Every Australian  grows up with sand in their toes and salt on their skin. We are beachy people and there is a reason the world has stereotyped us all as blonde surfers calling each other ‘Maaaaate’. We love the sea breeze ruining our hair, we love the sting of getting sea water in our eyes and we love that every time we enter the water we could get abducted by a great white shark…

I am not your typical Aussie. I do not like stinging eyes and sand in every crevice of my house and body after every visit to the coast and I do not like sharks. At all. In fact I am so horrified by the entire concept of lurking great whites (and lurking sand) that I avoid entering the sea at all costs.

I must have momentarily forgot this when I bought myself a voucher to go shark cage diving…

I had been thinking up excuses to avoid actually completing the dive for almost a year, including: “killer whales had scared all the sharks away so I shouldn’t go now”, “My boyfriend that I was planning on going with broke up with me so maybe I should wait a bit”, “I’m going to Africa for four months so I’ll have to postpone”… Not saying I went to Africa just to avoid swimming with sharks…

Eventually I was home with no excuse. I had two days off work during a few days of perfect weather and if I was (un)lucky enough there would still be a spot left for the following days charter.

As google would say “I was feeling lucky”.

Before I knew it I had booked my spot on the boat, had some plane tickets to Port Lincoln and had a hostel bed with my name on it. Lucky for me I also had a wonderful best friend willing to get up at 5am the following day to drop me off at the airport. (I hadn’t thought about that part when I planned the trip, you’re the best Eliza).

I arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed, (anyone who has seen my hair in the morning will understand the bushy-tailedness), checked in at my hostel and took a (cat)nap.

I had a nightmare nice dream that I had missed the boat and woke up to the nightmare that I was about to seriously go swimming with great white sharks.

What had I done??

Luckily I wan’t the only crazy solo-shark diver. I made friends with some fellow mental cases that had travelled wide and far to experience ‘shark cage diving’.

The boat trip out to Neptune Island took about three hours. I napped, I got a little seasick, I ate fruit and I mingled with the TEN YEAR OLD who was doing the dive.

But what was it actually like to be so close to a great white you ask?

Well… “I tried to gouge his eyes out, which made him loosen his jaws, but as I attempted to push myself away my hand disappeared back into his mouth. Before he could bite my hand off I pulled it back, ripping it across the teeth – I received 97 stitches in that hand, with only one tendon left. As well as my hand, every rib in the left side of my chest got broken, my lung had been punctured and I ended up with over 500 stitches”.

That wasn’t me by the way, that was Rodney Fox, a South Australian spearfishing champion who was attacked by a shark in 1963, just a couple of peninsulas east of where I was safely in a cage. Fox now refers to this place as “the best restaurant in Australia for great whites”. Wonderful.

My experience seems a bit low-key in comparison, but I really don’t know how to properly describe the feeling of witnessing a great white silently gliding into view, jaws agape, with those black deadpan eyes. My body was stiff with fear and my heart rate doubled. He drifts past, bypassing the cage and slowly returning to the depths of the sea floor.

Suddenly it occurred to me how ridiculously peaceful he seemed. The images from jaws seem deceiving as I watch this magnificent creature glide so elegantly through the sea. It is a bizarrely peaceful world down there. Beams of sunlight break through the water illuminating the lustrous scales of passing fish while colossal great whites make brief appearances around the cage. My original paranoia disappeared completely.

I spent about 45 minutes in this world, face-to-face with these incredible creatures. We spotted about 4 different sharks during our time down there and I am surprised to admit that it was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. I slept like a baby on the boat-ride back and early the next day landed back in Adelaide and returned to my day-to-day shark-less, sand-less beachophobic lifestyle).

Calypso Shark Cage Diving

Website

Travel information and how to get here

Port Lincoln is located on lower Eyre Peninsula, approximately 650km from Adelaide in South Australia.

Fly with REX in 45Mins

REX Regional Express fly direct between Adelaide and Port Lincoln. Flights operate several times daily giving you good flexibility with your travel.
To view the flight availability and with us, click here www.rex.com.au

Port Lincoln Airport Shuttle – Operated by Port Lincoln Passenger Services

Schedule
The shuttle bus will be available to transport passengers in to Port Lincoln from the Airport on the arrival of each Qantas flight daily. For those travelling with Rex and wishing to use the shuttle service, you will need to wait at the airport until the arrival of the next Qantas flight.

The shuttle will stop at all major accommodation and hotels, travelling along London Street and Stevenson’s Road in to the Marina.

Transfers are also available to the Airport, with the shuttle again running from the Marina via all accommodation and hotels.

Fare is $10.00 each way per person. For family or group rates enquire with the driver.

Drive

Head North from Adelaide to Port Augusta then follow the Lincoln Highway south to Port Lincoln. The total trip is approximately 7 hours

Wicked Camper Vans

Are you looking at driving from Adelaide to Port Lincoln but don’t have a car to do it? Why not book one of the sweet-packages with Wicked Campers. The eye catching vans are comfortable and stylish, just what you need to get you to and from your dive. Lia and Shaun are a friendly enthusiastic couple team running the Adelaide operations. They have put their hearts in to the business and are currently refurbishing their facilities to provide more services for their customer. Visit their website to find out more information www.wickedcampers.com

Bus|Stateliner Service

Premiere Stateliner operate a daily bus service from Adelaide to Port Lincoln. The journey takes approximately 10hrs and costs approximately $90. Visit the website for more details.

Nullarbor Traveller

For Australia’s Ultimate road journey, The Nullarbor Traveller bus regularly visits Port Lincoln on its return route between Adelaide and Perth. more info. can be found at www.thetraveller.net.au