Guest comments: “Was totally worth getting up at 2 am to make it! Would highly recommend the trip and Marine Dynamics to anybody!” – David + Michaels
“OMG! Best day ever! Unforgettable experience made possible by an amazing team!” – Stephanie + Joe
“Contrary to some, we loved the wilderness and the magical meeting with nature and shark! Thanks team!” – Dorian
“Thank you! Your crew was awesome and we had a great experience. Happy New Years!!” – Michael
12/31/2017
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 11.7’C + 11.7’C + 12.0’C + 12.0’C
Depth: 8.0 m + 9.0m + 8.0m + 9.0m
Visibility: 2.0m + 2.0m + 2.0m + 2.0m
Number of Sharks: 1 + 0 + 0 + 0
Conditions: Perfectly flat day with mist rolling through in the early morning and burning off mid-morning.
What a way to start the last day of 2017. Yes, we were all awake before the sun, but our launch was timed with a beautiful sunrise over a flat and still bay. The second boat on anchor in the bay, we had a copper shark sighting very quickly however it was decided that we would move anchor soon after to work with the first boat out that had seen a white shark. Once on our new anchor the mist rolled in and blanketed the bay, giving an extra “sharky” feel to the morning, especially when we has our first great white appear, “Mini Nemo!” One of our iconic sharks, we have known him since 2012 and we were happy to see him back in the bay for the fourth time this year at the start of December. A male measuring approximately 3.4 meters in length he gave us some stunning views, both under the water and above. Unfortunately he disappeared for our last cage, but we were so lucky to be one of the first groups that got to witness the beautiful species today!
Marine Dynamics second shark cage trip launched on Dream Catcher not long after Slashfin had left the harbor. The anchor was dropped on site as the mist covered all view of land and the waiting began. An hour into the trip an anchor change was made and within a half hour of this change a copper shark appeared at the boat. This shark stuck around for a little while before disappearing at the end of the trip. Unlucky that no white shark sightings were had for this trip but we had some nice copper shark views for the morning.
The third trip of the day launch on Slashfin as the sun began to break through the mist with thousands of Cape cormorants flying past as we headed back into the shallows. As we anchored as Cape Fur Seal popped up, splashing around a bit before disappearing under the boat and we wondered if we would be as lucky as our first trip that spotted a white shark. It didn’t take more than 10 minutes before we had a shark approaching the boat, unfortunately it wasn’t a white shark but it was a large copper shark. We were lucky enough to have several copper sharks around the boat, only disappearing for a short period of time as several boats competing in a race passed in the distance. These copper sharks entertained everyone on board, giving our divers some beautiful passes in front of the cage. We may not have had white sharks, but we had a shark filled trip!
Our last trip of the day, and also the year, launched on Dream Catcher with perfect weather conditions and incredible visibility for this time of year. We anchored and within minutes of arriving at our dive site we had our first copper shark. Our luck continued throughout the trip, with the sharks staying consistent and only moving away for a short period of time before returning to check us out again. Although not everyone braved the chilly water today, all of our clients got a lovely view of the copper sharks from the boat too, with some of the sharks being quite active. The great visibility provided for great photo and video opportunities both above and below water. All in all, we couldn’t have asked for a more fin-tastic way to end 2017. We hope that as we swim into 2018, our white sharks will continue to swim back into our bay. Happy new years to all of our amazing shark divers!!
If you are looking to get up close and personal with the great white shark then Great White Shark 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.
