A huge dream came true for me today!! I finally found myself face to face underwater with a great white shark!
The last destination of our Garden Route tour was in the heart of Gansbaai, a small town on the coast that is known as the “great white shark capital of the world.” As many of you are probably aware, before I left for my trip, shark cage diving was the main event that I was raving about. I had been looking forward to this moment for three months and my opportunity had finally arrived! Christie braved it up with me and the two of us left the other girls on shore as we boarded the boat, called “The Nemo,” for our big adventure.
My heart started pounding with nerves and excitement when I saw the cage on board and even harder once we started speeding out to sea. Once we reached our destination and the anchor was settled down, we changed into our wetsuits and started to get ready. It was extremely chilly that day, especially out on the ocean, and the water was incredibly cold; I began to get a little nervous just for submerging in the icy water! The operating men lowered the cage in the water (big enough to fit five to six people) and frankly, things got real. I of course volunteered Christie and myself to be in the first group to dive. We donned goggles and slipped on some weights over our shoulders to keep us in the cage (an equipment piece I was not aware was part of the getup and my jaw dropped to the floor when it was presented to me). Christie was leaning over the cage ready to go when the guy told her to simply slip herself inside the cage, to which she loudly replied, “Are you KIDDING me!?” Getting myself in that cage was one of the hardest things I’ve ever made myself do, and believe me, with all the adrenaline coursing through my veins, the iciness of the water was far from my mind.
The cage’s floor was low so that we would be completely submerged underwater, but the top of the cage provided enough room so that our heads could be just above water. I grabbed onto the top bars with my hands, but panicked a bit in the beginning because with the weights attached to me and simply the logistics of my body floating in the water, my legs were involuntarily drawn forward through the bars. That was NOT okay with me. I ultimately found the “safe” bar located knee-level inside the cage where I could rest my feet. The guys started throwing chum in the water to attract the sharks, along with a buoyed rope that had a huge fish head attached to its end. When the sharks started smelling the bait and approaching the cage, to say it was thrilling would be a massive understatement (a phrase I feel I’ve used a lot here). They would call out the direction of where the shark was coming from and we would dive under. The visibility in the water wasn’t too great, but most of the times they were so close that they were definitely within our sight. Most of the sharks surrounding the boat the whole morning were longer than the cage! When my head was above water, to see the typical image of a shark fin breaking the surface and gliding towards me while being underwater was one of the most adrenaline-pumping moments of my life.
Since we were the first group, the shark sightings were only a warm-up. As more and more began catching the scent of the fish in the water, their numbers and closeness to the cage started multiplying. We watched the other groups from the boat, which afforded an even better (albeit slightly less “personal”) view of the great whites, since the visibility was much better and we could see the darkness of the their forms elegantly swimming from above water. By now, the sharks were actively attacking the bait, grabbing the fish head with their massive jaws. Some would thrash in the water and their massive tails would smack against the side of the cage – one of the guys jokingly called out, “Don’t leave any surprises in the wetsuits!”
Christie and I got another chance to reenter the cage (a total of 40 minutes inside!) By this time, I was itching with excitement to get back in since the action had picked up considerably. I had also grown more comfortable with being in the cage and was certainly convinced of its safety. I told the guys from above to put the bait right in front of me and sure enough, the fish head landed right before my eyes. Seemingly out of a nowhere, a huge great white thrusts forward and grabs the bait in its teeth, almost staring me right in the eyes – I was literally a foot away from the wide open jaws of a great white!! I could have reached out and touched his pointy teeth. He finally let go and swam off to the side, gliding in front of the cage for me to get a full look at the size of him. The whole commotion had caused waves of water to splash all around us and everyone was screaming at the tops of their lungs with excitement.
Back on the boat, after I had caught my breath, the last group was waiting for one more sighting before it was time to head back to shore. I was standing in the perfect position right on the edge of the boat when the final great white bid us an incredibly exciting good-bye. The largest shark seen yet lunged for the bait, held on tightly to the fish head and would not let go. He started violently thrashing his head from side to side, kicking his tail against the cage, trying with all his might to rip the bait off the rope. Everyone was screaming and laughing, amazed by the display. After a good ten seconds of fighting, he finally lost interest and majestically swam back out in the ocean. All the passengers on the boat were chattering nonstop about the incident on the entire way back to shore!
My trip feels complete now that I’ve tackled my most awaited-for adventure. The whole experience was even greater than I was expecting and I’m so lucky I was able to have this opportunity. The van was quiet with exhaustion on our ride back to Cape Town and as fun as our Garden Route tour was, we were happy to return to “home sweet home.”
Here’s to my last week in South Africa – I plan to make the best of every single minute.
xo Em
The cage...dun dun dunn!
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