Sharks are quite possibly the world's most feared animals. From the smallest sand shark to the enormous whale shark, they are sleek, muscled, and some are almost as agile as a dolphin.
There is no doubt that they are the most evolved predators in the ocean. Row upon row of teeth and capable of sensing the blood of an injured animal from over a kilometre away, its not surprising that they are the most feared creature beneath the waves. And of them all, the Great White is the most awesome.
Cage Diving in South Africa
Your excursion to Geyser and Dyer islands begins at the picturesque Kleinbaai Harbour. The launching slip way of this small harbour, being the point of entry for all cage diving expeditions to the islands, becomes a beehive of activity on clear mornings.
Air tanks are filled, cylinders are placed inside diving cages, safety equipment is checked and the boats are fuelled prior to passengers' arrival.
The trip takes about 4-5 hours. Starting with breakfast at
The Great White House Restaurant in Kleinbaai, normally at
08h00.
The Great White Shark
The boat leaves the harbour at about 8h45 and takes about 20 minutes to reach the channel between Geyser and Dyer islands. It normally takes about an hour of chumming and baiting before the first great white hones in on the bait with deadly accuracy - (sharks use their sense of smell and unique sense of electro-reception to detect the movement of the fibrous rope in the water.) A dorsal fin and part of the tail silently slice up through the water, leaving barely a wake, the ominous fins lock in on the boat. The undisputed lord of the deep has arrived!
Shark Viewing
The shark makes its swift, surprise attack from below and behind, leaping out of the water making a terrifying, brief, shocking appearance from nowhere. Having struck with awesome power, it falls backwards, using the forces of gravity and its incredibly powerful body to move away from the boat and descends into the depths of the ocean, its elegant torpedo-shaped body leaving not even a ripple on the surface.
Passengers can experience excellent surface viewing from the boat’s upper deck to get an all-round view of the sharks attacking, circling and descending. It is the ideal spot to capture the exhilarating action on film or shoot video footage - the water is no more than 6 meters deep and is crystal clear.
Great whites can smell the chum (crushed sardines) slick from a considerable distance. In addition, our crew plays tug-o- war, pulling the bait lines in to the boat to lure the magnificent creatures even closer. The shark, being an inquisitive beast, often comes right up to the boat, bringing its head far enough out of the water that you can touch it.
The banks of awesome razor edged teeth are but centimeters away - the huge gaping jaws revealing the true danger of the imminent encounter..... a subject rather not dwelled upon.
Scuba Diving Vacations in South Africa
We now offer Scuba diving and Scuba diving courses.
Our dive includes:
• Kelp Forest Dive
• Reef dive
• Diving with Seals
• and Wreck diving!
Scuba Diving With The Great White Sharks
Once the sharks are around, a specially designed, four-man shark cage, that floats right bellow the surface, is lowered into the clear aquamarine waters.
Divers with at least snorkel or regulator experience, may enter the cage where they hold on to its inside ring still out of the water, waiting for the shark to approach closer. This part of the cage is still out of the water /40cm/. Only on the dive master 's command they descend. Divers are never more than 1 meter below the surface
Divers comfortably step into the cage from the side of the boat. Once in the diving cage, they breath through the "hooker system" /air supplied from the surface on the extended hose, instead of BCD and cylinders on the back/, or just taking and holding their breath. According to our experience this is a well-suited method, providing the safest and most comfortable dive.
Shark Cage Diving
The best time of the year to cage dive with white sharks is from April to September. Four to five sharks are usually encountered in a day with as many as 18 sharks having been encountered on some outings. We have a 95% success rate in terms of daily sightings during the high season. Great white sharks prefer a diet of game fish and from May to October the latter are in abundance. Great whites are also known to feed on seals and carrion. October to December, being the pupping season for some 35,000 seals on Geyser Island, results in an ample food supply of drowned pups in the surrounding coastal waters. Although great whites may be sighted during the low season, the abundance of food in the area makes luring to the boat more difficult.
The water temperature ranges between 55° and 65° F and divers take turns in the cage, each staying approximately 15-20 minutes. A diver can expect to make two to three dives per day if good weather, sea conditions, shark activity and visibility prevails. Visibility is between 4m to 6m on average, but may exceed 15m on a clear day.
Sharks may brush the cage, but to date an attack on the cage has not been reported.
The entire operation is done in a responsible and eco friendly way. The Great White Shark is not harmed in any manner, nor is the environment polluted. White Shark Diving Co complies with a strict set of safety regulations, required by the South African Government Department of Labor. We are affiliated to:
• The Great White Shark Protection Foundation
• SATOUR
• CAPTOUR
• SAMSA
Our crew consists of a Dive Master, Level 3 Medic and a Skipper with SAMSA authority, who are trained to handle any emergency situation that may arise whilst out at sea. Safety precautions include emergency and evacuation flow charts in the skipper's cabin as well as a step-by-step emergency manual, maintenance plan and equipment checklist.
We comply with a strict set of safety regulations required by the South African Government department of labor, and therefore, the boat, cage and diving equipment are inspected and surveyed by SAMSA, MCM, and by our crew on an on going basis.
Marine Wildlife:
The area presents a variety of sceneries whether geographical, geological, faunistic or floristic... Africa is famous for its Big Five but Gansbaai proudly presents Big Six and Seven represented by the Great White Shark and the Southern Right Whale.
About five miles offshore, a small group of islands and reefs owe their international fame to the most wonderful and feared marine predator: The Great White Shark. Dyers Island is named after Samson Dyer, an American Negro who came to the Cape in 1806, and who lived on Dyers Island where he collected guano.
Dyer Island is an ornithological nature reserve for many species of marine birds, among which a colony of 7000 Jackass Penguins. Adjacent to the main island of Dyer, is Geyser Rock, a smaller but much louder island: a permanent colony of 30 to 40 thousand Cape Fur Seals resides on that rock. In between both islands, is a channel which is renown worldwide as "Shark Alley".
The waters surrounding Dyer Island represent The Best place in the world to observe, encounter and dive with this magnificent animal.
From June through December, the Southern Right Whale can be easily observed from the shores. De Kelders is probably the best place worldwide to observe these gentle giants swim within a few meters off the rocky shore. In December, these whales start their migration to the Antarctic waters to feed until the next autumn.
Whale watching can be done out of Gansbaai Harbour.
