Unbelievable Great White Shark Experience

I’m not sure if I could think of one word to describe our trip near the Neptune Islands….incredible….exhilarating….breathtaking….unforgettable….come to mind. It was a trip of a lifetime certainly worth repeating and a trip that has spawned interest in further diving expeditions.

We arrived into Port Lincoln after two separate flights coupled with excess baggage charges. Apparently Mike and I carry too much for the regional flights and the airlines hit us hard for it. Slightly annoyed, we taxied into the quant town. We were to spend an evening in Port Lincoln before we were to meet at the marina in the afternoon the following day. We were booked at the Hilton, which turned out to be a motel who licensed the name before the Hilton chain came to Australia. Despite this, it was a nice little motel, central to the town, and we were able to use it as a base for our stroll through the city. We enjoyed gourmet pizza at a nice little restaurant and crashed early to be well rested for the adventure to come.

Per our itinerary, we arrived at the marina in the afternoon (shortly after noon) and were told we didn’t really need to be there until 6/7pm. We had several hours to burn and conveniently, there were slot machines (called Pokies here) beckoning us to slowly throw our money away…so we did. Fortunately, Mike turned our luck around with a last minute win that made us break even. When the designated time arrived, four other couples and two singles had joined us in the lounge area eagerly anticipating the famed Rodney Fox’s arrival to start us on our trip. For those who are unfamiliar with the name, Rodney Fox was attacked by a Great White shark which sparked his interest. He had since become the World renowned expert on finding and filming the animal. When Rodney arrived, we joined him for dinner and transferred our luggage onto the Princess II, the boat that would take us to the Neptune Islands.

The next morning we were abruptly awaken by the sound of the loud engines as we started on our voyage. We were guided by dolphins to our first stop was a snorkeling trip with the rare Australian Sea Lions. We geared up with wet suits, masks, and flippers and hopped on a little boat to the islands. It was amazing how wonderfully curious the sea lions were. They swam and played with us, proving their ability in the water much better than ours. We enjoyed the water (and the company!) until our limbs became cold in the chilly waters and then returned to the boat to warm up, eat, and continue on; all of us amazed at the experience we all just shared.

A couple hours before dusk, we arrived at the anchor point for our first Great White Shark experience. The surface cage was put into the water, with the bottom cage reserved for the following day. Tuna was chopped up and tossed into the water and then it was just patience. We all sat there, staring at the bait, waiting for something to happen. It was probably an hour before something finally did, and once it did, it was a mad dash to put our wet suits on and get into the surface cage. The cage only held four people and visibility was decreasing fast with the lowering sun. I only saw a glimpse of the massive fish before it disappeared into the dark waters when I got in.

The following morning, we took the boat over to one of the islands to explore and view the New Zealand sea lion pups. There were hundreds of them. Everyone filled their cameras with pictures of the cute little pups and beautiful island scenery. While on the island, the boat crew threw in bait to attract the sharks. We heard word that one had been spotted while we were on the island deterring our interest from the pups. It was time to return to the boat!

The cages were ready and waiting for everyone when we returned so everyone dressed up in their wet suits. It wasn’t long before four were in the surface cage and four others were on their way down in the bottom cage. The cage experience was different than I could have imagined. The surface cage was attached to the boat which rocked with the waves and therefore made the cage crash into the landing on the edge of the boat. You shared one of four regulators that tangled as people moved about inside the cage and the bait was hanging in the water just outside the cage. The water was freezing and ever so slowly trickling down your back and into your shoes…but any discomfort you felt by all this quickly vanished as soon as your heart started racing by the sight of the Great White passing by your cage, close enough to touch. It circled around and changed depths before it charged up to the bait. Everyone raised their hands out of the water to point out where the shark was currently located when it was close to the bait so those at the surface could watch it crash out of the water.

On the last day of diving, I did two dives down in the bottom cage into over 50 feet of water. It was a different experience all together. The motion of the boat affected the bottom cage making it shift about the bottom. On my first trip down, the cage actually tipped over! The second time I went down, we had seven Great Whites circling the cage at once along with sting rays and tons of other fish; each shark more than twice my height, averaging about 15 feet long and the longest about 17 feet. Wow.

Over the three days of diving, we saw nine different Great White Sharks; eight of which had been seen in the past and fondly named by the researchers on board. We spent the evenings learning about the sharks and how to distinguish one from another, speaking with Rodney about his adventures (and misadventures!), eating DELICIOUS food, and playing cards! All and all, a very exciting trip!

Next up… diving with whale sharks???

(PS We have over 2000 pictures to sort through and decide which to upload. Please be patient!)