White shark cage diving

One of the highlights from my trip to South Africa was when I went cage diving to observe the Great White Shark! This was an absolutely fantastic experience that everyone should do at some point. The great white shark is seriously misunderstood and they were so beautiful! I have had several people laugh at me when I´ve said this, but seriously – they were amazing! And to be able to look at them so close is spectacular, yet terrifying. But I am so glad we did it!

We booked the trip before arriving, just to be sure that the trip would not be full by the time we got there. We were in South Africa just as the tourism season was over, which meant that it was not as busy as it usually is. And that worked out perfectly. The boat could take 20 people, we were 10. So we actually had more time in the cage and on the boat.

The company we used was ´White Shark Africa´ and they have an office in Mossel Bay, about a four-hour drive from Cape Town. We were driving the Garden Route so it was natural to stop in Mossel Bay and spend a night there, which I would recommend if you´re planning on going cage diving as well. Because chances are you have to wake up at 6am, but there are several guest houses in Mossel Bay that are cheap and very nice and close to the harbour.

We started the day with breakfast at the White Shark Africa office, where they also talk about the safety on the boat and what we could expect during the day. They also talked about the sharks, how sharks typically behave and basically told us a lot of information about these animals. After about an hour at the office we walked down to the boat. The trip from the dock and to the location, which is Seal Island, is only about ten minutes. I absolutely loved that, because there is nothing more boring than spending hours on a boat without seeing or doing anything, and then you only have a short period of time at the location before you have to start going back. We had a lot of time at the shark location, which was fantastic!

Sharks are of course wild animals so we had no idea how long we had to wait until they came close to the boat. The crew has bait which they use to attract the sharks. We only waited about five minutes before we saw the fins. We hurried up and got into our wet suits and went into the cage. The crew would then tell us when to hold our breath and whether to look left, right or straight ahead. And the sharks came very close – they bumped into the cage, they bit on the cage, they jumped and we all loved it! It was such a great rush; unlike anything I have experienced before.

We were the first group to go into the cage and I think we were there for about an hour before we switched and the second group could experience it. We then had some time to observe the animals from the boat and that was also a lot of fun. And because the sharks would go cray for the bait, we also got a little wet even on the boat.

When we got back to the office we could talk to the crew about the day, ask questions and have some lunch before leaving. The crew was so helpful and knowledgeable and super friendly. They gave us that little extra, which made the experience even better!