I’ve always wanted to see a Shark and this weekend I had the opportunity to go on a Shark Cage Dive from Gansbaai. The word ‘adventurous’ is not a word that I commonly get labeled with , and therefore it will come as no surprise to readers who know me that I was ‘chicken’ and did not get into the water. I’m not sure what scared me most – the prospect of getting in the Cage, the prospect of getting into the icy water, or the prospect of trying to getting in a wetsuit !
The company that we use for all our Shark Cage Dives has recently purchased a new 40 boat called the White Pointer. The ship was in ship shape condition and looked magnificent. They’ve recently also invested in purchasing new dive equipment including wetsuits, masks and snorkels. The entire outfit was incredibly professionally managed and run. Our hosts Greg and Geoff gave us really interesting information about the Sharks and the marine wildlife in general.
Shark Cage Diving has always been a controversial adventure activity, with conservationists complaining that Shark Cage Diving is unregulated and unethical. I had visions of great buckets of chum being chucked into the sea to attract the sharks. However in reality the chumming was very low key and controlled. The smell wasn’t that bad and I did joke that the smell of the 10 unwashed British Backpackers who joined us on the trip was worse !
The visibility was good and whilst I only viewed the sharks from the comfort of the deck I still managed to get some good viewing.
A lot of the people on the boat were sick and if your slightly adverse to seasickness I would not recommend this trip. Definitely avoid going out the night before – there were certainly several unwashed Backpackers who spent the entire experience hanging over the side of the boat and didn’t see anything.
All in all – a great experience. To be honest it would not be high on my personal list of Cape Town’s “must do’s” – but if your in the city for more than a few days, and are looking for an adventure activity then its well worth doing, especially in the winter months when the shark viewing is at its best. The weather is key, I went dressed very warmly dressed and it still took a bowl of hot soup and a hot bath for me to defrost !