Great White Photos

In October, I am going on a Great White Shark cage dive in the Farallon Islands off the coast of San Francisco. Having never really been a camera guy, I dont have the foggiest idea what to look for. I realize that asking what kind of camera to get is a pretty broad question, so if anyone can get me pointed in the right direction, I would appreciate it. The viewing ports on the cage are 48"w x 18"h. Obviously, being in a cage, I will not be very deep, and visability is said to be 20-30 feet, with the sharks are up to 20ft in length. Any thoughts on disposable, 35mm, digital, strobes. (keep in mind that I am a camera idiot, so simplicity is a must)
Thanks

How much do you want to spend?

Well, I suppose I would like to keep in under 500. The guy at the dive shop suggested I get a regular digital camera and buy a housing for it. I just want to be able to get good pictures of the sharks. Is renting a option?

Since you don't already have a camera/housing and the practice to go with using it, I would think the best solution is to buy the pics from whomever is going to be in the shark cage with you. Doesn't the company provide that service for the customers? If so, the photos would be more professional and a sure thing versus your taking them. You would be in the photo with the sharks.

Cheepest option for decent results use a low price point and shoot like the reefmaster and shot with black and white film and no strobe - if you can get a wide angle lens - that will help

OR - rent a nikons V with 20 or 15mm lens again no strobe - and use black and white - that require a little more camera savy because you`ll have to set the focal length and F-stop

jmk302:

Any thoughts on disposable, 35mm, digital, strobes. (keep in mind that I am a camera idiot, so simplicity is a must)
Thanks

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If, as you say, you are a camera idiot, and you don't have a lot of inclination to carry on photography, I'd go for disposable. This post http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=691649&postcount=3 has photo's I took of White Sharks with a Kodak disposable. The photo's do attest to the camera's ability to take reasonable pics, and a couple of 10 buck cameras are a lot cheaper than a 600 buck camera and housing.

Having said that, if you want to carry on photography, you probably don't want to go the disposable toute.