Aquarium bucket list: Dive with a shark

By Leon Jamarie / 1 September 2011

Photo by Geoff Spiby

Diving with sharks is on many a person’s bucket list – that list of things to do before you die, derived from the term “kick the bucket”.

But how many of us actually believe that swimming with sharks could be a reality?

With the Two Oceans Aquarium this dream can come alive. The Aquarium offers a competitive shark-diving package: for only R450 you are able to dive with ragged-tooth sharks in perfect conditions. Better yet – no cages!

A dive at the Two Oceans Aquarium is unique in many ways, but most importantly it’s extremely safe. If you’re a qualified scuba diver and have a hankering to swim with these magnificent creatures, then an Aquarium dive is for you.
Experience the ragged-tooth sharks in their element on a scuba dive, or swim with shoals of other large predators, such as yellowtail giant kob and black and white musselcracker (not to mention Yoshi, our loggerhead turtle) – an experience impossible to recreate in the wild.

Best of all, you are guaranteed sightings of an array of marine life, something you will not necessarily find in the open water.

Divers of all levels are able to dive in the I&J Predator Exhibit, one of the biggest of its kind in South Africa – but you will need to have a sport diver/scuba qualification. For your convenience, we have instructors who offer courses.

If you are still a bit cautious about diving with sharks, but passionate about diving, then try our enchanting underwater forest, the Kelp Forest Exhibit. You need to be an advanced diver to swim in this exhibit. One of only three such exhibits in the world, encounter galjoen, steenbras and many other Atlantic Ocean creatures, plus three species of kelp.

What are you waiting for? Get down to the Two Oceans Aquarium today and scratch shark diving off that list!

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