By virtue of the fact that they are the fastest sharks in the sea capable of catching tuna & swordfish, this undoubtedly makes them especially well equipped animals. With spindle shaped bodies, sharply tapered snouts and more hydrodynamic innovations than a F1 power boat; they are the oceans answer to the cheetah & Falcon that hunt in their respective worlds. Coupled with speed, their cobalt blue dorsal surface and snow- white flanks are certainly a match for the dappled coated ones even if we observed these creatures from a purely aesthetic point of view.

Our interest in the Mako shark (Isurus oxyrhincus) has grown exponentially after each encounter ,the first of which was 6 years ago and hundreds of others since. These are the masters of the blue desert, which is the pelagic zone. Here the mako is king. Like it’s inshore relative, the great white, Mako’s control what goes on out here. In terms of their tolerance of humans in their environment they appear to be undecided of what to make of us.

Personally I have never felt openly threatened and always thought of them as highly strung athletes that provided you play by their rules you will be tolerated. Upon first investigation of a diver they are usually quite bold and will make several very close passes trying to figure out whether you are actually on the menu. If you remain calm, swim normally and constantly keep the shark in front of you, in full view, they appear to view you as another large predator competing for a food source. Undoubtedly they could easily attack, maim or even kill you, however the risk to them in terms of retaliation from an unknown predator is probably viewed as being to large to be worth it.

The other species commonly encountered by us are the blue sharks; with their silky sinuous movements and powder puff blue colour these are the scavengers of the ocean. Mako’s in our area are strangely enough very wary of blue sharks of equal length and are often very cautious when several blues are together. This is contrary to popular literature and goes against what we would expect. There is no doubt that if a similar sized mako and blue had to have a go at each other that the mako would dominate, but something seems to prevent this and the mako’s give the blues their space.

One of the mako sharks most spectacular behaviouristic is it’s ability to leap prodigious heights into the air, cart wheeling many meters above the ocean surface.

We have observed mako’s and white sharks doing this on many occasions and it appears that there must be reason to these bursts of flight. With the white sharks it is almost always around a preferred feeding station, but with the mako’s it appears to be random to the naked eye. We hesitantly suggest that this may be one of two things, the first being some or other form of communication, much like body posturing but only this would be an audible not visual cue. The second suggestion is that it may be a way of dislodging parasites that are all over extremities of the body. One may be forgiven for suggesting that this could be something as simple as “joie de vivre” where these animals simply are playing much like dolphins and whales are known to do, personally this would be a simple and gratifying solution to a puzzling question, but probably not the right one.

Up until now our pelagic trips have been the only ones ever undertaken to investigate the wonders of the pelagic world off our coast. At present our interest in these sharks is only shared by long liners who indiscriminately harvest these sharks for fins, teeth and meat never getting to know what a truly special creature this shark is. More than 50% of the world’s mako population has been wiped out in the last 14 years alone and without regulation the other half won’t be around for too much longer. The time has come to stem the red tide and make people embarrassed about their actions in the past. A shark hanging from the gallows is a disgrace not a trophy and a plate of shark fin soup is a poison not a pleasure.

Our trips leave from the sheltered port of Simonstown only 30 minutes from Cape Town. When we reach our selected destination based on our experience and prevailing weather conditions, we will begin to attract the sharks using sophisticated low frequency sound equipment which we have found far more successful than conventional methods.

Once the sharks are around the boat ( which can take from 5 min up to 5 hrs) we enter the water and then on our go ahead our guest join us in the water (no more than two at a time). We will then usually spend more than an hour free diving with the sharks and whatever else may decide to join us.

Please note that the diving part of these trips is for people who have diving experience and are comfortable with large animals in close proximity. For those that simply wish to view the sharks there will be plenty of opportunities when the sharks patrol our boat at close quarters, so just because you are not a diver does not mean you have to miss out.

All trips are weather dependant and whilst our success rate is 85% we do not guarantee sightings. We also suggest booking for 2-5 days to avoid disappointment due to bad weather.

The area we depart from is 2 minutes drive to the famous Boulders beach penguin colony and only 15 minutes to Cape Point (one of the world’s 12 Floral kingdoms and home to several antelope species as well as very inquisitive baboons) so you will have plenty to do in our area if you enjoy nature.

The vessel is a custom built 26ft high powered dive catamaran that meets all safety requirements. In the water you will at all times be accompanied by a divemaster or other highly qualified shark diver.

The high season for these encounters is Nov-June. Besides the sharks we do see dolphins or whales on 50% of our trips as well as huge tuna and other fish often investigating us during dives. For bird lovers this trip is a must with albatross, skuas , petrels, shearwaters, prions and many others sighted on virtually all trips.