You can get literally INCHES away from them. At worst, they just swim away from you.
I have sat there watching as another photographer was trying to shoot up at one swimming overhead while he was completely unwittingly kicking the snot out of another one with his fins as it tried to swim past below him. The one he was kicking just gave an annoyed wiggle and took off.
If you want to get close to them, you have to ... not try to get close to them. Chill out and observe the pattern of their swimming. If they are in open water, they usually are swimming laps. Go to a spot where they will be coming and then just relax, be still, and let them come to you.
If they are in an interior space, e.g. Club Aeolus, you have to enter slowly and not going directly towards them. Otherwise, they will just leave.
As noted, they are still sharks. Do not position yourself in a way that would ever make one feel like it's being cornered. Do not try to touch them. Do not wave your hands at them.
Be cool and they will be cool.
ps. As soon as you splash, listen. You can sometimes hear what sounds like a thundercrack or a bullwhip crack. That is the sound of a Sand Tiger tail whipping when it flips around and takes off hard. You can often hear that when you splash and the sharks below realize you're coming down. The ones that don't want to be around you will be gone before you get there.
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