Great White Shark Cage Dives, Guadalupe, Mexico Oct 8-13th, 2007

[Wreck Wench]

Guadalupe Great White Sharks Cage Diving, All Inclusive Nautilus Explorer Liveaboard

SAVE $100 ON ANY VIP BOOKING BY APR 1, 2007!!!!

Oct 8th to Oct 13, 2007 (7 days/6 nites) 24 spots only...7 already booked. 3 levels of staterooms & $150 of each spot sold goes to SHARK PROTECTION & PRESERVATION!!

1. Executive VIP Suite Shared Occupancy - 1 King or 2 Twins (4 spots or 2 rooms) @ 3185.00 pp - *Avail: (3 spots)
2. Stateroom Shared Occupancy (18) @ 2785.00 pp - *Avail: (13)
3. Dorm Bunks (2) @ 2385.00 pp - *Avail: (2)

Why is Guadalupe so special for the Great Whites?
This diving is simply too extraordinary to pass up and NE has been offering their own scheduled great white shark trips since September 2006. They use surface supplied air (hookah) rather than scuba which means you do not have to be an experienced scuba diver to get in the water with the sharks! The cages are large and uncrowded and very well suited for photography. Guests will be accommodated in (4) cages, each one 9' long and very comfortable for (3) divers. Each cage has wraparound bilevel viewing ports set up so that photographers can have the most unobstructed view possible (without corner posts) while either standing up or kneeling on the bottom of the cage. (2) of the cages float behind the Nautilus. The other (2) cages trail from a boom on each side of the ship offering a 360view of the shark action as well as the occasional startling moment when a great white appears from behind! Please remember that while past white shark sightings have been excellent and continuous all day long, these are wild animals and there is no guarantee that all future trips will have the same number of sightings. These trips are very photographer centric and you can absolutely and positively bring as much camera gear as you need - they ask that you hold your personal and dive gear (mask, snorkel and exposure suit) to one bag but it is no problem to bring multiple camera bags.

What we'll see and a typical agenda for a Great White Gaudalupe Trip:

WE'LL BE DIVING ON HOOKA SO EVEN NON-CERTIFIED DIVERS CAN ENJOY THIS GREAT ADVENTURE! (Final agenda set by the boat.) There will be 3 full days of cage diving on your trip. Our 4 cages are usually in the water by 6:30 a.m. and hopefully the sharks will show up shortly afterwards. We put a maximum of 3 divers in each cage -- 2 of the cages will be deployed off the transom and the other 2 cages will each be trailed from an overside boom hence becoming "360-view". Divers will initially have the opportunity to rotate "1 hour in, 1 hour out" of the cages. Really keen divers are usually able to get additional cage time on Day 2 and 3 in addition to the 1 hour rotation. The cages will be pulled out of the water by 6:30 pm. on Day 1 and 2 and 5:00 pm. on Day 3 (unless there is an irresistable amount of action going on). You may not dive outside of the cage. Our cages were custom designed and built from smoothly welded 1 1/2" schedule 80 pipe to be as safe as possible as well as super photographer friendly and most importantly, not to allow cage incursions or other injury to these magnificent white sharks.

What's included:
• You get cozy staterooms with side-by-side beds, private heads with showers, central air conditioning that delivers three air changes every hour and an exceptionally clean and well maintained boat.
• Lower deck cabins are 88 square feet and have their own portholes, while the larger hot tub deck executive suites are 144 square feet and have large windows, wardrobe and desk and a door to the outside deck.
• Food is a cornerstone of life onboard and we feature 4 star fresh and interesting cuisine with a mix of western and mexican menu items, breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets with some sitdown meals, hearty snacks and tasty appetizers and maybe even a barbeque on the upper deck or onshore.
• All non-alchoholic beverages including juice and pop are included.
• Daily room service and nightly turndown.
• Towels, bathrobe and Holey Soles provided for your use.
• Marine ID classes, kayak and sailing lessons. (Use of kayaks limited to non-shark diving excursions)
• SD.com famous "Meet & Greet" Welcome Party
• Daily "H20" Happy Hours in/around the upper deck HOT TUB!!! Note: Alcohol is available on the boat and is extra. (Or you may consume moderate amounts of wine/alcohol that you bought yourself. All divers are strongly encouraged to drink moderately and responsibly. These "Happy Hours" are far more social then anything else!)
• White/Grey T-Shirt typically with funny saying on the back commemorating the trip!
• Diving Gifts and Giveaways from various SD Vendor Partners when available
• 2nd Annual ScubaToys and SingleDivers.com Photo Contest with exceptional prizes for the winners. (Full details to be posted separately.)

