Daily Blog 15 October 2018 | Cage Diving South Africa

Guest Comments: “Absolutely brilliant. Saw so many sharks. The sea sickness was well worth it. Would recommend to anyone.” – Lynn

“Very good organisation, amazing staff! Thanks!” – Paul

“Absolutely amazing, a fantastic day and thanks for getting kav into the water! Good job.” – Sarah

“So much fun and such a great crew!” – Nuttig

Location: Joubertsdam  

Water Temperature: 15.5°C + 14.6°C + 14.8°C

Depth: 9m + 9m + 10m

Visibility: 1m throughout the day.

Conditions:  Wind blowing from the west, sunny with pleasant temperatures.

We’re setting out bright and early from our harbour these days, enjoying the early light that summer brings and launching our first tour of the day at 7am. The sea was beautiful as we travelled to our dive site, and after a touch of rain in the morning, the sky began to clear. We waited a few moments for the first sharks of the day to arrive, but once we had our first beautiful Bronzie pop up, the activity increased dramatically, and we were very fortunate to have several animals stick around for the tour! These Copper Sharks were super active and so much fun to have at the front of the boat, giving our brave clients some great views under the surface as the came right up to our 5m long cage. There were many shades of gold to be seen and we thoroughly enjoyed having these curious cartilaginous fish check us out. The animals we saw today were on the bigger side, and many appeared to be female Copper Sharks. In addition to the Coppers, we also had a Short Tailed Sting Ray come up to say hi, as well as a Cape Fur Seal Female who was chasing down the Southern Mullets around our boat. Towards the end of the tour, we were able to see a Southern Right Whale surface with her calf, which made for a lovely end to our early tour.

Q & A –
The shark jaws in the Great White House are a Great White Shark Replica, the smaller set is most likely a Mako Shark.

We headed out for our second trip with the sun in our back. We quickly arrived at our dive site and it wasn’t long before the first copper sharks arrived. Our divers got in the cage quickly and were amazed as the beautiful creatures swam by. The copper glistened in the sunlight as these amazing animals put up quite a show. If you would swim right above the animal in the water, it would be very difficult to make out in the surrounding waters, while from the bottom it would be practically invisible with the sunlight breaking through the water surface. The copper dorsal side of the shark, together with the white ventral side, is a form of camouflage known as counter shading. Soon the Cape fur seal that has been visiting us recently returned, not deterred by all the shark activity. Towards the end of the trip even a southern right whale came by to say hi. We sadly has to say goodbye to the copper sharks and the seal as we headed back to shore. 

As we headed out on our third and last trip of the day and returned to our dive-site, we saw that the Cape fur seal was still waiting there for us. We attached the cage to the side of the boat and almost immediately the copper sharks were back too. Our clients excitedly got into the cage and while the clouds slowly started to roll in, the sharks became more and more active. The sharks passed closed to the cage, giving our divers a view not many people in the world see. Some of our guests marvelled at the beauty of the shark’s eye, comparing it to the beauty of a bird’s eye. We soon headed back to shore, where our guests enjoyed some lovely vegetable soup.

Cage Diving South Africa
If you are looking to get up close and personal with the great white shark then Cage Diving in South Africa, and more specifically with Marine Dynamics, is a once-in-a-lifetime experience you won’t want to miss. Book and pay online with us and get a free video of your encounter with the world’s apex predator.

Share

See also​

Book your adventure of lifetime

Conservation Partners

Dyer Island Conservation Trust

African Penguin & Seabird Sanctuary

Department: Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment

Cape Nature

Overstrand Municipality

Plastics SA

Tourism Partners

Fair Trade Tourism

SATSA

Cape Town Tourism

Cape Country Routes

Gansbaai Tourism

Xplorio