Great White Shark trips from Cape Town--Do you have info. or pictures?
Do you have any photos from on deck, not submerged in the cage?
What time did you get back to shore at the end of the voyage? Do you know of any accommodations with these 2 qualifications: (1) close enough to the penguins so you can easily walk there (2) the shark trip picks up guests from the hotel for the Great White Shark day trip and delivers them back to the hotel again when the trip is done The time of year for travel would be late July. Other details would be good too. Thanks! |
I took several photos from the boat, before submerging in the cage, but that was before I switched to digital photography.
I have twice done the trip from Cape Town to Gansbaai, first in May 2000 and again in August 2002, the second time with White Shark Ecoventures. At the time, and likely still, they offered round trip transfers from Cape Town, with a very early morning departure and a late return, but its very common to go cage-diving as a day trip from Cape Town. You can get all the details from the website for White Shark Ecoventures, or any of the other operators. Its a great trip, and I would definitely go again on future trips to Cape Town. Michael |
You could stay at Boulders Beach Accommodation. Boulders beach is where the penguins are. Speak to "Penguin Sally". She is the marketing person. Great place to stay. Ask them to arrange the shark diving. You would be picked up at arround 5:00am because of your location ie. Simonstown. You are normally returned around 6:00 in the evening.
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Lynn - just sent you one of the photos I had taken with 35mm back in 2001 when we (rather he) did when we were in CPT.
Used White Shark Ecoventures. Picked-up from CPT after breakfast for drive out to Gansbaai. About 2/hr drive, spent the rest of the day on boat, in cages. Most went down two or three times. Returned to CPT by 6-7pm. If I recall, the price for transport to/from with lunch and on the boat, was $100/person. Though I didn't go into the water (my mom didn't raise fools for children) my partner felt it was an amazing way to begin our trip to Southern Africa. Enjoy. |
Lynn,
If you want an alternative to White Shark EcoVentures that is closer to Cape Town, I can recommend African Shark Eco-Charters, which is operated by Rob Lawrence and Chris Fallows (who have filmed a great many Discovery Channel and similar TV specials, including "Air Jaws"). They are based in Simon's Town and take trips out to Seal Island -- much closer to Cape Town than leaving from Gansbaai and going out to Dyer Island, which is what White Shark Ecoventures does. The day we went out with Rob, we left really early (like 6am) and then got back to Simon's Town around 4pm. Rob and Chris's web site is www.ultimate-animals.com. Your trip is timed perfectly for seeing sharks -- the peak season is June and July, according to Rob, and in those months it is common to see over a dozen different sharks in a day trip. Other times of year the sharks are far less numerous. Also, I suggest either planning more than one day for the activity or having our plans flexible so that you can change the shark outing to a different day if the weather isn't cooperating. We ended up moving our shark outing three different times because of high waves in False Bay, and Selwyn was really good about giving us that flexibility. Finally, definitely bear in mind that both air and water temperatures will be quite cold at that time of year. False Bay stays in the 55 degree range pretty much year round, so if you are going in the water, a dry suit might be in order! Good luck with your planning! Chris |
Thank you for all the info. I have heard about the Fallows. My plan would be for 3 shark trips.
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I spent a very rough morning at sea with Monique and Chris Fallows. It was an extraordinary experience. Their passion is quite evident. If you are interested in seeing some photos I posted them on Fredmiranda.com (nature and wildlife section under the title "perfect storm". I suspect that in even decent weather the sightings would be spectacular as they will to a limited degree bait sharks to the boat for photography. The weather was so bad that this would have been very risky. Despite that there were 17 natural predations (seal kills) that we witnessed and 12 more even before we got there at 7:30am. It apparently was the busiest day of the year as the usual number is about 5 or 6.
Regards, Eric |
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