Great White Cage diving at Gaansbai !

Woke up slightly later today and decided to get ready before 8 am. I had not heard from the shark cage diving company via email and asked Leah to call them up. They were coming at 9 am to pick me up. Walked down to get myself a chapstick then had a quick coffee made by Leah. The shark guys came early and off I went. The  journey was towards Gaansbai with a number of pick-ups and stops in between. It was nearly 11.30 am when we reached Gaansbai, touted as the great white capital of the world.

 I had signed up with Great white Shark tours (http://www.sharkcagediving.net) with Brian McFarlane and we were treated to a very warm reception at the waiting area prior to entering the boat itself. Breakfast and coffee were included in the package and backpackers have a discount price as long as you furnish them the name of the backpackers. The food was definitely delightful and we were given a safety briefing after ample time for eating. The briefing started outside the main building with a mock up of the actual cage used for the shark viewing. The briefing was detailed with dos and don'ts and a clear description of the activities for the day.

We boarded up the boat shortly, the Apex Predator and it was a short ride to the shark viewing area. After mooring off along side the cage, the chumming process began, with tuna water being poured into the water to attract the sharks to the boat. A seal cut-out as well as tuna heads on a floating buoy were used to attract the sharks. The Apex Predator has a deck as well as seats all along the boat so it was always easy to get a good view of any fish in the water. The visibility wasn't good however due to recent storms but we hoped for the best as we sat waiting for the sharks.

The wait wasn't too long and in about 10-15 minutes the first great white swam by, coming for the tuna heads which the crew kept pulling just out of reach of the shark. Another soon followed suit and it was possible to see just how massive the sharks were as they kept coming up towards the surface. The first 7 shark divers started changing up and they were helped on by the crew with the wet-suits and booties. The water is very cold and the wet-suits are a must for staying in for some time.

I decided to stay up awhile longer snapping shots as the first group started moving into the cage. The sharks never really seemed interested in the cage but were more interested in the tuna heads as well as the seal cut-out. The crew seemed to ensure that we had a number of good viewings, so the time which each group spent in the water seemed long but worth the stay in the cold. We had a total of 3 groups enter the cage and I went twice as did some of the others. The highlight of the encounter was definitely this one particular shark that tried chomping on our cage 3 times in total. It was definitely eerie hearing the sound of teeth on steel underwater !

The day ended with us searching for dolphins which had been spotted and then heading back to the reception area. We were shown a video of the day, taken while we were busy in the cage and for 250 rand could get a copy to bring back. It took a mere 10 minutes and the videos were ready, together with a certificate and information brochure on sharks which was for everyone.

It had been a full long day and gazing at the view just outside the reception centre seemed to complete the beautiful experience. A decent drive back to the hostel awaited and a long needed rest. I was still aching from the hike and surfing lesson the day before and I needed to pack as well since I was leaving Cape town backpackers the next morning.

An experience definitely worth at least once a lifetime.

Great white shark diving.