a coastal town; I surf. I'm in the water frequently out here in Southern California so I had no problem on the water. We have our sea legs.

We were the first two to jump in the cage. The shark came and the skipper was yelling to jump in the cage and everybody just stood there frozen. My fiancée just popped in and I went in after her. The others were like "well if they can do it, we can do it!"

It's pretty unnatural, you know "okay if there's a big shark here, everybody get in the water now!"

They get pretty close and the way they (White Shark Diving Co.) operate, they lure the shark to you so you can have optimal viewing. The way they use the bait and the dummy seal is meant to drive them very close to you.

The experience was incredible. It was a precious moment in life, honest.

We're big fans of sharks and we love watching them on TV. So seeing them live was just a spectacle. For me, it felt like time stopped when they were there.

We saw two sharks: one that came by for quite an amount of time; she was about probably 10, 11 feet (about 3 metres I guess) and she would be about 1.5 to 2 metres away from us. She kept circling under the boat and coming back to attack the dummy seal that they use as bait.

When I saw it under water, time just stopped. I felt like I could breathe under water forever. It didn't even matter. I was like face to face with a dinosaur… it was amazing!

Did you spend quite a bit of time in the boat itself while others were white shark diving?

Yes, well they have a viewing area on the top deck and the viewing from there is actually outstanding. In fact it's almost the best view you're going to get in terms of the way the shark turns and moves.

We actually had people who didn't want to go back in the cage, so it allowed us to have extra time in.

Was there anything that didn't meet your expectations?

Not really, no. It was... like I said - when I got off the boat I wanted to go again. We went on vacation and you want to do so many things but I felt like I wanted to go again. You know, if you've ever been on a roller coaster and you get off the roller coaster you're like "again, again!"… that's how I felt when I got off the boat!

Just do it! Don't think about it, just go out and do it!

What would you say was the most useful item you took with you?

You don't really need anything… you could bring an underwater camera but you don't need it because they have a professional photographer with top high quality equipment who's going to do a better job than you could. The odds of you getting a better shot than a professional photographer there is pretty slim to none. They're spending every second to photograph your experience, so…

We didn't have an underwater camera and I think it allowed us to enjoy the experience more as opposed to trying to get a good shot.

Equipment-wise, if you go great white shark diving in the morning, bring a nice warm sweater.

And sunblock?

Yes, but with the wetsuit on you're almost covered head to toe.

It was a 10… we loved it.

The Cape Grace was absolutely lovely; amazing staff and service.

The view from our room… we had a crystal clear picture of Table Mountain which is obviously just an outstanding view. Can't beat that! Plus boats in the water and everything and obviously being able to walk all over town and all over the waterfront and restaurants, shopping - that was nice.

That hotel's outstanding: great breakfast, great restaurant, excellent food, wine... the Bascule Whisky Bar was outstanding.

But mainly what made the place so special is the staff and level of service. They're very willing to please and do an excellent job of taking care of you and they're very passionate. They make you really feel like they care about you, like you're not just some room number. You're a real person and they're there for you to really enjoy yourself. We really liked that a lot.

More reviews on the Cape Grace at TripAdvisor »