Top 3 Places for Great White Shark Encounters | Guadalupe Island

guadalupe island shark cage diving

Top 3 Places for Great White Shark Encounters | Guadalupe Island

Shark Week 2019 is coming and you are probably thinking about great white shark cage diving encounters. At least we are, so here’s the TOP THREE shark cage diving locations on the planet where you can get your shark on, before or after watching us this year on Shark Week at Guadalupe Island…there we said it, we’re back on Shark Week this year!

#1 Isla de Guadalupe, Mexico aka Guadalupe Island aka Guadalupe

There’s no place like Mexico’s Guadalupe Island, which is why it is the #1 shark cage diving location on the planet right now. For the past 19 years we have sailed to this craggy volcanic outcropping 210 miles off San Diego, California. It’s wild look and remote location makes it the perfect backdrop get into the waters with great white sharks. Great whites and even a few makos patrol the waters here from August through November like clockwork each year. Shark cages are lowered off our boat’s stern each early morning while coffee is brewing and shark diver breath surface air through a hookah all day long. America’s Shark Boat guarantees shark encounter or you get a free trip back plus offer the lowest all inclusive pricing!

When to Go: August through November is peak season for seeing great whites off Guadalupe Island.

Operator: America’s Shark Boat has two surface cages that take eight guests per hour.

#2 Neptune Islands, South Australia

Just squeeking in behind Guadalupe Island is Australian Rodney Fox’s outfit with his son, Andrew offering shark cage divers the best shot at seeing great whites of South Australia’s Neptune Islands. The islands are home to the country’s largest colony of breeding New Zealand fur seals. Cage diving here is your best chance to see the enormous female great whites that can reach around 20 feet in length.

When to Go: Trips take place during summer and winter, from the end of November to the end of February, and from late May until the end of October.

Operator: Rodney Fox Shark Expeditions runs two and three night expeditions during summer.

#3 Seal Island, South Africa

The murky green waters of South Africa might not deliver the clearest visibility of the four shark-diving destinations, but entering the cage and watching from the boat in False Bay is your best opportunity for seeing the animals pull an incredible “Air Jaws” maneuver — breaching fully out of the water in pursuit of a fur seal or the towed decoy. Seal Island, a short 25-minute boat ride from the mainland and less than an hour from Cape Town, teems with the great white’s favorite snack seals!

When to Go: You can dive with the sharks at Seal Island from April to mid-September — outside those months they move inshore to feed on game fish and smaller sharks.

OperatorApex Shark Expeditions runs small trips with no more than 12 guests and a maximum of two people at a time in the cage (breathing through snorkels).