Trip of a Lifetime

You go in the cage, cage goes in the water, you go in the water, shark is in the water.....our shark.
Ever since I was 4 when I saw Jaws for the 1st time, I wanted to say that, and mean it. Finally my dream came true last week. I went with my friend CP on a Great White Shark dive to Guadalupe Island off of the coast of Mexico.

Last May when we were in Bonaire I was asking him about the Tiger Beach trip he did in the Bahamas and told him I wanted to go if he goes again. But he suggested that we go dive with the Great Whites instead. I jumped at the chance. So we booked the trip thru Shark Diving International. If you ever have consider going to see Great Whites, GO! And if you do go, go with Shark Diving International. Cant say enough good things about them. Great boat, great crew and really professional.

We went on the Searcher that leaves out of San Diego. So I drove down to San Diego to meet up with CP and his friend Tricia the night before we left. Anxiousness doesn't even begin to describe the feeling all 3 of us had before leaving. So after walking down to the dock just to see the Searcher and where it was. We decided to get a drink. And we just happened to pick a bar that all of the passengers that just got back from the same trip we were about to go on, were there hanging out. Everyone one of them were raving how great a trip it was and how many sharks there were. All 3 of us were even more excited but trying not to get our hopes up. Because you never can tell with the ocean or sharks.

The next morning we left dock at 10am and it was a 22 hour ride down to La Isla de Guadalupe. We dropped anchor and the crew started putting the cages in the water and chumming, while we sat thru our dive briefing.


On the back of the boat they have 2 cages. Each cage holds 4 divers. To conserve room, everyone is on hookah lines. Thus eliminating the banging of tanks against each other.



They divided us up into 2 groups, A and B. Group A got to go into the cages 1st. Then we would rotate every hour. There was only 15 passengers on the trip. They limit it to 16 passengers so that you can be in the water every other hour. CP, Tricia and I were in Group B so we had to wait an extra hour before getting in. Within the 1st 30 minutes of Group A being in, the 1st sharks showed up. I cant even begin to describe the level of excitement that I felt. Most of all my life I have wanted to see a Great White, just one. No matter how or how long.

And so the 1st time while standing on the boat and seeing this, made my heart stop. It was indescribable. Beyond words.




Waiting for our turn in the cage was one of the longest hours in my life. Finally its our turn in the cage.


Within minutes of being in the cage, we see the 1st shark. And all you can say is Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiitttttt. The size and the beauty of these animals is absolutely amazing. They literally took my breath away. Several times I forgot to breath, I was so overwhelmed with the power and grace of them. That was the quickest hour of my life.



All day long and every time we were in the cages, we saw sharks. Sometimes up to 4 or 5 of them at a time. The biggest was about 18 feet, the smallest about 10 feet. Think about that. The small ones were 10 feet long. Heck Yes! The big'uns weighing up to 4000 pounds. It was like watching a SUV swim by you.

The 2nd day I couldn't wait to get in the cage and by 7:30am I was the 1st one in. Everyone still a little cold and tired from the previous day was a little slower to get in the water. Which was good for me because my first rotation in, I was in the cage for 3 straight hours. The longest I went without seeing a shark was about 15 minutes. That's when I would look at my shots and delete some and see what settings are working underwater. I ended up shooting over 1000 pictures on the trip.

They also put the 3rd cage in the water, the submersible. Its big enough to hold 1 diver and 1 divemaster. They lower it and raise it on a wench and each rotation is only 20 minutes. It seems like 2 minutes while in it.


On the back cages they hang Tuna heads to draw in the sharks and to get the great open mouth shots.




For the 3rd cage, which some like to call "The Lunch Box". No bait is necessary, the sharks are naturally curious and come in to see what it is. Having a 16 foot Great White circle you while you are in a little aluminum cage is something that I will never forget and loved every second of it.

Especially when you would look down and see this swimming up at you.


And then I fell in love. I met the perfect girl. She enjoys water, loves sea food and more beautiful than I can describe. She's a little taller than me at 18 Feet and weighs close to 2 tons, but has a smile that melts your heart. Say hello to Oprah.

She showed up on the 2nd day and hung with us for the rest of the trip. She often ran off the smaller males so that she could have all the attention. And she had it. Undivided.

Nights were spent going thru pictures and reliving stories of the day. All of the other passengers were awesome. 2 of the coolest people on the boat were Heidi and Angie.


They were on the previous trip before ours, and had such a great time they came on ours since we had a few open spots. Lucky. And thanks to Heidi we had Metal Party on the 2nd night. You simply haven't lived until you listen to Iron Maiden at night while Great Whites are circling the boat beneath you.


The 3rd day was one of the best, the sun was finally out most of the day. And Oprah and all the sharks gave us all the swim-bys and photo ops we could ask for. We saw about 20 different Great Whites over the 3 days and it was a sad moment when we had to pull anchor and head home.


When we got back we headed back over to the Capts Quarters for one last drink and goodbyes.



I could jibber-jabber about how great the trip was for a long time. Instead I will leave you with the rest of my Shark pictures.