Cage dive with great white sharks

“There is no denying that I was petrified to go cage diving with great white sharks. Admittedly, I had a complete panic attack during my first dive that included crying, hyperventilating and almost giving up completely. I was overcome with fear; I couldn’t function. Once I got in the water and watched the actions and reactions of over a dozen different great white sharks, everything changed. I was mesmerized by how they moved and the way they behaved.”

“During our first dive, we both seemed to miss the shark passing. We went down too late, held our breath too long and then came up just as the shark was passing again. Soon we figured out the rhythm. When the guide yells “down,” you go down quickly, watch the shark pass and head straight back up. Don’t wait around for more things to happen, the shark has to turn around. Use that time to catch your breath.”

“As we entered the offices of White Shark Projects in Gansbaai, South Africa, we couldn’t understand all the sour faces. People ate their buffet breakfasts in silence and barely a smile was cracked when we said ‘hello.’ [...] It turns out, that as we started to talk to more people on the way out to our dive site, our fellow passengers were terrified! [...] Tensions were high and many people were chickening out. When our guide asked us who would like to go in the first group, there was barely a hand raised in the air.”