SHARKS!!!
- marymoscrop1
- Oct 18, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 19, 2025
What can I say - Happy birthday to me! It is all about sharks today (and dolphins and seals, and also a couple of penguins!)
We were determined to have breakfast today after our early start yesterday, but, once again, as we were just about to go down, our driver messaged to say he was here and to go down when we were ready...so another coffee on the go - just as well though as the sea was a little rough and it could have been messy....We met a lovely Canadian couple today, Melissa and Tony from Niagra so we had quite a lot in common as I have been there A LOT.
So we got to the dive centre to find we were in a group of 9 which was great as it meant we were not so squashed for time with the sharks.
Getting on the boat was tricky as the tide was low so it was a long way down a steep ladder, but we were soon off on our trip.
It was a good omen on the journey out as we had a massive school of dolphins come along side us and they travelled alongside our bow for quite a way.
We stopped off at Seal Island to see the seals - people used to get dropped off on the island to get close to the seals, but during covid (not sure of the correlation) some of the seals contracted rabies and started to bite people, so now we can only sail slowly past - we were eager to get to the sharks though so all was good.
The Captain was telling us that yesterday the visibility was not great and the sharks were not coming anywhere nowhere near the boat, so we should not get too excited...
Fast forward to struggling into a wetsuit and booties in a boat that was rocking so much with the swell - I fell over a couple of times, but Emma, the pro, just got her's on with no bother. (grrr).
Our group went first, and you really don't need a description of how hard it was to get into the cage (picture a beached whale and you have a good idea) but we both did it - I am very proud of Emma, she was not scared of the sharks at all, but she does have a fear of having her face in the water - but she still got in!
Here is a little selection of the images we took
Those sharks were big! Some of them were over 6' and they had sharp teeth... Still I was elated when I got out. 'Got out' is a strong term - fell onto the boat like a walrus is more apt! lol - and then I had no sea legs to actually get up off the floor, so I had to crawl to the seats - that goodness Emma was so busy laughing she forgot to take a video...
I know I have used this pic twice, but they were HUGE!
Here is a trimmed down version of the 20 minutes that I was underwater with the sharks...
So after the high adrenaline of the shark diving, we got back to the hotel and remembered we had not eaten all day, so we quickly showered and headed out to find food (and drink). We took a different route to the waterfront and found lots of more bars and restaurants and we were actually thankful that our guide from yesterday had made some recommendations of where to eat, and we ended up at Karibu (what3words schmoozed.hormone.yowled ) which is a 5* restaurant. I had Denningsvleis which was a lamb stew, and Emma also had a lamb stew, but a completely different one to me - she had Karoo Lamb Bredie - both were delicious and we had a bottle of wine, all with the backdrop of the mountain.
To be fair, after one glass of wine each were were a bit drunk - but of course we soldiered on and drank the lot
After dinner we stopped to watch the dance troupe that we had seen a couple of nights ago - they had a much better crowd tonight, probably because it was not as cold, and Emma got dragged up out of the crowd to join them....I am not as slow on the video as Emma is and I managed to capture a snippet of it :)
We took a spin around the Cape Town Wheel - it is really pretty, but the wind was getting up again and I still have not got my land legs (or maybe I was drunk) the cabin was rocking quite a bit. We had joined the queue just as the sun was setting and we thought we would get some great pics, but by the time we got on, it was dark! Ah well. One thing though, the sign says one price, but when you go to pay, they ask if you are local or tourist, and the price always goes up when you say tourist... I am going to start practising a South African accent...
After the dinner and dancing we went for a meander round the shops, after both promising each other that we would not allow ourselves to make an impulse buy and we would come back tomorrow if we saw anything we liked. Emma was really drawn to a bright pink and orange scarf, but she said she really does not wear scarfs (a dress scarf, not a keep me warm scarf) - I said I would send her a video of 50 ways to wear a scarf as I wear them all of the time.....to which she replied,'but is that not because you are an old lady?'......It is a good job she didn't say that before we were up close and personal with the sharks... it is going to be a long trip!
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