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!

Memories of Burning Man 2014 - Black Rock City, Nevada

Time has made writing this somewhat less painful, though no less poignant. The sand and wind may have erased the evidence, but the Playa remembers our footsteps and our stories.  This was my first burn and it's taken over a month for my feelings and perspectives to properly soak in so that I could share them with you.  Enjoy it.  Judge it.  But please at least read it.

I had no idea what to expect. Well, I had some idea that I’d conjured up in my head - a desert of campers half naked, half stoned, sharing the earth for a week.  I'd purposely refused to watch the trailers or read more than I had to to come prepared.  What I wasn't expecting was the openness, the acceptance and the placing aside of the real world's bullshit for a week.

Burning Man came at a time in my life when I needed to cleanse my soul. Ironic in a place where the closest thing to a shower is a foam party.  Sure, what you’ve heard is true…some of the best parts were the drinking and partying and dancing until dawn.  It was a shitload of fun.  But it was the people, the music and the creative abandon of this transient place that truly captured me.

 

 

 
Within hours of arrival, I found myself sitting on a couch next to a guy who must have been growing his wildly colored dreads for a decade.  Every surface covered in tattoos and piercings. He was the guy my mom would've told me never to sit by on the subway.  But Burning Man encouraged me to hug that man and hear his story and walk away thinking he was the most interesting man on Earth.

Whether it was this tattooed man, the bartender who raised llamas or the British lawyer dressed in harem pants...everyone had an amazing story and a different reason for being there.  And the care these people put into celebrating what they have and each other was astonishing.  I don’t care what you've heard, 68,000 people living together without significant crime, no form of currency and very little trace of waste is impressive.  Hats off to us, damnit.  Imagine if every person in the world put that much effort into the world we live in the other 51 weeks of the year.  Fuck the world would be great!

Most of my time was spent mesmerized by the imagination of people.  In the real world you run into brilliance and knowledge and intellect a lot, but you run into less and less creativity.  The real world is tired, sold out, and bored.  Burning Man?  Picture Peter Pan's Neverland... But better. Because the grownups haven't forgotten how to believe in fairies and magic; they've turned a scrap of dirt into a real life Neverland where you could board a plane to Pandora, ride inside a giant glowing fish blaring disco music or dance in homage to the rising sun among monkeys, unicorns and purple dragons.

People who talk about Burning Man reference the movie-themed Thunderdome, the orgy camps and the wasteful, rich camper vans that are "ruining the neighborhood."  

People overlook the smaller theme camps where imagination is living and breeding and spreading.  I walked down the street one day wistfully wishing I’d brought more costumes only to be accosted by a leprechaun who asked me to be in a fashion show. Without question I said “yes” (the favored word of Burning Man) and was led into a room filled with crazy clothes to select an outfit and parade it down a handmade runway.  And after that final twirl, I stepped off the runway and continued down the street ecstatic in my new do that was magically mine to keep! 

And then there’s the Playa, where the million dollar art cars and sound camps and Temple get a lot of the love.  And please believe... I loved them too.

 

Open your eyes and ears to the random smattering of art structures that appear out of nowhere or the DJ that took his four-wheel van and turned it into a narwhal that played the best beats I heard all week.  Move over Skrillex; meet DJ Little John.

 

Photo Credit: Matt McConnell

 

 Photo Credit: Matt McConnell

 

Which brings me to my favorite part: the music. As a rabid music connoisseur, I read through the Burning Man booklet of "DJs and bands" that would be playing throughout the week and of hundreds of artists, I recognized one.  Problem?  Hell no! I was so stoked to see what new tracks I’d uncover.

I've often wish for a "soundtrack to my life” and this was the first time I encountered one. From dawn ‘til dusk ‘til dawn again there was music. Drum lines, acoustic guitar, dance, and deep deep house. 

 

 Photo Credit: Matt McConnell

Walk a block; hear something different. And it wasn't just the sound.  It was the feel and visuals of the music…Lasers, lights, smoke and hypnotic soul-soaked bass.  At night, Burning Man became a world of music made physical for us all to share and revel in.  Headphones not included, only music that could be experienced together.

 

 

 

 

The magic hour was near sunrise when the music lured the faithful out to the deep Playa. I’d look around and see nameless faces on bikes cycling silently towards an unseen destination with only music to light the way.  As the sky turned to pink, the music would change its tempo, its volume, its mood and the crescendo would come to pops of champagne and cheers as the sun crested the flat horizon.   Each dark night leading to another dazzling day.  I’d snatch at that moment like a child chasing glow bugs, hoping to capture the feeling and internalize it deep down inside me where I could turn to it and remember long after this fleeting world was gone.

 

 

Some of us came to Burning Man to temporarily run away (I know I did) but I think we can all agree that we found ourselves running TOWARDS something instead - understanding, friendship, love, peace.  At least those are the things I walked away with. An understanding of a world outside of my NYC bubble. Friendship and love for a group of people I’d known for days and will cherish for decades. And an inner peace that I return to on rainy days when work or love or friendship sucks. A peace that reminds me that each day is what I make of it. Whether it's having the balls to make a friend of a subway stranger or be open to love from an unexpected place, I left with my eyes and heart open.  And I count the days until I can cleanse this soul in fire on the sands of the Playa.

 

The media, the rich, and even the original hippies are all responsible for diluting the meaning of Burning Man.  The media portrays it as a pagan sex camp, the rich introduce campers and showers and waste, and the original hippies bitch about “how it used to be.”  I challenge anyone to say that Burning Man is going to shit.  Maybe for you.  But that doesn’t mean that others can’t experience it and feel something about it for themselves.  For those of you who might only experience it through word of mouth or blogs or YouTube, I implore you to ponder these final thoughts before forming an opinion and maybe, just maybe, try it.  I was scared shitless and I'm SO glad I did it.

1. We can be whatever community we want to be; we just have to try.
2. The person you least expect is probably the most interesting one. We all judge. Yes, even you.
3. You never know when and where love and friendship will find you. Leave yourself open to be surprised.
4. Spend less time worried about other people’s motives and bullshit. Focus on your own and leave it all on the table.

I'll end with a special shout-out to the artists, musicians and people that I met throughout my week at Burning Man.  Be sure that you each left your unique mark on me and you won't be forgotten.  From family dinners to clumsy bike rides to early mornings dancing to the music of the Narwhal... "Happy New Year."  I look forward to seeing you all again next burn.

 Photo Credit: Matt McConnell