Cage Diving with Great White Sharks (Port Lincoln, South Australia)

April 21 - 24, 2017

We are soon approaching the best time of year to cage dive with Great White Sharks in South Australia (late April - June).  But before I share this particular travel adventure…I need to give you a bit of context.  

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been terrified of the ocean.  It’s not just sharks and jellyfish, or a fear of drowning, that keeps me from going more than thigh deep. It’s a “fight or flight” instinct that is immediately triggered every time I step foot in the water.  As humans, the ocean is not our natural habitat.  Even Olympics swimmers can’t compete with the grace and ease of an ocean otter, its body slicing through the water as it looks for dinner.  In the ocean, our senses are immediately deafened… our bodies crushed by waves, our sight refracted by glaring light, our ears battered by pressure, and our taste buds, assaulted by salt.  But scariest of all is the 360 nature of this world.  There are no walls. Danger can approach for any direction - up, down, side to side.  I hate it.

For those of you who have traveled or lived in Australia, you’d know that the ocean courses through the blood of most every Australian.  From birth, their toes are constantly connected to the water.  Surfing and swimming are extensions of their bodies.  Tell an Australian, you hate the ocean, and you’ll get thrown in repeatedly until you change your mind.  

I realised if I was going to live in Australia, I had to confront the ocean.  My training started each weekend forcing myself a little farther into the waves of Bondi Beach.  On my trip to the Philippines, I forced myself to snorkel with whale sharks, shocking myself with my enjoyment!  For those of you who read that post, you know that whale sharks were spotted the day I arrived and my travel partner forced me into the water with them.  It was the first time I really started to realise a potential love for the ocean.  Those magnificent beasts gently gliding through the shallow water… couldn’t give a crap that I was swimming alongside.  Their ignorance of me, made me calm.  I was so engrossed that I completely forgot about the vastness surrounding me. It was such an amazing experience that I knew I had to keep the momentum going… resulting in this blog entry.

Great. White. Sharks.  One of the most feared animals of the ocean.  Fuelled by movies like Jaws and Deep Blue Sea and unhealthy obsession with Shark Week, these beasts inspired fear, as well as a  deep admiration and curiosity, even behind glass at the aquarium.  Generally when I decide to do something… I go all in.  So of course, as soon as I thought I was “cool” with the ocean, cage diving with Great Whites seemed like a natural next step.  So I booked a non-refundable ticket on the Calypso Star, a famous cage-diving boat out of Port Lincoln, South Australia.

To get to Port Lincoln, I spent a few days driving and camping my way from Adelaide past Mount Remarkable National Park to Port Lincoln.  I had sunrise coffees with campsite kangaroos and beachside lunch stops at Greenly Beach and The Point.  It’s a lovely drive, although you can fly to Port Lincoln if you prefer.

For those of you interested in the road trip portion of the trip (Adelaide, Mount Remarkable National Park and Barossa Valley wine region, I’ve provided see my other blog post here. 

The day of the cage dive, I was up and at the boat by 6am.  It’s a three hour ride to the Neptune Islands, south of Port Lincoln, temporary home to Great Whites.  I watched the sunrise, while frosty salt water whipped my face.  

We were divided into groups of 8 and put into a dive order.  We were outfitted in 3mm thick wetsuits because we’d be down with the sharks for about 20 mins and it is VERY cold.  The tour provides a wet suit, masks, booties and sunscreen.  You can buy sickness tablets for a couple dollars and rent a Go Pro for $50.  All you need to bring is swimmers, a towel and dry change of clothes.  They’ll also sell you the pics they take for $35 (I always buy these because hell when am I going to do this again!). 

Calypso Star is the best shark boat because they have a license to “chum.”  If you are unfamiliar with the term, “chum,” it's dead fish guts and blood that they pour into the ocean to attract the sharks.  It wasn’t long before the fish bits attracted a 6 meter shark.  WOW.  At first I looked over the edge of the boat to catch a glimpse until I saw him clear the water a few yards out… no more looking over the side of the boat!

How does cage diving work? Essentially the cage hangs off the back of the boat and you enter the cage from the top, climbing down a metal ladder, to the bottom of the cage.  You have a weight belt around your waist to help you stay under the water to look at the shark and a dive respirator so you can breathe.  Between the intense rocking of the cage, the icy cold water, and the unnatural breathing, you have barely enough concentration to find the shark in the murky water and snap a pic.  

I was in Group 2 which turned out to be the best group because the water was clear because of the clouds in the sky (sunlight causes light to refract against bubbles in the water making it hard to see).  This guy was HUGE and VERY curious.  The best position in the cage is on either end because there isn’t a vertical bar in the corner of the cage, so you get a sweeping view of the shark without a stupid bar in your video.  However, it’s also the most disconcerting position due to the LACK of a bar.  I was so sure I’d panic.  I’d never used a respirator, I’d never been in water that rocky and cold, and I’d never been two feet away from a 6m shark before with no glass to separate us.

