South Africa 2023 – Umkomaas – The baited shark dive
« A baited shark-dive? And are you supposed to be the bait? »
No, relax, I was not the bait, that’s why I am here to share with you the most thrilling experience of my life. The shark baited dive is the crown jewel of the shark diving experience in Aguhlas House.
We are at Aliwal Shoal, which is one of the best spots of the planet for shark diving. In fact, sharks mate in that area, so it is quite common to see them.
« Are you not afraid? »
No, I’m not. A fair share of the economy of the region depends on shark diving. If accidents would occur, the entire diving industry would collapse. If they keep on offering shark dives, it means it is relatively safe to do it. I may be afraid of spiders, but not of sharks.
« Will you be in the cage? »
Not this time. Africa is not for sissies. I like wild nature and being in contact with wild nature boosts my energy and my mood more than anything else. It is a mystical experience for me. Layers and layers of civilization did not manage to kill my wild soul. These days I’m reading a book: Women who run with wolves. Well, I’m going to be the Woman that swims with sharks.
The night before the baited shark dive we have the security briefing.
The DM recommends:
- to maintain the buoyancy, we will be more or less at a depth of 8-10 meters
- to stay close in circle around him so that he can see us at any moment (swimming around alone is a bad idea given that context)
- to keep the arms close to the body and not to wave with our hands. If you wave your hands, the shark might think they remind him sardines and might have a bite to taste you, so forget about having hands and keep your arms close to the body.
We leave early in the morning and we are on the zodiac. Based on the local regulations, all the baited shark-dives must start from the same diving spot: the Howard’s Castle. So there we go. There is a group of divers already in the water, but they are doing cage diving and it does not look fun.
« Africa is not for sissies », we remind each other and we laugh. The DM puts the bait in the water and then the zodiac leaves. There are two different baits: one is anchovies and sardine oil, in a kind of white plastic ball with holes. The second one is blue, deeper and meant for the tiger shark.
« We are going to steel all their sharks, they’ll be angry ».
When we are far enough, he repeats again the safety instructions and we jump into the water. I’m really scared to hit a shark while going down, but it does not happen, I guess I’m just too slow and clumsy for them.
Quickly we assume a vertical position around the bait managed by the DM and wait for the sharks to arrive.
My God, they are so many, wherever I look I only see sharks and remore. They are in front, in the back, below my fins, above my head. We are surrounded. Sometimes they swim really close to us, so we can observe them well. I wish to touch them, but I know it is the wrong thing to do, so I keep quiet. They totally ignore us, attracted by the sardine oil. And they are all black tip sharks.
Sadly, the tiger shark did not show up.
