The next morning (bright and early, as usual) Zach and I were picked up at our hotel at 6:45 AM to go cage diving with the Great White Sharks in Gansbaai!

It was a 1 hour 45 minute drive to the small shore town of Gansbaai, where their main jam is to take people cage diving, apparently.  It is a place full of shark tour companies.  We were fed breakfast, outfitted with a wetsuit, and on our way.  We were in a smaller group on a boat called Slashfin.

We made friends with two brothers from Colorado (such a small world) and enjoyed our trip out to sea on the boat.  We didn’t have to go too far because during South Africa’s summer months the sharks like shallower waters.  Once our guides selected our spot they started chumming the water.  They used a mixture of fish parts and fish oils and poured it into the ocean around the boat so the sharks could follow a scent trail.  It didn’t take long for the sharks to start circling our boat.  It was like something out of a movie…

They gave us all masks and booties for our feet and we took turns crawling into the cage.  The guides would attract the sharks near the cage by taking a rope with fish heads tied to the end and throw it into the water in front of the cage.  They also used a lure that looked like the silhouette of a baby seal.  The sharks seemed to liked that idea better than the fish heads, actually.

The sharks would swim near and the guides would yell “RIGHT DOWN!”  The divers in the cage would lower their bodies using bars inside the cage to keep themselves underwater while the sharks circled around them.  When it was Zach and I’s turn, we climbed into the water and were instantly freezing.  It was my first time in the Atlantic Ocean!

We waited until more sharks circled around us and listened to the guides as they yelled at us where to go and when to lower ourselves down.  The water wasn’t perfectly clear but the views of the sharks swimming only feet away from you was really frightening.  They would surge out of the water, mouths wide open, and attempt to swallow the bait.  This was the most intimidating part.  Their mouths and teeth were gigantic and being that close was heartstopping!

The most terrifying part, however, is when a shark got a hold of the bait while we were in the cage.  Zach and I were on the far left side of the cage with a couple of other people in the cage with us.  One of the sharks locked in on the bait, wouldn’t let go, and ran nose first into our cage.  If I reached out my hands I could have touched his skin, but we weren’t allowed to move any body parts outside of the cage, and with good reason.  The shark would not give up and kept ramming his body into the front of our cage.  It was the most incredible thing I had ever done.  Being inches away from one of the most terrifying animals on the planet.  Once we got out of the water and dried off, the boat made its way back to shore with a quick stop at Dryer Island where all the seals hang out.  You could smell the seals before you saw them, but it was absolutely amazing how many of them there were.  The swimming baby seals were my favorite.  They would swim along side the boat, attempting to show off.

We made it back to shore in time for lunch (we learned quickly that “lunch time” in South Africa is anywhere from 12:00 – 4:00) and then got to view our video the guides took of us diving.  We then had our driver take us back to our hotel to meet up with Mark and Jeanene for dinner.  We at ate a seafood restaurant on the water and then walked along the waterfront.  We listened to the live music, watched all the boats come in, and called it a night.