Guadalupe Island Destination Guide | Cage Diving

Posted on | by Shark Crew
guadalupe island shark cage diving

Guadalupe Island Destination Guide | Cage Diving

Diving with Great White Sharks at Guadalupe Island 

Guadalupe Island cage diving is sought after by divers from around the globe for face to face encounters with the most feared fish in the ocean, the Great White Shark. You are guaranteed close-encounters with white sharks at this remote and unique island. Very close encounters. From behind your cage, you will witness white sharks passing your shark cage only a few inches from your nose.

Guadalupe Island Marine life 
In addition to sharks, you will see white sharks, great white sharks, and Carcharodon carcharias. You may also occasionally see sea lions (prey), and baitfish (prey for the sea lions), but it’s all about the White sharks and cage diving on America’s Shark Boat.
What’s the diving like at Guadalupe Island? 
There are set rotations, with divers taking turns going into the cages. One common scenario is doing 3-4 45-minute dives per day. Even though you only see great white sharks, these trips are never boring. There’s an incredible amount of adrenalin pumping every time you are in the cage. Almost all of the time white sharks will be going by. Generally you will see 1-3 sharks at any 1 time, and a total of 10-20 individuals over the course of a 4 day white shark cage diving trip.
Types of Shark Cages at Guadalupe Island
America’s Shark Boat uses surface shark cages. A surface cage is tied off to the boat, and floats on the surface. The cage is entered from the swim step of the MV Horizon. Our shark divers use a hookah system, with a max depth of 5-15ft.
Out of Cage Experience Guadalupe Island
In the past some trips have allowed divers to get out of the submersible cage and stand on top of it. This is basically “cageless” great white shark diving, with the option of jumping back down into the cage if you need to. Today it is 100% illegal at Guadalupe Island and if you see someone advertising this experience please report them asap.
Getting There Guadalupe Island
After arriving in San Diego, California you’ll boat America’s Shark Boat and depart for Guadalupe Island. It’s a day’s boat ride (18 hours) to Guadalupe Island. Sea-sickness can be an issue, bring your meds.

Shark Cage Diving Visibility 

50,100ft, excellent

Best time to go to Guadalupe Island to see great white sharks? 

August to November is the best time to go.

Temperature 

Cold. In the 60’s, 7mm suit or drysuit is recommended. Because you are not swimming, but remaining still in a cage, the water will seem colder than normal.

Underwater White Shark Photography Tips 

Use a wide-angle lens! Leave your macro lens at home. Fisheye or rectilinear lenses work fine. Use short strobe arms, it’s impossible to use large strobe arms because you are in there with other divers. 6 or 8 inch single arms work well. Use you strobes on manual power, low power, with diffusers to help avoid hot spots on their bellies.Fast shutter speeds help, at least 1/125th of a second. Use high-speed shooting mode on your camera if possible.

Guadalupe Island Liveaboard

America’s Shark Boat runs shark cage diving tours from August to November. Shark divers board the boat in San Diego, Ca and overnight to Guadalupe Island. They offer a 100% price match guarantee and the lowest all inclusive pricing in the industry.

You could pay more to cage dive with white sharks but why would you?  $2,999 per person.