So I love to be out in nature surrounded by God’s creations. Things are much more simple when you are talking a walk through a forest or hiking up mountains. The off chance that you would have some sort of animal cross your path makes the journey even more of a blessing to me. That is why I got excited when I heard that we would have the chance to go Great White Shark diving in South Africa.
Our squad leader John was set on going and a bunch of us were willing to follow. So on one of our free days we took the train to downtown Cape Town and were picked up in a van for a two hour drive to the diving location. We arrived at the dive shop and were given a brief introduction to what was going to happen and that we would learn more of what to do on the boat. We took a short ride to the docks and boarded our boat. We met the Captain and his crew and we were off.
It was about a 10 minute boat ride and we were still very close to the shore when the captain dropped anchor. There were a few other diving boats around us when the Captain told us to suit up.
We all started putting on our dripping wetsuits and I made my way to the cage. Now the cage holds about five people and is attached to the boat at all times. It is about 5-6 feet tall with only a foot about water. When you are in the cage there are two bars on the inside of the cage. One to stand on and one to hold on to. When you are in the cage they start to throw a bait line of fish heads out into the water and pull it towards the cage.
This draws the sharks to the cage where they pull the bait line out of the water just in time for the shark to swim past the cage. When the shark is close enough the Captain yells, “Down! Down!” just in time for you to hold your breath and go underwater to see this massive creature swim by your.
I was the first one in the water (which was freezing cold even with the wet suit.) and was a little freaked out to say the least. Before anyone else could get in the cage with me I was told to dive so I held my breath and went under and saw my first Great White Shark up close and personal.
It was one of the coolest things that I have ever seen. Time and time again the sharks kept swimming by our cage getting closer and closer and bigger and bigger.
Pictures and videos do not do these awesome creatures any justice. The Captain said that we saw about 6-7 different sharks from 6 feet to 14 feet long.
When you are in the water and one the sharks hits the cage as it passes by it seems much bigger then just 14ft. Staring at these creatures with the rows of massive teeth and their black dead eyes is a very scary thought but I did feel very secure in the cage after I saw my first shark.
They were really not interested in the cage at all and only charged after the bait line that lured them towards us. One of the smaller sharks ended up biting the side of the cage in effort of get the bait line.
This freaked out one other passengers out a little too much and she got out of the cage after that.
I was able to spend about an hour in the water and I loved every minute of it.
Great White Sharks are one of the most beautiful creatures that I have ever seen.
As massive as they are they glide through the water with ease.
I never got tired of seeing them come right at you just to disappear a few feet away from you in the murky water.
It was truly an amazing day and one of the coolest things that I have ever experienced.
Here are some video links that I shot too.
