Since I didn´t find much information about this amazing trip , I going to try (with my poor english) to describe how was it , in my own experience as a reacreational diver, and solo traveler. I hope it help others to plan and to known about this trip.
Ok, then .
day 1: arrive to JNB at night and then took flight to Cape town.
day 2 : Cage Great Whites, and sleept at Gansbaai
day 3: Cage Great Whites and after that went to Cape town, and got flight to Durban ( sleep at Umkomaas)
day 4, 5 , 6 : Dive at Aliwal shoal
day 7,8,9,10,11,12,13 sardine run
day 14 Went back to JNB and expend the day there , Apartheid Museum, and saw some animals,
now details:
Gansbaai : In my opinion its very quiet and nice town , I did walks alone at night from my guest house (saxon lodge ) to a restaurant and around and always feels very safe.
People are very nice. About great whites,(nothing to say) they are amazing !. did it with "white shark diving company" ,
Aliwal shoal :
3 days of great diving , reef's , wreck, but the top for me was the ragged toth sharks (lots of them) , one baited dive ( also I enjoy it very much)
About the town Umkomaas, bigger than Gansbaai, also i did feel safe there. I stay at "Agulhas house" with Brett . Michelle ( amazing person, always positive) always trying to make you feel at home. and also did the sardine run with them.
Sardin Run :
We move after the 3 day of diving to mpane to a great guest house "Bulls inn" (very nice, clean and with great food home made) , and expend 7 days of the sardine run experience.
About Sardine run: Again ( in my own experience).
1 - The odds to see a BIG bait balls ( like we all see on NAT GEO or discovery channel) with, sarks , dolphins, whales and birds at the same time are very very low. ( i didn´t saw one and it was little dissapointment)
whats for sure:
2- You are going to see bait balls (small ones)
3- You are going to see hundreds of dolphins (above) ,
under the wather ( not that many)
4- Lots of humpback whales above ( jumping and crossing by) , and under water they told us that we we´re lucky because we did saw few while snorkeling every day.
5- I didnt saw sharks in action in a bait ball ( bad luck )
6- Most of the sardine run is snorkeling.
TIP: In my opinion, maybe the best advice about this trip. Since the action goes on very fast, I strongly reccommend to be in goog shape , prepare your self by swimming the most you can before this trip) so you can get closer and faster to the action. Some time you get drop off the boat and the action moves maybe 10 , 20 or 50 or more metters away and starts there, so if you move fast you can catch the action there. Also is very tired to get on and off the boat (and you do it alot in this trip) ( I did get in good shape , and I can tell you I saw twice the action than others who wasn´t in good shape).
At the end , I did saw Great whites, ragged toth, sharks, humpback whales, great divings, etc but the most amazing for me was to saw dolphins in family or groups in the wild , the way they communicate each other under water, the way the hunt and the way they protecting the small ones . To saw and live that it was once in a life time experience.
I hope it helps thisp post for what to expect and what not.
Ok, then .
day 1: arrive to JNB at night and then took flight to Cape town.
day 2 : Cage Great Whites, and sleept at Gansbaai
day 3: Cage Great Whites and after that went to Cape town, and got flight to Durban ( sleep at Umkomaas)
day 4, 5 , 6 : Dive at Aliwal shoal
day 7,8,9,10,11,12,13 sardine run
day 14 Went back to JNB and expend the day there , Apartheid Museum, and saw some animals,
now details:
Gansbaai : In my opinion its very quiet and nice town , I did walks alone at night from my guest house (saxon lodge ) to a restaurant and around and always feels very safe.
People are very nice. About great whites,(nothing to say) they are amazing !. did it with "white shark diving company" ,
Aliwal shoal :
3 days of great diving , reef's , wreck, but the top for me was the ragged toth sharks (lots of them) , one baited dive ( also I enjoy it very much)
About the town Umkomaas, bigger than Gansbaai, also i did feel safe there. I stay at "Agulhas house" with Brett . Michelle ( amazing person, always positive) always trying to make you feel at home. and also did the sardine run with them.
Sardin Run :
We move after the 3 day of diving to mpane to a great guest house "Bulls inn" (very nice, clean and with great food home made) , and expend 7 days of the sardine run experience.
About Sardine run: Again ( in my own experience).
1 - The odds to see a BIG bait balls ( like we all see on NAT GEO or discovery channel) with, sarks , dolphins, whales and birds at the same time are very very low. ( i didn´t saw one and it was little dissapointment)
whats for sure:
2- You are going to see bait balls (small ones)
3- You are going to see hundreds of dolphins (above) ,
under the wather ( not that many)
4- Lots of humpback whales above ( jumping and crossing by) , and under water they told us that we we´re lucky because we did saw few while snorkeling every day.
5- I didnt saw sharks in action in a bait ball ( bad luck )
6- Most of the sardine run is snorkeling.
TIP: In my opinion, maybe the best advice about this trip. Since the action goes on very fast, I strongly reccommend to be in goog shape , prepare your self by swimming the most you can before this trip) so you can get closer and faster to the action. Some time you get drop off the boat and the action moves maybe 10 , 20 or 50 or more metters away and starts there, so if you move fast you can catch the action there. Also is very tired to get on and off the boat (and you do it alot in this trip) ( I did get in good shape , and I can tell you I saw twice the action than others who wasn´t in good shape).
At the end , I did saw Great whites, ragged toth, sharks, humpback whales, great divings, etc but the most amazing for me was to saw dolphins in family or groups in the wild , the way they communicate each other under water, the way the hunt and the way they protecting the small ones . To saw and live that it was once in a life time experience.
I hope it helps thisp post for what to expect and what not.
