Pay on the day, not before
Card details only secure your place. No funds are taken, and you can cancel up to 24 hours before the day if sightings are poor.
Shark cage diving · South Africa · Est. 2001
The surface is only the start.
Shark Bookings is the oldest central booking office for shark diving in South Africa. 24 years of putting divers in the water at Gansbaai, Cape Town, Mossel Bay, Durban and Mozambique, on every licensed boat, at the same price as booking direct.
Pay on the day, not before
Price match guarantee
Real time, instant confirmation
Choose your water
Cage dives from ZAR 1310 · Great Whites from ZAR 2000
SCROLL TO DESCEND
0.0 m
HOLD YOUR
BREATH
CROSSING THE SURFACE
▼ 1.5 m
One office.
Every licensed boat.
We sit in Gansbaai overlooking the ocean, so we know which boat is having success and where the sharks are located. Booking through us costs the same as booking the operator directly. The difference is 24 years of knowing these waters.
Price match guarantee
Found a better price? Contact us and we will offer the same price relative to service and quality of experience.
Same price as direct
You will not pay any more by booking with us than with the operator directly. We have negotiated excellent rates.
Instant confirmation
Bookings are in real time, with instant booking and immediate confirmation on all the licensed boats.
LOG 001 · GANSBAAI · YEAR 2000
The master of disaster
Founder Dave Caravias did his first cage dive here in 2000, on an old rickety wooden boat the locals dubbed the master of disaster. The cage was a thin wire round thing that took two divers at most. He saw eight sharks that day, and at one point had the nose of a Great White inside the cage.
He moved to Gansbaai that December. By 2003 a self-built 12 page website had become Sharkbookings.com. By 2008 the Great White Adventure Centre stood at 1 Main Road, the first building you see driving into town. He still squeals like it is his first shark.
YOU DIVE WITH THE LICENSED OPERATORS · FULLY LICENSED & REGISTERED · IMPECCABLE SAFETY RECORDS
▼ 2.4 m
Choose your water.
Every trip below is real, priced and bookable through the office today. Prices are per person and marked from, as rates layer by season.
GANSBAAI · SHARK ALLEY
Great White cage diving
The world capital of the Great White. No experience necessary, the cage is a surface breath-hold dive. Breakfast, light lunch, all gear, towels and hot showers included. Cape Town return shuttle available.
from ZAR 2000 SA special
from ZAR 2200 international
kids 8 to 11 R1600 to R1800
- 05:30 Cape Town pickup
- 08:00 breakfast & briefing, Kleinbaai
- 09:00 launch · 15 min ride
- 09:15 2.5 to 3 hrs at sea
- 11:45 light lunch + video of the day
- 15:00 back in Cape Town
CAPE TOWN · SEAL ISLAND, FALSE BAY
Seal Island cage dive
Out of Simon's Town. Bronze Whalers up to 3.5 m and prehistoric Seven Gill Cow Sharks visit the cage. Light catering, wetsuits, hookah system and warm showers included.
from ZAR 3550 2026 rate
ALL YEAR · NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY
MOSSEL BAY · GARDEN ROUTE
Great White cage dive
Seal Island here is a 10 minute boat ride, ideal if you fear seasickness. No Great White seen? You get a voucher for a free tour, valid one year. Unlimited cage re-entry, rotating every 20 to 30 minutes.
from ZAR 2750 kids 4 to 11 R1500
ALL YEAR · ONLY 5 TO 6 WEATHER DAYS LOST A YEAR
DURBAN · ALIWAL SHOAL
Blacktip cage dive
A floating cage with 5 to 30 Blacktips gliding past in the warm Indian Ocean. If you are comfortable and the dive master agrees, you may swim outside the cage with the sharks.
from ZAR 1310 non-divers R995
ALL YEAR · LAUNCHES 7AM, UMKOMAAS ESTUARY
DURBAN · ALIWAL SHOAL
Tiger shark baited dive
Easy drift scuba at 5 to 10 m, up to 60 minutes, divers in a crescent 5 m from the bait drum. Average 1 to 2 Tigers a dive, Blacktips arriving by the dozen. Open Water certification required.
from ZAR 2250 Raggie add-on R600, Jul to Nov
ALL YEAR · WATER 22 TO 28°C
CAPE TOWN · 20 TO 60 KM PAST CAPE POINT
Blue & Mako, no cage
Open blue water 500 to 1000 m deep. Up to 30 curious Blues on a dive, Makos bold and fast. Wear black and cover flesh, Blues like bright objects. Snorkel option for fit swimmers.
snorkel ZAR 2630 · scuba ZAR 3530 2026
NOV TO JUN · DEPARTS SIMON'S TOWN PIER 06:15
CAPE TOWN → GANSBAAI · BY AIR
Helicopter + cage dive combo
A 30 minute scenic flight from the V&A Waterfront along the coast, spotting whales, dolphins and sharks from the air, then a full cage diving trip. Back at the Waterfront by 13:45.