Optional services available for a very reasonable charge:
• Alcoholic beverages (we stock over 30 micro brews and a great selection of wines and single malts).
• Gift shop purchases

Not Included:
• US $65 pp port fee
• Air to San Deigo Airport

Additional Trip Information:

Transfers:
If you are staying in a hotel prior to boarding the vessel:
We kindly ask that guests remember to keep their suitcases zipped closed when not in use. We have found that even the nicest hotels have those pesky pests and they would probably love to jump in for a free ride to the Nautilus! Also, please do not bring any corrugated cardboard products onboard.
Airport to Ramada Inn:
The Ramada Inn offers courtesy transfers to/from the airport.
From Ramada Inn to Guadalupe:
Departure Date Mon Oct 8 2007. Divers will meet at Ramada Inn San Diego Airport (619-225-9461) no later than 6:30pm (The boat recommends grabbing an early dinner from one of excellent restaurants on the waterfront immediately across from the hotel.) Our chartered coach boards in San Diego at 7:00 pm for a 2 hr transfer to Ensenada, Mexico and the waiting Nautilus Explorer not to mention margaritas upon disembarking!

Water Temperatures in the Sea of Cortez:
You can expect water temps in the high 60's to low 70's and a number of our guests bring gloves and a hood as well. I find that I am fine in a 5 mm wetsuit (comment by Captain Mike).

Captain's Logs:
2006-09-19
Day 1 of our Guadalupe great white shark 06 season. Our new cages are working really well and are far more stable than the ones we used last year. I'm really pleased with them. Sturdy gangplanks, DUI weight harnesses and 25 foot whips on the 2nd stage regulators are all big improvements as well.. We started chumming at 0615 this morning and had a bit of a slow start with our first white shark sighting at 0830. But we have had a couple of great encounters since then and everybody onboard is very "buzzed" and excited. -Captain Mike

2006-09-22
Saw 3 blue whales an hour ago!! Of course we stopped and watched them for a while. I thought that 40 ton humpback whales were big but these guys are enormous. Their bodies just seemed to go on and on as they prepared to "tail fluke" and do their deep dives. Also saw a mola mola or sunfish as we were drifting along with the blue whales. What a great ending to our first great white shark trip of the season. -Captain Mike

Pre- and Post- Departure Information:
1. Departure Date Mon Oct 8 2007. Divers will meet at Ramada Inn San Diego Airport (619-225-9461) no later than 6:30pm
2. The boat recommends grabbing an early dinner from one of excellent restaurants on the waterfront immediately across from the hotel.
3. Our chartered coach boards in San Diego at 7:00 pm for a 2 hr transfer to Ensenada, Mexico and the waiting Nautilus Explorer not to mention margaritas upon disembarking!
4. The ship will be ready for boarding at 9:30 pm. Transit time southbound to Isla Guadalupe is usually around 19 - 20 hours and the downhill ride should be pretty smooth.
5. Coach transfers returning to San Diego on Sat Oct 13 2007 at approx. 7:00 pm (Some will try for a RedEye out that night and others will choose to stay over until the 14th. For those staying we will have a SoCal area member Happy Hour!)
6. Prices above do not include air but do include ALL taxes except US$65 pp port fee. (Note: There may be an add'l fuel surcharge if fuel skyrockets again.)

For more information on this trip or to sign up, pm me or post in this thread. Extra $100 discount to the first 2 people who sign up from ScubaBoard! (To receive the extra $100 off you must post in this thread that you are going and your payment is enroute!)

*For the most current availability either pm me, check updates to this thread or click here.

 

[Wreck Wench]

More reports from the Captain's Log:

2006-10-09
Great sharking this morning!! We are back on station with the great white sharks of Guadalupe Island and conditions could not be more different than they were on our last trip. The seas are calm and winds are light and variable. We are anchored next to the Ocean Odyssey from San Diego, California and we have both been getting lots of great (no pun intended) shark action this morning. A 14.5 foot female has been especially cooperative and ducking and weaving back and forth and all around our cages for most of the morning. She doesn't have any tags and is remarkably free of scars or markings - I'm pretty sure that she is the great white shark known as Snow White. -Captain Mike.

