Diving With Sharks

[ZMA]

Hello all, I'm closing in on the end of my OW Cert and am looking into attaind Advanced OW relatively soon after that.

I am looking into dive trips this summer, and one thing that has occured to me is that, while diving in and around the beauty of the coral reefs would be awesome, I, personally, would like just as much if not more to dive with some of the larger marine creatures. I was wondering, what do the more experienced divers think of that idea for a relatively new diver?

Now, i'm not going to say Great White dives or anything like that, but animals like Mantas, Whale/Basking Sharks, or a shark along the lines of the Sand Tiger (i've read plenty of times that they're generally not harmful to humans).

So, what would you say? Obviously if it's suggested that I don't look for this, then I won't...you all have much more experience than I do so I'm fully willing to listen. I guess i'm just looking for something a little more exciting in terms of larger vertebrates

 

[TightLines]

Whatever you and the other divers you are with will feel comfortable with.

It may make more sense to get a good handful of dives under your belt first that way you can get the most out of your advanced.

Why are you looking to get your advanced so soon?

 

[drrich2]

Hi:

I'd like to know a little bit about what you consider 'larger,' since it's subjective. Would a 6' green moray eel count? A 4 or 5' barracuda? A 3 or 4 foot reef shark of some sort? Or just something on the order of 8' plus, like the sandtiger sharks and so forth?

The reason I ask is, I'm still fairly new at diving and I love to dive at Bonaire; am hoping to have a 3'rd trip soon. But aside from tarpon around the Hilma Hooker or on night dives, and the occasional green moray eel, sea turtle or modestly sizable fish (e.g.: Cubera snapper; large parrot fish), I don't see much 'big.' On the other hand, to get a bunch of shore dives in with warm, clear tropical Caribbean diving in calm, low current waters, for some experience, it's great.

A former coworker & her husband got certified & went to the Bahamas and dove there. They got to dive with sharks (I think it was a shark feeding dive, but I'm not certain).

On a cruise my wife & I had a snorkeling excursion in Barbados where they lured in a couple of good-sized sea turtles. That was neat.

Personally, I'd like to someday dive and see large Goliath Grouper, Sandtiger Sharks and a large Barracuda.

Richard.

 

[USCScubaboy]

Whatever you and the other divers you are with will feel comfortable with.

It may make more sense to get a good handful of dives under your belt first that way you can get the most out of your advanced.

Why are you looking to get your advanced so soon?

Agreed.

Although OW really only teaches you the basics, it would be really beneficial to have a few dives before you go AOW. Think about scuba diving like riding a bike. The scenery's nice and interesting but you first have to learn to ride the bike without crashing.

 

[Armymutt25A]

Something a little closer to home is off Wilmington, NC - a long one day drive from Chicago. The Hyde and Markham is a nice easy dive. I've seen multiple sand tigers and a few rays on both wrecks. The charter I've been on is Aquatic Safaris.

 

[El Dude]

An OW cert should really be called "a license to learn". You really learn a lot in OW but all those skills are really to teach you how to survive a dive. Before you move on to AOW I would suggest you get AT LEAST 30-40 dives in you logbook. There are so many things that you must master with an OW cert that you need to rely on in your AOW course. Best example is neutral buoyancy. Divers continually work on buoyancy, even after over 400 hours underwater I still toy with "perfect" buoyancy (adjusting with only my breathing while at depth). Master your basics, gain comfort and work on gas consumption...NEVER skip breathe, just work on gaining time underwater and it will come to you. THEN move on to AOW. Your AOW will expose you to many new things, night, deep, nav, boat etc. Having the basics mastered will help you learn and gain so much more from your AOW course.
I know I sound like a bummer but I am only speaking from experience and I want you to get the most from your training.

As for diving with larger animals, I would wait until you log some more dives. I've never been out on a shark dive, but I have seen sharks while diving...blues, horns, angels, soupfins, leopards...large morays, sea lions, dolpins. They will all come to you through your dive adventures without looking for them, and those are the best encounters. Besides, sometimes it is the smallest things that will be the most interesting...nudibranchs! Enjoy the underwater world and take your time. I hope this helps...dive safe.

 

[smellzlikefish]

Ditto-El Dude

I've wanted to see a whale shark since I was young. You can look all you want, but you will see a whale shark when the whale sharks are ready for you to see one, and you'll miss a lot of other neat stuff in the meantime. I put myself into big animal territory, then dive it like I would anywhere else, looking for any other unusual wildlife I can find, but keeping an eye on the blue water just in case.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

I have to agree that you'll see the sharks (or whatever) when they decide to let you see them. I've talked to people who have hundreds of dives, but have never seen a shark. My wife and I have 8 dives (noob alert!!!) and we've seen a Stingray ~5 feet across the wings, a roughly 6' Black Tip Shark, several smaller sharks, and any number of 3-4 foot 'Cuda. Sue pulled a 4.5' barracuda out the last time we were fishing (in the same area we dove the next day).

 

[Garrobo]

It doesn't make much difference if you have an OW or an AOW if you plan to dive around sharks. You aren't going to get away from them in any case if they want to make a meal out of you. You can swim around nurse sharks on the reefs off Key Largo and Islamorada and an occassional bull shark will show up around the wrecks in the same areas. The nurse sharks will lay around until they get tired of seeing you and then move off. The few sharks I've seen in deep waters usually glide along and never get withing thirty or fourty feet.

 

[robint]

Hello all, I'm closing in on the end of my OW Cert and am looking into attaind Advanced OW relatively soon after that.

I am looking into dive trips this summer, and one thing that has occured to me is that, while diving in and around the beauty of the coral reefs would be awesome, I, personally, would like just as much if not more to dive with some of the larger marine creatures. I was wondering, what do the more experienced divers think of that idea for a relatively new diver?

Now, i'm not going to say Great White dives or anything like that, but animals like Mantas, Whale/Basking Sharks, or a shark along the lines of the Sand Tiger (i've read plenty of times that they're generally not harmful to humans).

So, what would you say? Obviously if it's suggested that I don't look for this, then I won't...you all have much more experience than I do so I'm fully willing to listen. I guess i'm just looking for something a little more exciting in terms of larger vertebrates

a really good way to do this in on a liveaboard trip like the Nekton in Bahamas. We have done 2 trips and both times saw quite a few sharks in their natural enviroment.
See my video: [vimeo]998250[/vimeo]

more of my videos of Nekton trip here: Nekton - Bahamas liveaboard trips on Vimeo

robin