Book this trip now! I cannot recommend Horizon Charters enough. If you have ever wanted to see great white sharks up close and personal, this is the only way to do it. As someone works with sharks professionally, I have seen footage from Isla Guadalupe for years. We arrived at the island before dawn and seeing the island reveal herself before us as the sun rose was pretty surreal. There is a magical quality to the island. This trip surpassed all expectations I had.

These animals are beautiful, graceful and powerful creatures, and it is a life changing experience to see them up close in their natural habitat. Over the course of three days of diving, we saw about 26 individual sharks. The shark crew knew almost all the sharks by name and you could see how they each had their own personalities. We even got to see one do a full breach from the cage! On the last day, we had 5 swimming around the boat. It was like the end of a fireworks show and you could feel everyone’s excitement!

America’s Shark Boat

The M/V Horizon is the perfect boat to take you out to Guadalupe Island. It’s one of the cleanest boats I’ve ever been on and very comfortable. Cabins are spacious for a dive boat and you never feel crowded. Throughout the entire process – from booking to hugs goodbye on the dock, you always felt informed and taken care of.

Capt Spencer runs a top-notch and professional crew. Safety is their #1 priority and they take care of you like you are guests in their house. They are all very knowledgeable about the island habitat, wildlife and the sharks. Very quickly they feel like old friends who you can laugh and joke with. The food is delicious and plentiful and they are more than accommodating to dietary needs. You can tell they also really care about protecting the sharks and their habitat. Spencer, Cary, Patric, Lalo, Patrick, Will, Laura and Shea – thank you for an incredible adventure.

Having Dr. Chris Lowe and Stefanie Brendl and the team from Shark Allies on board really added to this trip. Every night after seeing the sharks up close, they would give presentations that gave the group information about the behaviors we were seeing, new research and on-going conservation efforts. We also learned how to ID them and it was fun to sit around comparing pictures to the MSCI guide book to identify who had been in the water with us.

This is a great way to bond with old friends and make new ones. I am grateful to have new lifelong friends who share my love of sharks and the ocean.

Cannot wait to go back!