He was magnificent.  With the slightest turn of his tail he’d speed past us, one eye following our movements.  He was far more interested in us than the chum.  Pass after pass he’d approach the cage and lazily glide past, clearly the dominant species.  There is something about the lack of a glass wall that makes you really feel like you are out there with him.  It was probably the same “fight or flight” instinct that kept me intensely drawn to the edge of the cage scanning the murky darkness for another pass.  I was a mouse caught in the stare of a viper.  It was the coolest fucking thing I’ve ever done.  I probably would’ve died of exposure before willingly leaving the shark, if he hadn’t eventually wandered on his way.  After his departure, I realised how bloody cold I was and shot back up the surface.  

Adrenaline pumped through my veins warmed my body much faster than the dry change of clothes.  If I’d had the chance to get back in I would’ve.  I was so excited and awed and bloody proud of myself!  I did it!  And boy, would I do it again.  Since this trip a year ago, I’ve spent more and more time in the ocean, continuing to probe my fears.  It’s a gradual process.  If you have an intense fear of something, don’t let it get the best of you!  And if you have a fear of sharks; get in there with em!

Choose Your Adventure: Bali and the Gili Islands, Indonesia

You arrive in Bali with a bag and absolutely no plan for your two week holiday besides a plane ticket home.  From there, you choose your adventure.

You hire a car and 45 minutes towards Ubud checking each roadside ATM to see if it has any money left and pull into the drive of the first hotel that looks good as you near town (Sri Raith Cottages for one).  The hotel is just far enough away to feel remote but close enough to wander Jalan Monkey Forest and the other roads in the main town.  The roads are named for where they lead so beware the crazy forest monkeys at the end of that street!  You enjoy morning coffee on the balcony of your cottage or late afternoon coffee at Maha Bar in town.  You taste Nasi Goreng for the first time and revel in the flavors of Indonesia.

One of the days you get picked up at 2:30am for the hour drive to Mt. Batur.  You pack snacks and warm clothes. The icy grip of night leaves its frozen fingertips on your limbs but the hot chocolate and companionship warm you as the first brilliant rays of sunrise crest the horizon.  You take goofy pics of your shadows in the sun and steal tomatoes from the farmers on your walk back down.  It's rocky in places so you remember to bring sturdy shoes to wear.  

You leave the cold of the mountain for the blissful warm and sinful innocence of the Gili Islands.  The drive from Ubud to Pandongg becomes a blur of striking green rice paddies and the 1.5 hour high-speed boat is filled with beer guzzling boys, their shoulders red from the afternoon sun.

In Gili T, you feel like Goldie Locks selecting your accommodation.  You find the fancy hotels too big, the backpacker hostels too small and Gili Amor Boutique Hotel to be just right.  You're greeted by a refreshing, minty mojito and a swim in the room-side pool.  Luckily, you're just in time for the night market where you pick your dinner from a tray of fresh fish, watch it sizzle on a grill served straight to your plate.  You keep running out of the delicious lemongrass sauce they serve on the side.

You spend the rest of your week wearing a tiny thong for your mid afternoon massage, narrowly avoiding horse carts as you lazily bike through the streets and watching naughty female tourists consort with young locals at late night bars.  By day you rush to eat your ice cream before it melts down your wrist and by night you fight for your fair share of over-salted, under-bacon'd crepes.

During your morning snorkel, you catch your breath at the myriad of flashy fish, treacherous jellies and the keen sense of a world you don't belong in but can't help diving into.  You emerge terrified... and triumphant.  You return to land famished and spend the entire day laughing over pizza with new friends at Egoiste Bar commenting on the "chicken trees."  You laugh so hard you run out of tissues.

Entire nights are devoted to "practicing" with milkshake magicians, evening forest adventures and possibly even pulling up with a flat tire on your way to Surf Bar club at 4am.  The sun sets to a literal drum roll, the final rays reflecting off the tide as it goes back out to sea.

  

After you barely make your 8:30am boat back to Bali, holiday luck brings you to the mainland where you check into the Bracha Villas in Seminyak.  The room won't be ready so for dinner you book a car to Uluwatu.  On the way, you stop at Uluwatu Temple, a cliffside temple shrouded in gold, penetrated by curious travelers in purple skirts and guarded by precocious monkeys.

The frost drips down your icy beer as you watch the sky painted with millions of vibrant sunset colors from the top deck of the infamous Single Fin bar.  The fisherman bring in their days catch from the ocean below.  You jostle for the best position at the bar and then realize the sky is so big, everyone has a view.

Your first night you wander the streets looking for the shadiest bar in Kuta because it'll have the best music (Eirons Bar). You dance until the sweat pours, the dance floor empties and you're left with permanent wrinkles in your sundress from tying it above the knees.  You stick to beers because the liquor might make you blind... and not in the good way.

You wake up in a secluded villa you couldn't afford at home and refuse to leave your giant bed until the private pool seduces your hangover with its soothing cool water. The next few days are a blur: lunches at Sister Fields, French dinners at Le Bistrot, ocean-view sushi and sunsets at Ku De Ta and dirty dancing at La Favela.  

You earn a full day at the famous Prana Spa in Seminyak.  A hundred US dollars gets you three hours of Balinese oil massage, an aromatic Lulur body scrub, yogurt skin conditioning and a final soak in a rose petal and Frangipani flower bath.  The tea there is INCREDIBLE.

And finally, on your last beach walk, you gift a piece of your soul to drift in and out with the tide until it becomes one grain among many.  You leave your mark on Bali, just as it has left a mark on you.