Isla Guadalupe - Great White Shark cage diving

Guadalupe Island scuba diving features

Great White sharks

Cage diving

DESTINATION OVERVIEW
Guadalupe Island is famous for just one thing – it's population of Great White sharks. Located to the east of the Baja California Peninsula, there is no scuba diving around Guadalupe for obvious reasons... Despite that, we can say this is one of the most thrilling diving experiences we have ever had.

There was no doubt about it: we did not expect to be impressed. Well, impressed but not that impressed. Actually, we are not sure what we expected, but it wasn't the 100% full-on adrenaline rush that is a face-to-face meeting with a great white shark.

On the first morning of our trip, we were up with the dawn (but we always do that) and wandered to the stern of the Nautilus Explorer. Four surface cages had been in position since the previous evening and a submersible cage was hanging from a boom arm over the water. We stood there bleary eyed, coffee in hand when suddenly, out of the blue, a grey shadow appeared.

A monster grey shadow. It rose to the surface and swung past the first cage. It swung past the second cage. It's tail was still off the the port side of the boat. Oh my! Our wetsuits went on in a flash and we dropped into a cage, breathing from a hookah, and there was the ocean's apex predator. Right beside us. Looking at us. A fully grown, male great white shark was in touching distance and he was a phenomenal sight.

Seasons: August – October
Visibility:10 – 30 metres
Water temperature:
18 – 24º C.
Deco chambers: La Paz

Flights: to San Diego or Tijuana

Transfer: by road (2-3 hours) to Ensenada in Mexico then by boat (20 hours) to Guadalupe

Liveaboard:
Nautilus Explorer

PROS AND CONS
There is only one real negative about this trip – it takes a long time to reach Guadalupe island and the trip is through open ocean, which can be rough. The trip is also expensive but it is the only opportunity most scuba divers will ever have to sit within inches of a Great White shark and know they are safe. It is truly worth every penny.

OPINION
Like almost every diver we have ever met we were cynical about both cage diving (well, it's not real diving is it?) and how much we could enjoy seeing a marine creature in this way. It's almost impossible to describe how good the experience was – for three days we had the privilege of sliding in and out of the cages whenever we wanted to watch these magnificent animals. It was truly amazing and we were completely, thoroughly impressed.

We were also impressed with liveaboard, Nautilus Explorer. The boat is big and perhaps a little crowded but the operation is run so smoothly that you hardly notice. And any operation that hands you hot chocolate and freshly-baked cookies as you come up from a chilly dive gets a big thumbs up from us.