Great White Shark Cage Diving in South Australia. Wear the Brown Underpants!

One thing I’ve always wanted to tick off my silly travel bucket list was to go Shark Cage Diving with Great White Sharks. However, I’ve been thwarted to offer myself up as shark bait for the last couple of decades because I’ve had opportunities to do this in South Africa, only for rough weather to cancel my attempts on two occasions.

So it must have been third time lucky when Calypso Star Charters invited me to finally fulfill this dream (I really hoped that Great Whites don’t like ‘Italian’) by offering me a spot on one of their trips.

And I decided to say yes as I’ll give *almost* anything a try almost once! Even if it seems a tad risky on the surface!

If you really want to feel like you’re living, there’s nothing like hanging around in a cage watching this set of rather large chompers race towards you:

The poor old Great White Sharks have copped a bit of flak in the past. There’s nothing like a shonky shark movie called Jaws to unrealistically strike fear into anyone who loves the beach.

But I have nothing but respect for these carnivores of the sea. And I thought it was a good excuse to experience seeing them in my own country. There’s only one place in Australia (which is only of a few places in the world) where you can go cage diving to see the Great White Sharks.

Shark cage diving in Australia is limited to the Neptune Islands off Port Lincoln in South Australia, under strict environmental conditions imposed by both the South Australian and Commonwealth Governments.

So basically, this is how the trip works:

• You leave Port Lincoln at around 6.30 am and travel about two and a half hours to get to the Neptune Islands, where the Great Whites hang out.
• Make sure you take some seasickness tablets. The vast majority of the boat brought up their breakfast on the trip out and vomit probably doesn’t act as a great shark repellent. But it could be worse, as the boat has a gyroscope which reduces boat roll significantly!
• You get dressed up in a 7 mm wet suit because the water temperature is freezing cold (it was 15 degrees Celsius on the day I went out) which means this has an extremely high shrinkage factor for any man. You then add a weight belt to make sure you don’t bob around too much in the cage.
• You then hop into a cage (a total of 8 people per group) with an air hose and you can watch the Great Whites swim by. I highly recommend bringing a Go Pro, or hiring one from the crew to take some great underwater shots.
• Once the groups have finish, you then take a two and a half hour boat trip home where some people can bring up their lunch! And you get home sometime after 5pm, depending on what happens.

Seriously, it’s totally worth it, even if you do feel a bit queasy on the way out!!

I borrowed a Go Pro for the day and you can check out my Shark Cage Diving Video below. I’ve included a very detailed chat with skipper Andrew who talks about a lot of the safety features and kinds of experiences that he’s had over the years.

Here’s Andrew below, who’s a bit of a character – feel free to go up to the wheelhouse to have a chat to him, he’ll tell you everything he knows about the sharks as he’s been seeing what they do for well over a decade:

Anyway, here is the video – I took all of this footage of a Great White Shark circling (and brushing) the cage I was in.

Great White Sharks Video – Shark Cage Diving in Australia

Yes, there is even a shark selfie in there!

Okay, the first thing people asked me about this trip is safety. Ironically, my timing was impeccable because I went on the trip a couple of weeks after a crazy video of a Great White Shark entering a cage in Mexico (totally a freak occurrence) went viral and broke the internet way more the Kim Kardashian’s naked back side.

But there were no such problems! Actually, I felt safe at all times. One added bonus is that you don’t have to keep resurfacing for air like you need to in other places like South Africa as you have an air supply to keep you underwater for as long as you want to.

Think about it, you’re just under the surface, and have a big sturdy cage around you. I’ve been free water diving before, and if something goes wrong, you’re screwed. If something wrong in the cage with the breathing gear, you just get out of the shallow water you’re in.

The cage is built as tough as the proverbial brick outhouse and all of the staff were extremely professional, especially when helping out first time divers who had never used a breathing apparatus before!

You’d have to be an idiot and stick your arm outside of the cage while a Great White Shark was swimming past for it to cause you any damage.

What’s scarier than the sharks is the cold water temperature!

And the cage is also friendly to the sharks. For example the cage is designed with curved edges so that the shark it protected if it accidentally whacks into it – which can happen, and you’ll see this occur in my video above.

Remember, you’re in their environment, and you do what the crew say you should do. When you see the Great White Shark glide past you, you can’t help but admire them. They are magnificent creatures and the more awareness about them, the better.

I think these kinds of trips are a great thing, because it gets people talking and aware of these magnificent creatures – as they are currently listed as vulnerable and we don’t know a lot about them. Plus the crew monitor and record what they see each day in terms of the number of sharks seen (including tagged ones), as well as their behaviour.

Having this data and behaviour constantly monitored will raise the knowledge base for these animals that scientists can use to help inform on the best way to protect the Great Whites for future generations to see.

As you can see, we had four individual Great Whites visit us throughout the day, including a massive 4.5 metre (15 foot) beast that took my breath away.

If you’re brave enough to face the cyrotherapeutic temperatures of the Australian winter (in the middle of the year), this is the time to see the 5 metre plus (16 foot+) females that visit the area. Wow, that’s big.

In terms of the experience itself – the sharks weren’t too interested in the humans inside the cage. They were more interesting in swimming around and were more curious than aggressive.

Overall, this is a great day out, and you’ll never forget it – nature at it’s best!

If you don’t quite want to get in the water, you can go as a spectator but life wasn’t meant to be a spectator sport, so suit up and get into it!

A Great White Shark Highlights Reel – Some Awesome Photos!

You know, doing this kind of experience is a bit like going on safari in Africa, but in the ocean – you know you’re going to see something, but you don’t know exactly what you’re going to come across until you see it, because animals are unpredictable.

Calypso Star Charters have a 85% strike rate in terms of spotting a Great White Shark on their trips – so the chances of you seeing one is pretty high!

Check out some of the amazing shots Calypso Star Charters have come across over the years. It just gives you an idea of what you just might come across if go on one of their trips.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: yes, I was provided this experience by Calypso Star Charters, but all opinions expressed are all of my own!

See more at my boating jokes!