Guest comment: “Staff were brilliant and informative. Gutted not to see a shark but will use you when we come back for a second try!” – Sean & Charlotte
“Great day, Staff were fab. Shark alley was fantastic”– Eilish
“Great day out. Staff and crew make it such a great day” – Carol
27/05/2018
Location: Behind Geyser Rock
Water Temperature: 16.1°C + 16.2°C
Depth: 22.0m/22.5m
Visibility: 2m + 2m
Number of Great Whites: 0 + 0
Conditions: Calm seas and sunny skies
Over to the island to try our luck this morning. A wonderfully calm ride out to behind the island where we dropped our anchor. As we pulled up to our spot we saw some bird activity diving into the water. We were very excited to see whether there were white sharks stalking in the depths. We got our cage in the water and getting used to our lovely surroundings. It’s always nice to try different spots as we never know what we might stumble across. While we waited this morning we had some nice bird life to watch in the form of giant petrels and sooty shearwaters, when all of a sudden in the distance the water looked to be boiling. Upon checking with the binoculars, we had a big pod of common dolphins cruising past us in the distance. After this excitement we had a full cage of diver’s keen to try their luck in the water. We played some games to keep us entertained while we waited, and even got our divers to imitate some seals underwater. Unfortunately, this was to no avail. We cruised through shark alley and got nice and close to the seal colony then headed back to the harbour. Even though we didn’t have any sharks we still had some awesome sea life to watch in the meantime.
Our second trip of the day headed back out to the islands, but this time we took a turn through shark alley before heading to our anchor spot. We got to see some of our cape fur seals up close, as they swam up to the boat, diving between the kelp as if they were playing hide and seek. They extra large eyes and cute faces are adroable, but be prepared for the smell! There is nothing quite like the smell of seal. After some great photo moments, we headed behind the islands and anchored. As the sun beamed down on us, one of our divers decided to hop into the cage to cool off. As he was getting on his mask and weight belt, someone yelled “whale!” An adult humpback whale was cruising by not too far in the distance, on an obvious mission to get somewhere. It dove down and we didn’t spot it again. About 15 minutes later there was another cry of “whale!” This time it was one of our residential Bryde’s whales that frequent our bay when the fish move in. Two whale species in one trip! This had never happened to me before during a shark cage diving trip and it was such a special treat. This whale actually swam quite close to the boat, about 40 meters away, but didnt stay around for long. A few curious cape fur seals came around, possibly chasing some fish and we all secretly hoped that a white shark would come and snatch one of the seals, but sadly the white sharks eluded us again. As we returned to the harbour, another humpback whale was seen breaching in the distance, right next to our research vessel Lwazi. As we continued along the coast, the whale relaxed and began to swim along side Lwazi. With the stunning sunset in the background, we couldn’t have asked for a more special way to end our day. While the white sharks were lacking, the other sea life certainly wasnt!
If you are looking to get up close and personal with the great white shark then Great White Shark Cage Diving in Gansbaai, 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.