from ZAR 10,200 per person, up to 3
ALL YEAR · 07:00 MEET, V&A WATERFRONT
PORT ST JOHNS · WILD COAST
The Sardine Run
Called the greatest shoal on earth by the BBC. Billions of sardines, a feeding frenzy of dolphins, sharks, whales and gannets every June and July. 7 nights, 6 sea days, guides with 17+ years on the run.
from EUR 2830 sharing · advanced divers
MOZAMBIQUE · TOFO, MORRUNGULO, PONTA
Megafauna expeditions
Whale Sharks near year-round at Tofo, Humpbacks June to October, Tigers, Bulls and Hammerheads at Ponta do Ouro. Multi-day packages, 8 to 14 nights, breakfast and transfers included.
packages $2000 to $4000 USD, per person sharing
▼ 5.2 m
Shark Alley.
A channel of water between two islands, Dyer Island and Geyser Rock, four miles off Kleinbaai. On one side, a colony of roughly 60,000 Cape Fur Seals. You can guess who patrols the middle.
PLOT TWIST · SINCE 2017
Two orcas rewrote the cast.
Since 2017, two juvenile Orcas hunting along the cape have pushed the Great Whites to roam. The new daily stars of the cage: Bronze Whalers up to 3.5 m, very active around the boats, and the Seven Gill Cow Shark, a pack hunter from a 150 million year Jurassic lineage. Divers call them the wolves of the sea.
Mossel Bay still sees Great Whites, and the office tracks where the action is, boat by boat, every morning.
0Cape Fur Seals on Geyser Rock
0tourists dive these waters yearly
0shark sighting success claimed on Gansbaai boats
0recorded shark attack on a scuba diver in SA history, ever, and it was on the surface
0shark species in South African waters
No.0wildlife activity in South Africa, after the Big 5
▼ 6.0 m
Read the water.
When to come, by animal. Green is go.
JFMAMJJASOND
Cage diving, Gansbaai
Cage diving, Durban & Mossel Bay
Whales, Walker Bay
Breaching trips, Gansbaai
Blue & Mako, Cape Point
Sardine Run, Wild Coast
Tiger sharks, peak, Aliwal Shoal
Ragged Tooth sharks, Aliwal Shoal
Humpbacks, Mozambique
Whale Sharks, Tofo
SEASONS AS PUBLISHED ON SHARKBOOKINGS.COM PER TRIP · WEATHER DECIDES THE REST
▼ 6.8 m
The captain's logbook.
Entries from real divers, word for word from the trip pages.
"Simply the best experience in the world!!"
"Best experience ever. Worth every penny!!!"
"Seeing a Great White come flying out of the water, in full view, is truly a wonder to behold – just breath-taking! Thank you for taking us out, Dave. We loved it!"
"The sharks themselves were spellbinding... Money cannot buy experiences like this... It truly was an experience I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life."
"We had 8 sharks on the trip and saw plenty of Whales close to the Guesthouse. We were so glad that we decided to stay overnight the night before."
"This was an amazing experience and I will never forget it... Regards from Brasil!"
"Awe inspiring experience in South Africa. Save our seas and save our sharks!"
▼ 8.0 m · INSIDE THE CAGE
Now it looks
back at you.
No experience necessary. The cage is a surface breath-hold dive, 12 mm galvanised steel, tied to the boat. You just hold on and meet the ocean's apex, eye to eye.
Secure your seat, pay on the daySURFACE INTERVAL
Book the dive.
Pay on the day.
Card details only secure your seat, no funds are taken before the trip. Real time availability, instant confirmation, price match guarantee.
- CALL / WHATSAPP+27 79 514 8386
- EMAILenquiries@sharkbookings.com
- OFFICE61 Ingang Street, Gansbaai, South Africa
- WALK INThe Great White Adventure Centre, 1 Main Road, Gansbaai
▲ ASCENDING · GANSBAAI ABOVE
While you dry off.
The same family runs the town's favourite land adventures.
The Roundhouse Guesthouse
4-star stay in De Kelders with a rooftop jacuzzi. In season, whales pass sometimes just 20 metres from the rocks. Stay over and skip the 03:30 Cape Town wake-up.
FROM R400 PP SHARING · DIVE & STAY FROM R1800
Fatbike Dune Tours
No.1 outdoor activity in Gansbaai and a 2021 TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice winner, top 10% worldwide. Dunes 185 m above the beach, whales in the bay, guided by Dave himself.
FROM R1250 ADULT · KIDS FROM R850
1 MAIN RD
The Great White Adventure Centre
The first building you see driving into Gansbaai, open since 2008. Walk in for shark cage diving, whale watching and accommodation bookings, with the famous breaching Great White on the wall: Welcome to Gansbaai, Capital of the Great White Shark.
WALK-IN BOOKING OFFICE · GANSBAAI