Apex Shark Expeditions is a licensed shark cage diving operator. Just 45 minutes from Cape Town, they operate shark tours to Seal Island, False Bay. They launch from picturesque, historical Simon’s Town, a charming naval town renowned for its penguin colony and Victorian buildings.
We recommend planning a shark encounter weekend. Stay at Moonglow Guest House and you’ll be able to enjoy views of the bay before you even set foot on the boat! And don''t forget to visit Seaforth''s penguins - you can even kayak around the coastline to Cape Point.
Kat Hodgson jumps in with her tale…
So much happened during our double trip to Seal Island today that I had to write it all down as we motored back to Simon''s Town. I didn’t want to forget a single moment of the day. How can it be possible to have had so many interesting, unusual, funny and adrenaline filled moments in one day?!
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The conditions were perfect for the sharks to be hunting during the morning - overcast skies and calm seas - but there was little seal activity at first. We waited patiently and sometime after sunrise we witnessed our first predation. As if one shark had started something off, there were suddenly a number of predation events occurring within minutes of one another. One was particularly fascinating to observe. A shark breached on a small seal close to the island and missed. Even though the shark left a nick in the side of the seal, it had the presence of mind to stop, lower its head into the water, rear flippers waving in the air, and watch the shark below. It literally proceeded to watch and then work the shark to its advantage. The seal stayed close to the shark tail, twisting and turning away as the shark repeatedly lunged to catch the seal. The shark eventually gave up and the seal dived back to the safety of Seal Island. I have absolute admiration for these seals and their ability to be calm in the face of such moments. They are incredible.
We travelled to an area south of the island called York Shoal to try our luck with the decoy seal. This is a reef with three pinnacles and a population of white sharks. We don’t often visit here for a decoy tow but we tried and were rewarded with a beautiful breach on the decoy, with the shark lunging vertically and facing us. Our guests and crew were so surprised that we all responded with complete silence rather than our usual shouts of excitement.
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Once on anchor, we were visited by a tiny white shark less than 2m in size. A larger shark later arrived and managed to get hold of our decoy seal and played tug-of-war with our skipper until the shark decided to let go and continue swimming past our guests diving in the cage. At that time our divers in the cage were a family from the Philippines; they had never known water cooler than 30 degrees. Their willingness to get in and dive in what was very cold water to them was certainly rewarded.
As the morning trip came to an end I thought to myself, ‘Surely the afternoon can’t be even better?’. How wrong I was. We focus primarily on cage diving during the afternoon as the sharks are not hunting at this time of the day. We waited patiently in the sunshine and after a time we decided to wait five more minutes and up anchor to a different position if a shark didn’t turn up. No sooner had we said this than a 3.7-3.8m male shark rose from the depths. He had a distinctive pink scar on his tail and rosettes on both sides of his dorsal fin. He stayed with us for over an hour and everyone had a fantastic dive with him.
He was such an unusual shark in his behaviours. We would call such a shark a ‘thinker’ and a ‘player’; in that he constantly changed his tactics to obtain either the bait or decoy. He used the shadow of the boat to sneak up on us at times, he lunged horizontally at the decoy and bait, he brought his head out of the water, he lunged vertically, he approached along the surface slowly, he approached from the depths with more speed and so on. Many white sharks will use the same tactics repeatedly when investigating the bait or decoy but this one modified his approach every time he was unsuccessful. It is fair to say he outwitted us on a few occasions and we couldn’t stop smiling. He left us all giddy from the adrenaline and excitement.
By this point we thought life really couldn’t get any better. Truly we were in shark heaven as we went closer to the island to watch the seals and bird life. As we were at the island we saw a shark breach on a cormorant sitting on the surface of the water. It is unusual to witness such an event; the sharks do not consume cormorants as part of their diet and the cormorant lived to tell the tale.
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We were talking about this when our skipper suddenly shouted ‘breeeaaaach!’ and the guests let out this jumble of excited words and shouts. I turned towards the front of the boat and literally screamed in excitement as we witnessed a Southern Right Whale breach fully out of the water. We had the pleasure of watching this whale breach a number of times then dive and lift its gigantic tail into the air.
We couldn’t believe our luck and as I sit here writing this I am still smiling at the memory of such special moments. What a day at sea for us all.
(Images used with permission. All rights reserved)
Stay in Simon''s Town
Portfolio Collection offers delightful accommodation in charming Simon''s Town.
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Moonglow Guest House is a 4 star guesthouse just outside Simon’s Town. Nestled between pristine mountains and the waters of False Bay this well-established guesthouse gives you easy access to all the activities along the Cape Point Route with only a 30 minute drive to the city centre.
About Chris & Monique Fallows and Apex Shark Expeditions
Established for 16 years, Apex Shark Expeditions is a licensed shark cage diving operator. Just 45 minutes from Cape Town, they operate shark tours to Seal Island, False Bay.
Chris and Monique Fallows own Apex Shark Expeditions based in Simon’s Town, Cape Town. They are wildlife naturalists and are absolutely passionate about sharks, spending at least 150 days at sea every year working with a variety of shark species. Their aim is to provide the most natural encounter with sharks, and the environment. In addition to being one of the leading authorities on Great White shark behaviour, Chris is a professional wildlife photographer and many of his breaching Great White Shark images have been seen worldwide in newspapers, magazines and television documentaries. Chris and Monique aim to promote the positive awareness of sharks through their company and these captivating images.
Visit http://www.apexpredators.comand find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ApexSharks
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