I went from fearing sharks to wanting to jump into the water with them...the only thing that stopped me was the lack of a wetsuit and diving gear (oh and the fact that I have never actually done a diving course so wasn't actually allowed to)
How did I actually end up in a boat feeding sharks to begin with? I was asked to chaperone a Swedish lady visiting Durban for a few days and one of the activities she really had her heart set on was ironically my greatest fear! Always the adventurist at heart myself and having an absolute love of boats and the ocean I decided it was actually going to be easier to go along with someone who could not really know I was scared...bit like when you have children, Mommy is never scared of the dark or spiders....ya right....
Anyway, so off we go in a large rubber duck out to sea at the Umkomaas river, 3 instructors, 2 visiting divers, 4 watchers and a skipper!! With probably one of the best climates in the world, we managed to pick a day which was absolutely perfect, calm exquisite crystal clear waters and an abundance of sea life to greet us. We anchored to the right of the reef and fish guts and blood were thrown into the water...within 10 minutes we had about 20 black tip sharks swimming around us. At first I was perched in the middle of the boat with one eye closed and the other one frantically looking for these obscene beasts of the ocean...once I caught a glimpse it became one of the most fascinating sights I'd ever seen. We kept starting the engine and driving around back to the anchor spot and the sharks just kept following us everywhere. By this stage I was really enjoying watching them. I had actually become a Shark Watcher!!!
So then came time for the Divers to go down...after a 20 minute briefing on do's and don'ts and how to get out of a dangerous situation they got all the gear on and back flipped off the boat into the shark infested water. Okay, my toes were curled by now and I was wondering whether these people all needed to see pychiatrists!! As it turns out the sharks actually seemed to act like puppies all excited to see them and just kept swimming round and round the divers who formed a circle under water. No raggies or tiger sharks came along for a visit which they were disappointed with but I guess that's why it didn't seem so dangerous. The one instructor explained that the black tips are very friendly and are certainly not there to eat the divers. If you stick your hand up it may just bite it off but it's not going for the kill. Just looks like a fish...so sorry for you really....
The black tips have become quite tame and seem to actually enjoy you running your hand along it; the others come along and bump the other one out the way so they can have a turn. Now this is definitely not one of those things you try at home…
So while we’re bobbing in the water watching all the action below and all around us we notice dolphins jumping out the water so the skipper starts up the engines and off we go across the water to join up with one of the finest creatures in the animal kingdom!! This is really what everyone goes out to see…that and of course whales which lucky for us were also plentiful.
We played with the dolphins for a bit but they were rather shy and darted off quite quickly. We headed back towards the tell-tale buoys and to our ‘base’ in the completely flat and ridiculously turquoise ocean after sitting for a few minutes noticed whales…so off we zooted again, got quite close and then headed back to the divers – not cool to leave them down there too long on their own (just in case there is an incident.)
After another long while the divers all came up to the surface and clambered clumsily back onto the boat. We watched the sharks below for a bit longer and then headed back to the whales with a full boat. This time the divers got the goggles and snorkels on and headed into the water. When one of the chaps came up for air making a loud groaning sound we were worried what he was about to say but he was completely in awe as one of the whale had swum directly beneath him. We followed the whales around for some time and realized they were definitely playing with us – as our engines turned off they disappeared and as soon as they came back on again the whales popped up with a burst of water and spray!! There were 3 whales swimming together and at one point the one was only about 3 metres from the boat…absolutely exhilarating…
We had been out for a long time and decided to head back to shore…whilst heading back we passed a massive turtle whose head was out the water just watching us go by…
Truly marvelous experience and something I recommend to anyone who enjoys the ocean, has never done this before and best of all has a fear of sharks. 2 of the Instructors we met have been in South Africa for 7 months having travelled the best diving spots in the world and say this is the most incredible place they have ever been.
I am booking a dive course for myself and plan on getting in that water one fine day…
If you are interested to go out let me know, tours can be booked through the Sugar Rush Website…
Written by Gill von Buddenbrock
