Great White Shark Hunting & Breaching trip - Cape Town

White Shark Breaching Summary

This trip is a spectacular and must do trip when visiting Cape Town! To see the Great White Sharks by Seal Island you don’t even have to climb in the cage to get a good view as many of the sharks swim at the surface and some even pop their heads out to have a look at you. 

The boat heads out before dawn to witness the raw power of nature epitomized by a Great White Shark launching itself out of the water to catch its Seal prey. This is the ideal time for the Great White Sharks to hunt Cape Fur Seals as the light is still poor from underwater but the sharks can see the seals. These attacks can last for minutes at a time and the sharks have a 50% success rate at catching their prey. Many times the seals do get away by swimming to the back of the shark behind the tail. Seals are much more agile than the Great White Sharks and can quickly manoeuvre behind the shark to avoid the deadly famous jaws!

The chase can be very exciting and fast with shark and seal thrashing around on the surface. The action can go from thrashing on the surface to having the shark disappear into the deep. The seal then has nowhere to go and anxiously peers downwards into the water to try to see the shark. This is when it can get very exciting when the Great White Shark launches it’s whole mass up to the surface and out of the water in a quick ambush on the seal. You will see nothing like this and this is really a true spectacle.

After first light the hunting slows down as the sharks are now more visible to the seals. This is when the decoy is deployed and then towed behind the boat to try to simulate a seal swimming on the surface. All eyes are focussed on the decoy waiting for that magical moment when this massive shark launches out of the water just behind the boat with decoy in mouth.

Following this you will visit seal Island to see the 40,000 - 60,000 strong colony of Cape Fur Seals. It is here where the anchor is dropped and the water is chummed to attract the sharks to the boat. When the sharks are around the boat the cage is lowered into the water and cage diving commences! 

After experiencing this breathtaking interaction, we lower a cage in the water and you can have the opportunity of viewing these spectacular predators in their natural environment.

Itinerary

6:15-6:45

Meet between 6h15 and 6h45,  board boat and receive boat safety briefing and general information. Leave pier between 6h30 and 7h00

6:50 and 7:25 

Arrive at island, briefing on shark hunting behaviour and what you can expect. View natural predatory interactions between sharks and seals. Tow a seal decoy to entice a breach so clients can get a picture

9:00

Anchor boat and start chumming to get sharks to boat. Drop cage and brief clients on the cage dive and shark behaviour around the boat Cage diving and viewing. 

13:30

Return to Simons Town harbour

Included

• Guided snorkel/Scuba cage dive including gear
• Lunch, Snacks & cool drinks on boat
• Dive briefing and shark presentation

Excluded

• Return Transfer from Cape Town (Additional R350 per person sharing)

What to Bring

• Warm weather proof clothing
• Sunscreen and hat
• Camera and binoculars
• sea-sick tablets

Duration:

Usually from 6:30AM - 1:30PM (7 hours)

Number of divers on the boat:

Maximum 12 to give the clients a more personalised experience.

Transport from Cape Town:

The boat launches from Simons Town which is a 30 minute drive from Cape Town. A shuttle can be arranged for pick-up and drop-off from Cape Town at an additional cost