You want to go on a diving holiday and go wreck diving, Great White shark cage and free diving, swim with dolphins and whale sharks, watch giant Leatherback and Loggerhead turtles come in to lay their eggs, dive amongst 50+ Grey Nurse Sharks, go snorkelling for Giant Lobster and Perlemoen and you can still choose whether you want to dive in crystal clear cold or warm waters…. Isn't it fascinating how we get excited about the thought of going to an exotic overseas dive destination? Terri and I have had memorable dives in St Lucia in the Caribbean, Reef Dives off the gulf of Aquaba in the Red Sea; Shark Dives off the Great Keppel Islands off the Great Barrier Reef, but hey, so have thousands before us. We look back now and realise that you don't have to travel to the furthest parts of the earth to dive the Yolanga or Esmirelda, when you can dive The Produce off Aliwal Shoal, South Africa, which was a dejeavoux experience for us. You don't have to go to California or South Australia to dive with the Great White Sharks, it's on our doorstep in Gansbaai and Mossel Bay in abundance. You don't have to go to South America or Australia to see the Loggerhead Turtles come in to lay their eggs. Not to mention where you will see the huge Leatherback Turtles. You want to go all the way to Broome in Western Australia to see Whale Sharks when Sodwana is just teaming with them. Between Cape Town and Sodwana, which is approximately 2200 kilometres of coastline, you get every type of diving imaginable for the fraction of the price of just one overseas experience and without all the commercialism to go with it. This means you have to catch a flight to one country, South Africa! Once you get there, the diving world is your oyster and you can enjoy white water rafting, wildlife safari's and the world's highest bungy jump between dives. In the next few months, we will be covering the above interesting articles of the various exciting options of diving in South Africa in detail, including dive sites that are virtually untouched and an experience of a lifetime. GREAT WHITE SHARK DIVINGIf you were to go to Hawaii and meet up with a Mano Ni-Uhi, Australia with a White Pointer or South Africa with a Great White, in all three cases, you would be coming face to face with the greatest predator that roams the oceans of the world. Yes, you would be experiencing an encounter with the infamous Carcharodon carcharias. Recognised by its cigar shaped body, massive jaws, long gill slits and symmetrical gamefish-like tail, this impressive fish can attain a length of 7 metres! Terri and I have come to face to face with these Kings of the ocean at Dyer Island, just a few kilometres offshore from the little village of Gansbaai outside Cape Town, South Africa. We had just completed a fantastic 5 day hike through the world's second largest canyon in Namibia (Fish River Canyon) and thought it would be nice to go for a dip with these majestic creatures before popping down to Van Stadens Bridge for the world's highest Bungy Jump at 216 metres. Needless to say, after spending a few hours off Dyer Island which has a large Seal colony, a favourite snack for Great White Sharks, we were soon in the cage viewing five different very large curious fish, and they weren't the type that make their way onto the local restaurant menu! We got up very close and personal and even braved a little feel of the 4 metre female as she glided past, we just couldn't resist stroking her to demonstrate our desire to please her! South Africa is regarded as one of the leading countries for Great White Shark research which is complemented with a strong Great White community in Gansbaai near Cape Town, Seal Island at Mossel Bay and Bird Island in Port Elizabeth, (the latter having no commercial operation) and has a collection of expert Great White Shark Commercial Diving Operators. If you had asked me 15 years ago if I would ever intentionally be within 30 centimetres of a Great White Shark, a young, perhaps cocky surfer would have said : "Yeah, right?". Today we look forward to once again having the privilege of being in the company of what are without doubt the most magnificent nomads of the ocean. Oh, by the way, you can do it any time you wish, just look for the next flight to Cape Town, South Africa. If you would like some assistance in making this a reality, either visit www.divesouthafrica.com or mail an enquiry to [email protected].