Travel blog: Swimming with sharks in Kleinbaai
Great White Sharks in South Africa
Wednesday, 12, Nov 2008 12:00
Richard Aylen is swapping the daily routine of an 8-5 London lifestyle for a 24-7 cross continent trip taking in Africa, south-east Asia and Australasia. From Cape Town to the Cook Islands via Chiang Mai and Christchurch, his trip will take him from the capital of the UK and deep into backpacker territory. This is his third blog:
As I dropped into the water, the first thing that hit me was the cold. The second thing was the noise, or rather the lack of it. South Africa is an adrenaline junkie's haven and the third hit was a large dose pumping threw my veins as a four-metre long great white shark swam towards me.
The freezing waters of the Indian Ocean rushed through my wet suit giving way to the surprise I felt when I dipped by body fully under the water, hearing nothing as the graceful shark glided past the cage.
Incensed by the odour of a dead fish head wafting its smell throughout the water, the great white and several others had been circling our boat for about 20 minutes. As the divers prepared for their first entry into the steel cage, positioned in the water on the starboard side of the Apex Predator, the shark entertained the rest of the boat's occupants by swimming closer and closer to the bait.
As I put on my wet suit, complete with a hood and slippers, I could hear the thrashing of the powerful predator as it reached the surface. I was about to come face to face with one of the planet's most awesome killing machines.
Rather than terror, I was beginning to feel excited as the turquoise dive weights were slung across my waist and I lined up with six other divers. Some felt uneasy about the experience and as a keen participant I found myself planted at the front of the queue.
But nothing could prepare me for the rush of adrenaline as the shark surged through the water, only heard by its thrashing at the surface, to grab the bait and swim back towards the cage releasing it at the last minute to clench several of its razor sharp teeth around the steel.
For what seemed like minutes the shark wrestled with the side of the cage as I held my breath and watched in awe, desperately hoping that I did not have to surface for oxygen in the middle of such an explosive confrontation centimetres from nature.
Screams of excitement and amazement filled the air as I surfaced alongside the other divers, leaving those on the boat envious of our close call. Sharks cannot enter the custom made 12mm galvanized steel mesh cage used by the experienced shark expert Brian McFarlane and his crew. But this did not hinder the experience.
The boat, which usually carries about 40 passengers, leaves the harbour of Kleinbaai at about 09:00 after breakfast and a brief talk on the day's activities. Brian's crew brought the boat out to a reef in between the shore and Dyer Island, a perfect place to search out the great white.
On arrival, Brian chooses his spot on the chum line (a line where the scent of dead fish will attract the sharks) before dropping anchor and laying the bait. Using a special cut-out called Gladys - designed to resemble a seal - the sharks are tempted to the waters around the boat. A lump of fish about the size of a football is the placed into the water to tickle the senses of the rest of the great whites.
Depending on the day, you can expect to see as many as ten different sharks but I was lucky enough to see 15. Having just 19 people on our boat also meant I was able to dive on three of the five occasions a group was in the cage and the excellent visibility and calm water made it a perfect day.
Finishing at about midday, the boat packs up the cage and rushes back to shore leaving time for souvenir buying before the two-and-a-half hour drive back to Cape Town began.
Costing R1250 (£75) for the dive and food, as well as further R300 (£30) for transport from Cape Town, the total day cost me about one hundred pounds, another reason to recommend such an activity. Those stopping in nearby Hermanus need only pay R150 (£15) for their return ticket when using Brian's company.
While there are plenty of other companies offering a similar experience, Brian's famous knowledge (National Geographic have filmed with him) is an invaluable addition to the experience.
For R350 (£20) you can buy a DVD of the experience, a good souvenir to relive that priceless hit of adrenaline surging through my body with nothing but a bit of steel keeping me from some of the sharpest teeth in the world.
Richard Aylen