Remember your childhood nightmare of being surrounded in the sea by Great White Sharks. Just like in movies such as Jaws (1975) and Shark Night (2011). Your worst nightmare is now a reality. This is the experience of diving next to Great White Sharks – in a cage. For most of us, this is the only chance to get within a few meters of a Great White Shark. No wonder this activity is on nearly every bucket list you come across.
Verdict: A standard bucket list item, but manage your expectations, as visibility underwater can be quite low.
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There are two sessions for shark cage diving – one in early morning and one in late morning. Choose the one in early morning. There are apparently more sharks in the morning. I wanted to sleep in. I screwed up.
The trip from Cape Town to Gansbaai was quite time consuming and painful. It took around an hour and a half drive to Gansbaai. Once I arrived, I joined up with another 30 or so tourists (probably from other tourist agencies) at the shark diving company’s office. We were then transferred into a tiny boat. The boat ride was one of the rockiest ones, so a good tip would be to take some motion-sickness pills (stugeron) the night before and one more in the morning. Otherwise, be prepared to get sea-sick and puke.
While on the boat, the guide explained how the shark cage worked and provided us with hooded wetsuits, boots and googles. Don’t expect too much from the equipment. The wetsuit and boots were loose, damp and moist – probably because the previous group in the morning has used them before. The googles also fogged up quite rapidly. In hindsight, I would have at least brought my own googles there.
As my visit was in December, a low season for sharks, I didn’t immediately see any sharks. It wasn’t until a good half hour until a shark was spotted. But, once you see one, all the sea-sickness fell away. On the deck, you can quite clearly see the shark swimming around with its iconic fin popping near the surface.
As there were 30 plus people in our group, we had to take turns with the cage dive. The cage fits around 6 so, if you do the mathematics, that’s around five rounds of cage diving. Depending on how easy it is to see sharks, each rotation would get around 10 to 15 minutes off cage diving team.
For the record, you don’t actually need to know how to dive; all you are doing is diving down into the water and holding your breath as long as possible. I dived in the water immediately after a shark was sighted nearby. The water was cold, but at that stage, all you care is holding your breath as long as possible, seeing something and capturing it on your GoPro. To me surprise, I saw nothing underwater– except maybe a faint dark shadow swimming past. Heck, what was going on? The underwater visibility was less than a meter. Unless, the shark rammed into the cage, I wouldn’t have noticed anything. As I emerged back above surface, the other excited tourists asked me how it was. They told me how close the shark was swimming by me. I stared back at them with a confused and dumbfounded look, and said I didn’t see anything underwater. The other tourists must have thought I was an idiot at first, but they had the same
So, in conclusion, I was a little disappointed. Spent a whole day travelling to get 10 minutes of underwater cage diving in which I didn’t see anything. Having said that, I probably went during the wrong season and at the wrong time. But, do manage your expectations about the dive. Otherwise, you might end up a little disappointed like me.
Additional information
| When to do it? | Best time is from April to September. I went in December and still saw a few smaller sharks. As mentioned above, wake up early and do the early session! |
| How to book? | The activity needs to be pre-booked online with one of the shark cage dive agencies such as Apex Predators. |
| How much does it cost? | The shark cage dive costs around ZAR1,750 and transport from Cape Town to Gansbaai costs around ZAR450. |
| How to get there?
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The agency you book with will arrange transport from your hotel in Cape Town to Gansbaai and back. |
| How long does it take?
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The entire activity takes a whole day. The cage dive itself takes around 10-15 minutes, while the trip from Cape Town to Gansbaai takes up the most of the time. |
| Is it safe? | Extremely low risk. The cage is secure and sharks should not normally attack humans. Although there have been reported incidents where sharks break into the cage, this is very rare. Choose a trusted operator and you’ll be fine. |
| What to wear?
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Swimwear. Bring your googles and even wetsuit if you don’t like using ‘used’ materials. |