Cage Diving with Great White Sharks

Yes you read that correctly, I went cage diving with Great White Sharks. That was one of, if not the, coolest thing I have ever done. It can be a pretty expensive experience but I would definitely recommend it. There are several charter companies that do this trip; however, I went with Adventure Bay Charters because they do not use berley (bait) to attract the sharks, they use underwater speakers. This method is much better for the sharks.

Getting There

South Australia is one of only a handful of places on the planet where you can cage dive with great white sharks. It is not an easy spot to get to though. There are a few different tour operators but all of them operate out of the tiny town of Port Lincoln. Port Lincoln is about a 45 minute flight, or a 7.5 hour drive, from Adelaide. There are no buses, or trains, or ferries so flying or driving are the only options. Getting to and from Port Lincoln involved flying on two of the smallest planes I have ever been on, the one on the way back only had 34 seats!

Once in Port Lincoln, you will need a place to stay because the tours start early in the morning. There are only a couple of hotels and one hostel; the hostel is a YHA and is actually pretty nice. Although Port Lincoln is a really small town, I did find an Italian restaurant called Pizzeria Trieste that makes possibly the best pizza in Australia. There is also a brewery called Beer Garden Brewing that makes some good beer and is located right next to the YHA.

Shark Tour

The tour starts at the marina at 6:30 AM sharp. It takes roughly two and a half hours by boat to get to the dive location between the Neptune Islands. The first hour and a half is pretty smooth and you get to see all kinds of sea life. We even had four dolphins swimming along the front of the boat for about 10 minutes, it was breathtaking to watch. We also saw several blue fin tuna that the crew of the boat tried to catch but to no avail.

After the first hour and a half you leave the safety of the smooth water in the bay and head into rough open water of the Southern Ocean. This is were the sea sickness starts to kick in so if you are susceptible to sea sickness DEFINITELY take some medication or whatever other remedies you prefer. Since you are anchored in the middle of the Southern Ocean, the motion does not get better as you sit there. Luckily I don’t typically suffer from motion sickness; however, even I was feeling a bit queasy on this trip. Thankfully, after sitting with my eyes closed for a while and having a sandwich for lunch, I felt much better.

Getting in the Water

On the way out to the site the crew provides you with a full body wet suit, including shoes. At first I was not sure that this was necessary; however, after my first step into the water I quickly realized it was very necessary. The water in the Southern Ocean is very cold, it doesn’t get over 20C (68F) even in the warmest months. This water is so cold that it makes it difficult, and sometimes painful, to breathe.

Since the cage is near the surface, the deepest your head typically goes is at most a meter below the surface. Because of this, your air supply is attached to the boat and it does not require any SCUBA certification or experience.

Once we were anchored in the Neptune Islands, the crew instructed us on how to enter/exit the cage as well as how to use the respirators. The first time in the cage I was down for about 30 minutes just to get used to the water and the equipment. During this time we did get a short glimpse of a shark as it was swimming away but no good views yet.

Cage Diving with Great White Sharks

After our first trip into the cage we had some lunch and sat around on the boat for a few hours waiting for some sharks to come. The boat we were on was equipped with a special submersible “aqua sub” that you could go down into to see the sharks. Once I had warmed up in the sun a bit, I went down to keep an eye out for sharks. While I was down there I heard someone topside yell “SHARK” so I quickly looked around and saw a shark swimming right towards the boat.

Now that a shark had been spotted, everyone quickly suited back up and jumped into the cage. One guy didn’t even bother to put his wet suit back one! Back in the cage we were able to get several good looks at a great white shark. It swam around us for about 45 minutes to an hour. It was absolutely thrilling! Knowing that the sharks are attracted to noise, we were all trying to make noise underwater to attract the sharks closer.

After the shark left it was time to get back on the boat so the crew could pack up. Our adventures cage diving with Great White Sharks was over. All that was left was an hour and a half boat ride back to Port Lincoln.

If you ever have a chance to go cage diving with Great White Sharks I would highly recommend it! Just be prepared for rough seas, cold water, and long waits.