By Courtney Cooper
What to look for when Choosing a Shark Cage Diving Excursion
Shark cage diving is a thrilling and exhilarating experience. Choosing the right shark diving operator and planning your trip in advance can mean the difference between a mediocre experience and a bucket list experience that you’ll never forget! If you are thinking about booking a shark cage diving trip, we have compiled a list of what to look for.
A Guide to Booking Shark Cage Diving Excursions
Location – Where do you want to do your shark cage diving trip in South Africa?
Cape Town, Gansbaai or Mossel Bay? Once you have selected your location, check which operators are in the area. Apex Shark Expeditions operates in Cape Town and facilitates bookings in the other locations.
Time – What time of year are you traveling?
Cape Town and Gansbaai are both great locations for year-round trips to see the large bronze Whaler shark and possibly the Seven Gill Cow Shark. May to September is ideal for seeing Great White Sharks, although sightings of these animals are sporadic.
Reviews
Now that you’ve you decided on your location and time of the year, you can start searching for shark diving operators on the internet. A great place to start is TripAdvisor. First check the rating, you should ideally look for a company with a minimum rating of 4 out of 5. You can also check for TripAdvisor awards that have been issued to companies based on their reviews. Apex Shark Expeditions was awarded the Travellers’ Choice Award for 2023.
Once you’ve found a company with a high rating and you’ve checked out their awards, you can start reading the guest reviews for an idea of the level of service your chosen company offers.
Website
At this stage, you may be comparing 2 or 3 companies, the next place to go is their website. Things to look out for are the website’s aesthetic, is the website professional? Check out their why choose us page to find out what sets them apart from the rest. Next, you’ll want to look at the different types of dives/tours and expeditions they offer.
Years in Service
You’ll want to ensure that the company you choose to dive with, have the necessary experience to offer you a world class trip! Long standing shark cage diving companies show that they have years, if not decades (Apex has been around since 1996) of experience looking after guests and are knowledgeable about sharks and the area they operate in.
Now you’ve done your research on the basics, and you’ve likely found a reputable company to plan your trip with. In Part 2, we’ll look at the safety, facilities, conservation, pricing and after sales aspects.
Apex Predators provides the best shark cage diving Gansbaai and shark cage diving Mossel Bay. If you enjoyed this article, you may also be interested in our other article, where we discuss the agonistic behavior in sharks.
