Guest Comments: “Absolutely amazing day! Thank you so much!” – Alyssa
“A fantastic experience and thank you for the very helpful and kind staff!” – Cole and Lindsey
“Wonderful experience. Great staff and trip!” – Charlotte
24/07/2018
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 14.9°C + 15.0°C + 15.0°C
Depth: 10.2m + 10.8m + 10.5m
Visibility: 4.0m + 3.0m + 3.0m
Number of White sharks: 4 + 2 + 4
Conditions: A clear bright day with a building swell and west winds.
It was a sunrise start for Marine Dynamics and its first trip guests today as we navigated our way out of Kleinbaai harbour and into the bay to skies tinged with orange and pink. The anchor spot we chose this morning seemed to be a good choice as we heard cries of shark being called out whilst wetsuits were still being wiggled into. This was one of the bays’ current male White shark visitors, an individual approximately 3.0m in length, which was shortly joined by another, a little bit larger, however both had similar activity in that they would cruise into view, swing nicely by the cage and divers and disappear, coming and going for the first 20 minutes of the trip. During this time, we also had another visitor to the boat in the form of a very small, juvenile White shark, a shy little thing that kept deep and was seen cruising multiple times through out the trip but just that bit too far for a good view. The show stopper this morning came in the form of a large female, measuring in at over 4.0m, sporting some distinctive markings to her dorsal fin and right side of trunk, she was a sight to behold. Not only was it this individual’s sheer size that had us all excited, but her behaviour was magnificent with the shark passing within centimetres of the cage and making two spectacular lunges out of the water with those pearly whites flashing for all to see. Unfortunately, this was the time that things took a turn to the quieter side as the large female disappeared and the small juvenile kept deep. The old saying of ‘patience can pay off’ held true for our last cage that bobbed around on the surface hoping for a glimpse of a White shark, and with five minutes of the trip left the previously seen 3.0m male shark re-appeared making one pass then another close pass by the cage, our last divers exiting the cage and the water, a little chilly but happy. Back out on the water for our second trip today, the boat was reasonably lighter, since this trip was an exclusive for one passenger visiting from New York accompanied by his guide. That 3.0m male that started and finished our first trip also was the first to show up for this trip, similar behaviour with some beautifully close passes by the cage and boat. Not to be left out the large female also returned, whilst she did not repeat the first trips above water lunges she gracefully swam by allowing a chance for all on board to really appreciate this animal. Before heading back to land Slashfin took a trip out to Shark Alley and the island system to have a closer look at the local, largest colony of Cape Fur seals on Geyser Rock. One more trip for Slashfin and the team today with the last guests of the day waiting a whole 3 minutes, thats right, 3 minutes for their first shark to appear. The first shark to arrive was none other than the female from the two previous trips. This large female has become well known to our team in 2018, last seen back in March, she was a regular sighting around our vessel so we are pleased to see her back in the bay. The remainder of the afternoon saw three other sharks appear, all of which were around the 3.0m length, two males and one female White shark. A fantastic day out on the water here in Gansbaai.
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.
