Blue water diving - charm and caution

The Blue shark and the Mako occur offshore. Reaching the dive spots takes about 1 hour to navigate.

While it is not needed to actually dive deeper than 5-10 metres, the dives themselves occur in deep water, far from coastal recreational activities.

To undertake these blue water dives requires excellent buoyancy control, as there are no points of reference from the sea floor or a wall.
Divers must therefore pay attention to their depth, orientation and dive profile.

All participants are required to first undertake a check dive with us, which consists in a regular, fun coastal dive.
Furthermore, they should be certified to a minimum level equivalent to a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver and have a minimum of 50 logged dives.

Prior to each trip all divers are briefed on how to conduct themselves in the water as well as how to recognise potentially dangerous behaviour from the sharks.

Diving with sharks is a lifetime experience but extreme care is essential.

In order to avoid a negative impact on the sharks, divers are required to follow staff instruction closely.

Touching and feeding the sharks are strictly forbidden.

We use chumming techniques that keep the amount of food, blood and oil in the water at a minimum.

Should the behaviour of the sharks (or divers) warrant it, each dive may be terminated at the divemaster's discretion.

Adventure package for divers (includes Shark Diving, Princess Alice and much more)

The Blue Shark

Prionace glauca

• Average length: 2.2 metres
• Maximum length: 4 metres

The Blue shark belongs to the Carcharhinidae family. Its slender body, sensitive snout and long pectoral fins are perfect adaptations for cruising the open ocean.
It inhabits deep pelagic waters and feeds mainly on cephalopods.

The Blue Shark is highly threatened by long-line fishing, both as a target and as bycatch. In the IUCN Red List (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is classified as Near Threatened. Although widespread in all temperate and tropical oceans, few divers ever see them because of their preference for offshore waters.

Hazard
Blue sharks are potentially dangerous but worldwide very few attacks have occurred and no fatalities. During our encounters the sharks are very curious and approach closely, they do not act with aggression. These are animals of the deep ocean and, for many shark aficionados, the most elusive and hard to see.

The Shortfin Mako

Isurus oxyrinchus

• Average length: 3.2 metres
• Maximum length: 3.8 metres

Stocky and muscular, the Mako belongs to the Lamnidae family, which also includes the Great White Shark.

The physiology of the Mako enables it to maintain a body temperature up to 8°C higher than the environmental temperature. This allows it to be very fast and active, indeed the Mako is the fastest of all sharks. It is mainly found in pelagic waters at depths from about 150 metres.

The Mako is a frequent target and bycatch of long-line fisheries and also a target in big game fishing. It is classified as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources).

Hazard
While aggressive behaviours have not been displayed during our encounters, the Mako is potentially very dangerous and diving in its presence requires extreme caution and heightened awareness.