While we had planned on scuba diving on this trip, a series of events got in the way and prevented it. So with no real plan we flew off to Oahu to just enjoy some tropical vacation time. While having dinner one night another couple mentioned the north shore shark dives and they had a great time. At first we said oh yeah that would be great, we were supposed to be diving, only for them to counter oh no its snorkeling/freediving. So a few minutes of google searches and we landed on One Ocean.
They make it abundantly clear that the boat ride has the chance to get bumpy and you should take seasickness meds in advance if you have proclivity towards it. The rest of the arrival instructions were pretty clear, and worked out well. If you have open heel fins, they will likely ask you to use their own fins. They say they don't want the whites of your feet flashing the sharks. I'm not a marine biologist so no idea, but seems reasonable enough.
Once underway they will give you a nice little presentation about what to expect on the dive. You will tie off on the mooring ball then as gracefully as possible get into the water and hang onto, what divers would call a granny line, along one side of the boat (between the mooring line/bow and the stairs back onto the boat. The staff will take willing and interested guests away from the boat for shallow freedives. They request you don't descent deeper than the shallowest shark. Apparently, the shallower you are in the water column the higher on the shark pecking order you are, so they don't want divers going below and then ascending challenging that. Again not a biologist so nothing to back up the claim but hey it sort of makes sense.
The day we were going out the current was ripping so when along the hull you were getting pushed into it or bounced into it a bit. Nothing really to do about it but just an observation. Having had some LA County freediving training it was pretty enjoyable and was able to descend down to max depth of maybe 10-15 and hang out for a little. With the current you had to keep kicking, stronly, so as to not get pushed under the boat. Some of the less experienced snorkelers had some issue getting under or had to have the guides escort them back a little bit.
They sell GoPro footage and I would recommend it. Since they follow you on the freedives get some shots of you in the water near the sharks instead of just what you grab from your own.
Overall it was a really great experience, and one I'd rebook in a heartbeat and with this same company.
Edit: Added a photo, the sharks got plenty closer, just the best image I could easily grab.
They make it abundantly clear that the boat ride has the chance to get bumpy and you should take seasickness meds in advance if you have proclivity towards it. The rest of the arrival instructions were pretty clear, and worked out well. If you have open heel fins, they will likely ask you to use their own fins. They say they don't want the whites of your feet flashing the sharks. I'm not a marine biologist so no idea, but seems reasonable enough.
Once underway they will give you a nice little presentation about what to expect on the dive. You will tie off on the mooring ball then as gracefully as possible get into the water and hang onto, what divers would call a granny line, along one side of the boat (between the mooring line/bow and the stairs back onto the boat. The staff will take willing and interested guests away from the boat for shallow freedives. They request you don't descent deeper than the shallowest shark. Apparently, the shallower you are in the water column the higher on the shark pecking order you are, so they don't want divers going below and then ascending challenging that. Again not a biologist so nothing to back up the claim but hey it sort of makes sense.
The day we were going out the current was ripping so when along the hull you were getting pushed into it or bounced into it a bit. Nothing really to do about it but just an observation. Having had some LA County freediving training it was pretty enjoyable and was able to descend down to max depth of maybe 10-15 and hang out for a little. With the current you had to keep kicking, stronly, so as to not get pushed under the boat. Some of the less experienced snorkelers had some issue getting under or had to have the guides escort them back a little bit.
They sell GoPro footage and I would recommend it. Since they follow you on the freedives get some shots of you in the water near the sharks instead of just what you grab from your own.
Overall it was a really great experience, and one I'd rebook in a heartbeat and with this same company.
Edit: Added a photo, the sharks got plenty closer, just the best image I could easily grab.
