SCUBA DIVING WITH SHARKS IN CAPE TOWN - INTRODUCTION

Diving with sharks in Cape Town is not for the faint hearted, but for those who love the adrenaline rush, this experience is sure not to disappoint. We go out by boat to about 40 km’s south of the Cape Peninsula, where we go and lure the Blue and Mako Sharks out to come and play.

Our groups comprise of maximum 10 divers. On these dive trips our primary goal is to find the Blue Sharks. If we are lucky, we might encounter the Mako as well.

Pelagic sharks are not always easy to find and this activity does involve some chumming to draw the them to the diving location. They can be very skittish and the encounters are often short.

There are no cages on these dives, so it is important that you are comfortable with up close encounters with a bold animal, as well as swimming in the open ocean. Drift lines will be put out in case of surface currents. Blue sharks are very curious animals and like the Mako can come up very close to you, sometimes bumping into cameras. It is not unusual to see Blue Sharks up to 3 meters long.

The Mako is one of the fastest fish in the world. Bursts of up to 74km/h have been recorded and it is reckoned that they can jump as high as 9 meters out of the water!

You do not need to be a certified diver to dive with sharks, but you must be in good physical condition. Swimming and snorkelling skills are important, as you will be snorkelling if you are not a certified scuba diver.

The diving activities will be watched over and coordinated by one of our able scuba dive masters.

SCUBA DIVING WITH SHARKS IN CAPE TOWN – QUICK OVERVIEW

  • Diving with Blue and Mako Sharks is a whole day experience
  • We meet in the morning at Into the Blue Scuba dive Centre in Cape Town (typically at 5h30am, but this time will be confirmed with you), where we kit you out with any snorkelling or scuba gear that you might need.
  • From here we drive to Simonstown in Cape Town, where the boat is launched. Divers should be comfortable on the open ocean, as this involves a long boat ride.
  • Boat launches at 7am and you are back in Cape Town around 5pm
  • 40km boat trip to find the sharks
  • Food and snacks are provided

SCUBA DIVING WITH BLUE AND MAKO SHARKS IN CAPE TOWN - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

  1.  Is it dangerous?
    Yes. There is definitely an element of danger to this dive – you are diving so far from land that you cannot see it, and you are diving in the ocean without a cage while the water is being chummed (blood is being thrown into the water to attract the sharks). This dive is not for everyone, but is one of the best diving experiences that there is out there. If you are using scuba, good buoyancy control is a must, as the ocean is about 1km deep at this point.

  2. What are diving conditions like out there?
    Visibility is generally quite good – between 15m and 30m. The water is about 16 degrees. There can be a strong current, in which case a drift line might be thrown out for divers to hold onto.

  3. Where do we dive?
    The boat launches in Simonstown, and from here we go to about 40km south of Cape Point.
    A current with tuna flows here which attracts them.

  4. How long does it take?
    Launch times are early (typically 7am), and you should be back in Cape Town by around 5pm.

 

Gallery

Mako Shark Mako Shark's Teeth Blue Shark's Speed Blue Shark's pups Blue Shark's Teeth Blue Shark's Diet Blue Shark Blue Shark Blue Shark's coloration Blue Shark's Snout Tuna Blue Shark's Tail-fin Blue shark's length Blue Shark's Eyes Blue Shark's Dorsal-fin Blue Sharks Name

What have others said about Into the Blue Scuba Dive Center?

Globetrekker Oxford

“Top marks for safety and professionalism”....

The reason for giving five stars is not because my dive day was good - it was horrible, a complete washout, no viz, unpleasant swell, just all round yucky conditions.

However, that's nature, and dive operators can do nothing about it. What all dive operators should do is be as professional and customer-focused as the guys from ITB diving.

First thing to note is that ITB is considerably cheaper (by almost 1000.- Rand) than Simonstown operators, which is baffling considering that they also have the transport cost from Cape Town to budget for.

DMs, Instructors and Shopfloor staff are all super friendly and helpful; I even got picked up from my Cape Town digs and dropped off afterwards, free of charge.

On the boat, I saw all the emergency and redundancy gear I like to see: twin engines (VERY important!), Oxygen, comms gear, flares, the lot. Briefings were thorough, and buddy check was insisted on.

The trip to Seal Rock in the RIB was fun in the swell, but when we got there the captain did not let us dive because of the unsafe conditions. Disappointing as this was, he was totally right. Low tide and heavy swells are a dangerous combination this close to the rocks, and as for trying to get back into a RIB in seas like this....
We then tried the PMB wreck, where zero viz and nasty vertical swell separated the group and forced us out of the water after 25 minutes.

The captain did offer to try another spot but was honest enough to tell us that in his opinion it was going to be rubbish everywhere, and so we called it a day.

Back at the dive shop, we were all offered a re-schedule, but as I'm out of time I was given half my money back. I know from experience that this is not the norm in the industry, sadly.

Into the Blue is a top notch outfit that does things by the book, with a strong safety focus and very customer centered, on top of offering reasonable pricing and a fair refund policy. You'll have a hard time to find a better operator anywhere around. They'll definitely be my first choice when I pass through next, and for doing my IDC sometime this year.

Just hope mother nature will be in better mood then.

Visited April 2017

 

Clinton Bobbert

I recommend anyone that is nervous or thinking twice to do scuba diving, it is the best choice you can…

I grew up on the sea, always wondered how it must be into the deep blue sea. Then one day me and my wife decided to do an attempt to do scuba diving and I was quite nervous about going under water but thanks to the Into the blue crew and their patience and determination me and my wife found a new hobby and looking forward to go around the world and scuba dive all around the world. So from me and my wife we want to thank Cape Town, South Africa, Into the blue, for what we have experienced and thank you for opening a new world to us! I recommend anyone that is nervous or thinking twice to do scuba diving, it is the best choice you can ever make!

Marlise Jordaan

Super friendly staff. Would def recommend using this place