"natural" Shark diving in Caribbean?

[Parlem]

Hello!
I'm based in Europe and most of my diving is in the Mediterranean, Red Sea and (when budget allows) the Maldives.
I may go on a Caribbean trip in December this year and would love some shark action. However, it seems that most "guaranteed" shark encounters are of the circus kind: chum in the water, systematic feeding, etc.

Question: are there any locations where you can meet sharks in a natural setting, without conditioning?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Wookie]

Sharks come to an area because they are attracted for a reason. Maybe the reason is mating, maybe the reason is eating, sharks aren;t too bright, so eating and mating pretty much define their lives. Sharks aggregate in certain areas of the world naturally, on Johnston Island, White Tip Reef Sharks, adolescent females gather by the thousands for about 3 weeks a year, and its amazing. You don't have to dive with them, they are in about 4 feet of water. In the Flower Gardens off of Texas, young female scalloped hammerheads are routinely seen from February through May, then they just disappear.

Greater hammerheads mate in Bimini in February-May. They are routinely seen on reef dives off of Bimini, but they are fed by the big shark operators, which alters their behavior, and you may not see them as often on a reef dive. I have never done a dive off of Cat Island without seeing an oceanic white tip, and only a fool would feed one of them. On San Salvador, I always see hammerheads or reed sharks. Every dive regardless os season.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Once you've seen the sharks whilst hooked into a channel in Maldives, I'm not sure that you'll enjoy a free shark experience again unless you go to Socorro/Gallapagos/Cocos but they are not on the Caribbean side.

 

[scubadada]

Turks and Caicos had the most sharks of any place I have been in the Caribbean. I have not been to Cuba. We had some to many Reef Sharks on nearly all dives off West Caicos and French Cay. My son and I did the diving from land, the ride out to West Caicos or French Cay is pretty long, limits the number of dives you get in. If I were to return, I would take one of the two liveaboards that do the same area. You can read about the dives on the Captains logs on the Aggressor website Turks and Caicos Aggressor II Adventure Logs | Aggressor Adventures™ There is a collection of photos on the Explorer website Turks and Caicos Underwater Photos - Explorer Ventures Turks and Caicos does not compare to my visits to Cocos, Gallapagps, or the Revillgigedos.

My avatar is a large Reef Shark that calmly swam by through the cut at Boat Cove/Rock Garden Interlude, West Caicos.

 

[Hoag]

I agree with @scubadada. The most reliable place in the Caribbean to see sharks is from a Live Aboard in Turks & Caicos (TCI). He did the Aggressor, and I did the Turks & Caicos Explorer and from the sounds of it, we had pretty similar experiences. You will see Caribbean Reef Sharks almost every day and some days, you might see them every dive. You will also see Nurse Sharks on many dives.

These are wild animals and deserve your respect and attention, however they seemed accustomed to humans and were very curious. It was not uncommon for a Caribbean Reef Shark to swim right up to a diver and "say Hi".

While you are almost guaranteed to see a lot of sharks in TCI, as mentioned above, you are not likely to see the variety of species or the action as you might in other locations. If you are considering a trip to the TCI, I might suggest timing it around February to March, when the whales are migrating through and calving. Although unlikely, you might see them on the surface, but you will almost certainly hear their song underwater.

 

[Parlem]

Thank you, everyone. You're very kind and have offered some excellent insights.
Alas, a liveaboard is not an option as this will be a family holiday and only some of us dive. I was hoping to find a resort with a reputable dive shop on an island near dive sites where we might get to see some sharks in the wild. We're also constrained to Xmas and New Year, I'm afraid, due to school holidays.
Wookie suggested Cat Island in the Bahamas for oceanic white tips. Can someone recommend a good dive store on Cat Island?
Again, many thanks in advance.

 

[Hoag]

Thank you, everyone. You're very kind and have offered some excellent insights.
Alas, a liveaboard is not an option as this will be a family holiday and only some of us dive. I was hoping to find a resort with a reputable dive shop on an island near dive sites where we might get to see some sharks in the wild. We're also constrained to Xmas and New Year, I'm afraid, due to school holidays.
Wookie suggested Cat Island in the Bahamas for oceanic white tips. Can someone recommend a good dive store on Cat Island?
Again, many thanks in advance.

I have Good news & Bad News.

First the Good News. Look into a Resort in Provo in TCI called Ports of Call (it used to be a Best Western). It is a reasonably priced hotel that shares its parking lot with Dive Provo. Dive Provo goes to many of the same dive sites as the Live Aboards do. The catch is that since they are based out of Provo, the transits to the dive site and return is often 45 minutes to an hour each way. Dive Provo is a class act. I have dove with them before and would not hesitate to dive with them again if I find myself on the island.

Now the Bad News. Since you are constrained to Christmas time, ignore Cat Island. The Oceanic Whitetips are only there in the late spring (typically April to June).

 

[scubadada]

Hi @Parlem

I have not been to Cat Island but have seriously looked into it. I believe the peak season for the Oceanic White Tips is something like March or April until June. Seems that most visitors to Cat transit through Nassau for the flight.

Turks & Caicos could still work out for a family of divers and non-divers. There are many very nice resorts/accommodations on Grace Bay. Grace Bay is a beautiful big beach, on par with Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman. Dive Operators pick up and drop off. The dive day is long, morning until mid-afternoon, I would imagine you might not dive all days. Some of the operators offer interesting looking snorkel trips, some longer, with lunch and landings. May not be right for you, but perhaps worth having a look.

Best of luck in your vacation plans, take care

Edit: I see @Hoag largely beat me to he punch, not unusual I stayed at the Ports of Call once. It is pretty utilitarian, but more than adequate. It is not on the beach, a short walk. There are some restaurants, bars, shops, across the street.

 

[moorish8idol]

What about Jardines de la Reina in Cuba? Its a protected park and there are tons of (Carribean reef, silky etc) sharks there. Feeding and chumming is prohibited by park rules (though I have heard some unethical operators may do so if guests request this - boo). It is mostly a liveaboard only destination but there is one floating boatel that doesn't move. Not sure if it would be interesting enough for the non divers but there is snorkeling, beaches, hikes to see some of the land animals and other above-water exploration of the mangroves...

 

[drrich2]

At that time of year, I'd consider Jupiter, Florida. No, it's not the Caribbean, and I don't know what the area water temp.s will be like (if the family is big on wading into the ocean at beaches), but I believe that's around the time of the lemon shark aggregation, and you could choose an operator who doesn't do shark feeds (e.g.: Jupiter Dive Center) and likely get some quality time with a much larger, more impressive looking shark that's still fairly benign, as opposed to Caribbean reef sharks. On a trip there (not that time of year) we took our daughter to Juno Beach, which was nice. There are topside things to do, like zoos, in reasonable driving distance.

Jupiter 2014 - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-diving/491927-jupiter-trip-report-9-7-14-9-11-14-a.html (Not the time of year for the lemon sharks; I was after the Goliath grouper aggregation).

Turks & Caicos Aggressor II Report Apr. 2018 - Trip Report - Turks & Caicos Aggressor II 4/21-4/28 Trip Report
Turks & Caicos Research Notes - Turks & Caicos Research Notes

I would suggest deep off-shore wreck diving out of North Carolina, but that's the wrong time of year.

I've never been to Cat Island or dove with oceanic white-tips. If I were you, I'd read up on those guys before I decided whether to get in the water with them (particularly a number of them at once). You mention you've dove the Red Sea, so maybe you've experienced them before.