Your BEST White Shark Cage Diving Destination List Compiled
Sharks (our favorite friends) have inhabited our oceans for millions of years, making them older than the dinosaurs. Great white sharks, the best cage diving shark species are found across the world.
Great white sharks live in many parts of the world because and have no trouble migrating long distances; they can swim up to 35 mph and have a warm-blooded circulatory system that allows them to swim in colder waters. They like to congregate in areas with a lot of fish, giving them easier access to food. These areas include coastal and island regions in Mexico, Australia, California, New Zealand, and Africa.
Great White Shark and Human Interactions
While great white sharks are reportedly involved in more attacks on humans than any other kind of shark, the chances of getting bitten by one are only one in 3.75 million, according to the International Wildlife Museum. At Guadalupe island only one recorded white shark attack has ever happened.
Here are 5 places where you’re most likely to see a great white shark or, if lucky enough cage dive with them!
#1 Guadalupe Island Cage Diving
Guadalupe Island, located about 150 miles west of Baja California, has been an official nature preserve since 1925. The turquoise waters that surround the Island make finding prey a walk in the park. And with the exception of tourism the region is fairly remote, so sharks are free to roam unbothered. Today it remains one of the most popular places in the world to cage dive with great white sharks in action aboard America’s Shark Boat!
#2 Neptune Island Cage Diving
The high concentration of fur seals near Australia’s Neptune Islands lures great white sharks to the area. According to research cited by the Australian government, the area is also believed to be a mating ground because there are white sharks of varied sizes in the region.
For this reason, it remains the only place in Australia where you can cage dive to view them. And while using food bait is a common practice to bring the sharks closer, one tour operator cited in Australian Geographic has shown the sharks are strangely attracted to the sounds of classic rock.
#3 Cape Cod Great Whites
In the past few years, great white shark sightings have spiked in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. One resident from the town of Orleans told National Geographic in November 2018 that he spotted 10 great whites during one surf trip in the cape’s waters. These sightings prompted beach closures throughout the region last year.
According to National Geographic, the booming gray seal population has attracted the sharks. Scientists from Florida Atlantic University suggested the northern Atlantic waters might also serve as a nursery for baby white sharks.
#4 Farallone Islands Great White Sharks
The Farallon Islands are a small chain of islands and a wildlife refugeabout 27 miles west of San Francisco. They are part of an ocean region called the “Red Triangle,” which is named for the high number of great white shark attacks that occur there. But don’t worry — the sharks mainly feast on the population of elephant seals and sea lions that breed near the islands.
The Farallons are closed to the public, but there are companies that give boat tours of the area. In October 2018, the Coast Guard rescued a diver who was believed to be filming a documentary in the area and wasattacked by a great white shark.
#5 Dyer Island Cage Diving
The channel between Dyer Island and Geyser Rock off the coast of South Africa is inhabited by a high number of penguins and seals that make the area a year-round buffet for great white sharks. Researchers in 2013 identified 532 individual sharks swimming near the area, making it the densest population of them in the world.
If you visit the area, nicknamed “shark alley,” you can go on a cage diveto see them up close or watch them from a boat tour.
