Gansbaai is the capital of Great White Sharks in the world with a population estimated of around 1,500 sharks. The sharks move constantly up and down the coastline and some travel very far up to Mozambique and Madagascar. In 2012 a research vessel from USA came to South Africa and tagged 38 Great White Sharks with high tech satellite tags. Their practice brought negative feedback especially how they brought the sharks to the ship to tag them and the tags used. On the positive side, over the past year we have monitored the sharks’ movements and it has been fascinating to see where the sharks travel. Some travel extreme distances but it is clearly evident that the majority of the time most of the Great White Sharks swim in the waters around Gansbaai.

The reason why so many Great White Sharks are around Gansbaai is due to the abundance of energy rich food. Gansbaai has Shark Alley to thank for that. Shark Alley is a small channel of water (approx 400m wide) passing between Geyser Rock and Dyer Island. Geyser rock is home to 60,000 a huge colony of Cape fur seals and the majority of the seals choose to stay on the lee of the Island away from the open sea in the sheltered waters between the Islands. This is a large scale breeding ground for seals and an ideal habitat for the colony with up to 12,000 seal pups born each year in the summer months.

The Great White Shark industry is over 15 years old now and started with just 2 research boats at the Island in the winter months monitoring the movements of the sharks. With this research it did not take long to work out that these waters had high numbers of Great White Sharks. Before the industry started there was no common knowledge about the sharks except for fishing tales. There is a story of a father and son that went to the Island and the father dragged the son through Shark alley on a boogie board. Thinking about doing that now would send chills down anyone’s spine! But no one in those days knew what was going on at the Island especially how many Great White sharks there were lurking around.

In the last 10 years the Great White Shark Cage Diving industry has exploded. There are now 8 Shark Diving operators in Gansbaai alone with another 3 in False Bay and 1 in Mossel Bay. Eco tourism is now a huge business in South Africa and just about anyone visiting South Africa and especially Cape Town has seeing a Great White Shark on their ‘to do’ list. With no experience necessary to see these awesome apex predators of the ocean just about anyone can go on the tour. We have had young children to 90+ year olds on the boats. The best thing about this trip is that you do not even have to get wet to see the Great White sharks. As they are surface feeders, the boat-based viewing is exceptional. Many people prefer to stay on the safety of the boat and watch the sharks circling the boat and passing the cage. If you are brave enough and can hold your breath for 10 seconds or more then you will love the experience of being in the water only inches from these awe inspiring animals. You will never forget the first moment you set your eyes on a Great White Shark and the feelings you have. You will be amazed that by the time you get back onto land you will have a completely different perspective of the Great White shark and sharks in general. We will show you that they are not mindless killers but very intelligent, cautious and selective hunters.