2006-10-10
Another beautiful day on station with the great white sharks of Guadalupe Island. We were joined this morning by another dive boat - the Ocean Odyssey from San Diego. It's always nice to have company out here. Mauricio Hoyes and Dr. John Kelly, 2 of our favourite shark research scientists, have been out in the inflatable with a rotating crew of guests chuming and tracking the great whites. They managed to place a telemetry tag on a 3 metre male shark today and have been tracking it ever since. This particular animal hung off the back of the Nautilus Explorer for 20 minutes after it was tagged and then went deep and has been circling around our anchorage ever since. It is absolutely fascinating to watch the track of the inflatable as Mauricio and John use their telemetry gear to stay on top of the shark. There is no doubt that we are anchored right at a "hot spot" for great white sharks. -Captain Mike.

2006-10-12
The conditions at sea are fantastic today. It has been absolutely calm since we left Guadalupe Island yesterday evening enroute to Ensenada, Mexico. The seas are so flat that it is like we are still in the harbour. Beautiful. We just finished drifting with a loose pod of blue whales off Ensenada. I'm pretty sure that one of them came over to check us out - there we were drifting along with the engines out of gear with an enormous (and these guys really are ENORMOUS) surfaced and blew 50 feet off the side of the boat. He suprised the heck out of all of us. It was great!!! Today is a wrap on the Light and Motion and Backscatter sponsored HD Odyssey (high defintion video). Our guests got some great footage of the Guadalupe great white sharks and I was blown away by the quality of the videos that were presented last night. -Captain Mike

 

[Wreck Wench]

Cool been getting some questions:

Q. Are you sure non-divers can do this?
A. If they are comfortable breathing on a regulator attached to a long hose with surface supplied air...then yes! They will need some comfort in the water but there is no reason why a non-diver can't do this!

Anyone else have any questions?

 

[divepix]

I have the ship chartered the week before you so we may pass you coming in on our way out. I am almost full with 1 standard berth and 1 dorm spot left.
We promise to not take all the pictures and leave you none.

Have a great trip. Our group is very excited.

 

[Wreck Wench]

I have the ship chartered the week before you so we may pass you coming in on our way out. I am almost full with 1 standard berth and 1 dorm spot left.
We promise to not take all the pictures and leave you none.

Have a great trip. Our group is very excited.

Cool! I hope you fill your trip and I'll be happy to send you anyone who can't do it our week but perhaps can do it yours! This is a great boat and certainly the dive of a lifetime! -ww

 

[OTWdiver]

I will say this boat is incredible...extremely luxurious and a great crew! (Especially Capt Dave!) But why in the world would you want to see sharks in a cage? I'm not sure I see the appeal??

 

[divepix]

I will say this boat is incredible...extremely luxurious and a great crew! (Especially Capt Dave!) But why in the world would you want to see sharks in a cage? I'm not sure I see the appeal??

With great whites, it's more appealing to see them from the cage then outside the cage - and much more sensible. The same reason you look at lions from outside the zoo enclosure, not inside.

 

[shadragon]

With great whites, it's more appealing to see them from the cage then outside the cage - and much more sensible. The same reason you look at lions from outside the zoo enclosure, not inside.

So what is the proceedure to get them around the cage. Do you go chumming or is it a spot you are going to get them regardless?

Strange how I have no qualms about swimming in a school of hammerheads, but one GW shark makes me want to have a steel cage around me. Actually, make that titanium...

 

[Wreck Wench]

So what is the proceedure to get them around the cage. Do you go chumming or is it a spot you are going to get them regardless?

Strange how I have no qualms about swimming in a school of hammerheads, but one GW shark makes me want to have a steel cage around me. Actually, make that titanium...

Yes the boat will chum the waters to draw them to the site. They also now respond to the boat engines as well.

And yes...I'm with you...I want the cage...but I also want to see them other than just on tv!!!

 

[Trace Malinowski]

One of the reasons that I want to go on this trip as soon as possible is out of concern that such ecotourism may become more difficult in the future. Every now and then activists or legislative bodies get the urge to attempt to ban activities such as wreck diving or shark encounters and since this is my dream trip, I want to do it before the world bends to the will of a few.