Swimming with Sharks

Swimming with Sharks

Swimming or diving with sharks is a dream for most people, especially nature enthusiasts such as you and I. If you were to speak to like-minded friends or acquaintances and ask them to name their top ten bucket list activities we have no doubt swimming with sharks would feature highly on their list of desires. Whether it's the perception of fear that sparks an emotion of exhilaration or the gratitude of sharing time and space on earth with these magnificent fish, you will undoubtedly walk away from your shark experience with a sense of amazement.

Swimming with sharks with Ultimate Wildlife Adventures comes in many forms and covers several species of sharks. We are fortunate to operate in both the tropical Indian Ocean bordering the eastern coastline of Africa and surrounding the Zanzibar archipelago and the temperate Atlantic Ocean bordering the south-west and western coastlines of South Africa and the western coastline of Namibia. These two distinct oceans provide very different habitats for a myriad of marine life, including different species of sharks, to thrive.

The warm, tropical waters of the Indian Ocean provide coral reef habitats for several reef sharks such as the whitetip reef shark and blacktip reef shark. However, the real crown in the jewel of the Indian Ocean, well certainly when it comes to sharks, is the presence of the largest and heaviest fish on the planet, the majestic whale shark. These gentle giants of the ocean, with a mouth diameter of 1.5 metres are completely harmless to human beings. Due to their massive bulk they swim nonchalantly through the ocean at a top speed of 3mph. This makes them the perfect companion for you to swim closely with and produce photographs and videos that will serve to reignite your experience for decades to come. Both species can be observed on diving excursions or equally as effectively by use of a snorkel and mask.

As we move to the colder waters of the Atlantic Ocean we captivate minds by designing itineraries which include cage diving with the most feared shark of them all, the notorious great white shark. Cast as the nemesis of fisherman, surfers and beach goers throughout Hollywood movie history the great white shark became feared by many cultures across the world. Although largely a gross misconception of this shark's true nature, the typecast remains and is one of the main reasons our guests 'test their nerve' in the cage. In reality the cage provides divers with the opportunity to literally come nose to nose with this ultimate predator in complete safety. South Africa is amongst one of only a few shark cage diving destinations on earth due to the relatively dense volumes of great white's residing along the southern coastline. These apex predators aren't the only sharks who may visit the cage. Broadnose sevengill sharks, copper sharks (bronze whalers), mako sharks and blue sharks are all regular cage visitors. It is also possible to dive in the open ocean with mako and blue sharks on one of our diving expeditions out of Gansbaii.

At Ultimate Wildlife Adventures we are always looking to offer different experiences and access to the widest scope of wildlife possible. We have added opportunities to dive the kelp forests off the coast of the Western Cape in search of endemic Southern African shark species including the puffadder shyshark, leopard shyshark, dark shyshark and the spotted gully shark, all of which are found nowhere else on earth.

We invite you to join us on a single trip or even multi-day package to experience sharks in the underwater world off the coasts of Africa.