Planning your own trip to South Africa? Read more about my Garden Route itinerary here.

South Africa is one of the best places in the world to get up close and personal with Great White Sharks. And since it has been well established on this blog that I love sharks, signing up to go cage diving with them is a no brainer. Heck, I’ve already swum alongside sharks in the open ocean, so viewing them from the safety of a cage doesn’t sound all that scary to me. Bring it on.

I’ve signed up to go with Great White Shark Tours, one of several companies offering this kind of experience. I find them to be all-around fantastic and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend their tour. Their outstanding Trip Advisor reviews speak for themselves.

While you can do this tour as a day trip from Cape Town, it takes all day when you factor in a 2.5 hour drive each way (all the shark dive tour companies provide transportation for a fee). It’s certainly worth it if you aren’t otherwise leaving Cape Town, but if you’re doing a Garden Route road trip then it’s easier to just stop in Gansbaai along the way. Then it’s only a half-day tour.

Both breakfast and lunch are included, as well as snacks and drinks on the boat. It’s an impressive spread served buffet-style.

Fun facts about sharks line the placemats. Did you know that intrauterine cannibalism is thought to occur during shark pregnancies? That reminds me of this Dwight Schrute line from The Office.

After breakfast, we watch a video on safety and what to expect on the water. Then we’re briefed on how to maneuver inside the cage.

Onward to the boat!

We soon encounter whales — an added bonus, considering this is a shark tour. As I wrote in my post about nearby Hermanus, whale watching is a popular activity along the coast of South Africa in September and October. Well guess what? Today happens to be September 29th and the whales are right on schedule.

The shark boats are not supposed to stop for whale watching but our captain takes us closer for a few minutes. It’s really special to see them up close, especially since I didn’t get on a whale watching cruise the day before in Hermanus. Major props to this shark tour — it’s killing two birds with one stone (I know, it’s not very nice to kill birds).

These are Southern Right Whales, distinguished by the callouses on their heads. These callouses are so prominent that it’s hard to tell what part of the whale you’re looking at! In the photo below, this whale is on its side and you can just make out a hint of its teeth in the open mouth.

There are two whales here — I’m not sure if it’s a mother and calf, or two mates.

I think it’s smiling at us?

Can you see the blowholes in the photo below?

Well that was an unexpected bonus!

Our captain drops anchor near Dyer Island, home to the Great White Sharks in this area.

A poor guy with the job title ‘chum master’ stirs up a batch of fish blood and guts. He then trickles it into the ocean so that sharks can pick up the scent from miles away and find us.

Once the blood is out, it’s time for the first round of divers to takes their place. Here’s the cage below — it’s long and narrow, and it holds eight people at a time. Everyone has their own slot to view the sharks so there’s no need to crowd each other. Each group of eight people will stay in the cage until they’ve had several opportunities to view a shark up close. There’s no set time — it might happen in five minutes or 20 minutes, depending on how active the sharks are during any particular time frame. Then the captain will signal that group to exit and the next to take their places in the cage. Once everyone on board has had a chance to cycle through, there will be time for a second opportunity should anyone want to go into the cage again. It’s a smart set-up — and everyone has a good view of the shark action from the boat, so there’s a lot to watch even when you’re not underwater.

While the chum (fish blood and guts) will initially attract the sharks, there are two additional forms of bait to entice them to come closer. The first is a foam board cut into the shape of a seal. The second is a hunk of fish head or body.

This big dude is ready for some lunch…

The captain lures the sharks right in front of the cage, then yells “Down, down, down!” when he spots a shark approaching. That’s cue for the eight people inside the cage to take a deep breath and go underwater to better view the shark. Everyone wears goggles but there are no snorkeling tubes — just take a deep breath and hold it while observing the sharks (there’s a red bar to tuck your feet under to help stay underwater). Then it’s time to resurface, breathe, and wait for the captain to yell “DOWN!” again.

Every so often, a shark jumps way out of the water baring its teeth like it’s auditioning for a remake of JAWS.

A closer look:

Isn’t that nuts?!

This reminds me of comedian Ian Edwards doing a very funny stand-up bit about shark attacks. His point? It’s not a shark attack when we trespass into shark territory — the ocean is their living room! A real shark attack would be if you are just chilling at home and a shark taps you on the shoulder. THAT would be a shark attack. (He says it way funnier and I highly recommend clicking on that link.)

Occasionally, a shark bites onto the fake seal and refuses to let go, thrashing incessantly until it breaks off a piece. We lose two seals this way.

These sharks are stealthy and it’s tough to get a photo of one bearing its chompers. But my timing is lucky with this guy:

Almost my turn to get in the water…

Let’s do this.

Crazy, right? But my experience in the cage seems fairly tame compared to this video posted on-line last week — it depicts a shark ferociously biting into the metal cage amid screams from the guests inside. It attacks for a full minute before giving up! Luckily those metal bars hold up. Seriously, you’ll want to see that footage.

When my time in the cage ends, I feel a bit seasick. That feeling continues for the duration of our time on the water and sadly I can’t bring myself to get back in the cage for round two. I’m just lucky I made it back to shore without vomiting. I don’t get seasick all the time on boats but it does happen occasionally, and it SUCKS.

That said, I am thrilled with the whole experience. This was so worth it.

Okay, now for my video footage — it’s a tad less dramatic than the video I linked to above, but that’s a good thing. Enjoy!

Up next… an afternoon drive to Swellendam, my next stop on the Garden Route. More tomorrow!

Major thanks to Great White Shark Tours for hosting my shark cage diving experience. Opinions are my own.