As I held my breathe underwater and looked through a steel cage, I locked eyes with one of nature’s top predators.
A freakin’ Great White shark!
As I followed the beast gliding through the water, I thought to myself, “This may be insane, but it’s awesome!”
And the funny thing is I actually paid to be within arms reach of a man eater. And I would do it again and again.
This is the story of how I dove with Great White sharks.
Cape Town, South Africa
After spending 2 weeks in Johannesburg for World Cup mayhem, 3 buddies and myself jetted down to Cape Town to watch a match and party it up.
The match was fun, but definitely one sided as Portugal demolished North Korea 7-0. The poor North Koreans. The first ever internationally televised game in North Korea and it wasn’t even respectable.
Who knows what’s happened to the players after that?
After the match, we still had 5 more days in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
And let me tell you, Cape Town has plenty of options to keep you entertained. We went wine tasting at 9 in the morning and hiked Table Mountain, which we thought would take 45 minutes and actually took 5 hours, but those are stories for another time.
What 3 out of 4 of us really wanted to do was dive with Great White sharks! The odd guy out simply said, “I have no intention of willingly going into a cage as shark bait.”
Unfortunate for him, but I guess I can understand.
The problem with shark cage diving is that it’s completely dependent on the ocean conditions. If the swells are too big, there’s no point because you’ll be bobbing up and down like a cork.
So we made it priority #1 to dive with Jaws just in case we had to reschedule due to ocean conditions. Thank God we did.
The tour outfit picked us up at the ungodly hour of 4:00 AM to take us to Gansbaai, or shark alley, where you have the greatest chance of seeing Jaws up close and personal.
Isn’t that normally when I went to bed?
Usually I can do 4:00 AM without a problem, but after several heavy nights out in a row, it was a mission. And the biggest bitch of all was when we got there after a 2 and a half hour drive, they fed us breakfast, told us the swells were too big to cage dive in, and we had to drive all the way back to Cape Town.
What a kick in the balls!
I mean, 5 meter swells don’t exactly sneak up on you. They should have known the size of the swell at least the night before and just canceled the whole thing and avoid the unnecessary trip.
Instead, we got to take a 5 hour joy ride starting at 4 AM!
We had our heart set on diving with Great Whites though, so we signed up for the exact same thing the next day.
Luckily for us, it was a clear blue sky day and the water was like glass. You could have probably water-skied on it if it had not been for 5 meter long vicious apex predators in the water.
Out on the Water
Once we arrived to shark alley, the crew began chumming the water. They tossed out tuna guts and heads into the sea in an attempt to lure the sharks in.
For a good 2 hours, nothing really happened. We had 1 shark cruise by, but he didn’t stay long and I was worried we had made the second trip to only get a glimpse of the beast.
Then things got crazy!
1 shark started circling the boat, then another, and then another. In the end, 6 sharks were around the boat and one was even chasing a seal.
The poor little seal was jumping out of the water as if to say, “Holy shit!”
But I’m pretty sure he got away. I didn’t see any seal blood in the water.
Meanwhile, on deck things were madness. People were screaming and scrambling to get wetsuits on for their turn in the cage. There were 30 of us on the boat and only 6 could fit in the cage at the time, so we all had to take turns.
When it was finally mine, it all became worth it.
My two mates and I jumped in the cage and peered out into the cold, blue water. My buddy next to me couldn’t find the correct spot to sit in the cage and continually kicked the crap out of me as the sharks came close.
Every time a shark would cruise by, people would yell from above, “Right, right,” or “dead ahead.”
Being within arms reach of a 5 meter fish with a mouth full of teeth so big and jagged it’s mouth doesn’t fully shut was incredible.
And the cool thing was that I never felt I was in danger. The sharks didn’t come crashing into the cage. They just gently glided by in the water, sometimes taking a bite or two of the tuna head before leaving.
I’m sure it’s not good for the sharks to be accustomed to being fed, but the experience was liking nothing I’ve ever had in my life. I know it’s not good for them, but damnit, I would do it again.
It’s just that cool!
A video and photo collage of my time in South Africa
And if you’re wondering, it’s exciting but nowhere near as adrenaline pumping as bungee jumping or skydiving. These huge creatures seem almost nonthreatening in the water. Minus the mouth full of razor sharp teeth, of course.
If you get the chance, I highly suggest diving with Great Whites. You’ll gain a whole new respect for these magnificent creatures and discover Jaws isn’t so scary after all.
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I’ll be heading there in August – can’t wait to square up with jaws. Thanks for giving a realistic (but fun) account of what really goes on on those tiny boats. The only thing I have to have on my side will be the weather…I only have ONE day in Cape Town before my tour starts – eeeeeek!
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