Shark Dive

There is a place just off of the island, Cara a Cara, where a few avid divers have been baiting sharks for several years. They consistently take food out to this ledge in the reef for sharks. Over time, more and more sharks frequent this area because there may be easy food. This almost guarantees at least a few sharks will be present at this particular sight at any given time. Because of this, we call it a shark dive. We have the chance of seeing at least of couple of sharks and often times as many as a dozen or so. It is a fairly safe way of diving with sharks in the wild (wink wink).

The reef ledge itself is about 70 to 80 feet underwater. There is a little sandy bed where divers can stand or kneel right in front of a small reef block so that the sharks cannot easily approach you from behind. Sharks typically only attack when they know they have the advantage (like attacking you from behind). This is also a reason why divers would make a circle with their backs together if surrounded by sharks in the open water.

So the idea is that we go down to this ledge, bring some bait and we get to watch as the sharks swim around waiting for food, attack the food and swim around waiting to see if there's more food. Part of the time, we watch from the "safety" of the sandy bed a few feet away, while the rest of the time, we swim amongst the sharks.

Just a few days ago, I got to go on another shark dive. It is still surreal to be within a few feet from a massive shark. When it swims towards you and looks you in the eye, there is this keen awareness and understanding between you and the shark. It is bigger and stronger and I am in its territory only because it allows me to be. Even though it is a major adrenaline rush, it is also somehow very peaceful and calm. Staring into a sharks eye keeps me in the moment well after the dive is over.