Cage diving with sharks is at the top of many divers wish list, yet few people realize it is quite different from regular scuba diving. While the risk of injury or accident while cage diving is low, there are some extra considerations to take to ensure the best cage diving experience.

Choosing the Right Exposure Suit

Cage diving involves being mostly still within a cage, for an extended amount of time. One of the most important considerations when going cage diving is therefore choosing the right exposure suit for the destination. The premier location for cage diving with great white sharks, Guadalupe, has water temperatures of 19 to 22 degrees Celsius during the shark season whereas other shark hotspots such as South Africa and New Zealand have cooler waters of 10 to 15 degrees Celsius. Divers should be sure to choose a thicker suit than usual to keep warm in the cage, and to get the most time in the water with the sharks.

Take Extra Clothing for Warmth and Quick Removal

Sharks can arrive and depart quickly from around the cage and divers need to be ready to get into the water at short notice. Wearing a good wind-proof jacket over their wetsuit and a woolly hat can keep divers warm whilst waiting for sharks to arrive. They can also be removed quickly to get into the cage. Keeping warm in-between dives is especially helpful at cooler shark destinations, to help ensure dive time isn’t cut short from being cold before even entering the water.

Take Motion Sickness Precautions for Surface Cage Dives

The ocean surface can be choppy at the best of times and the movement of a cage at the surface can be enough to trigger motion sickness for divers who don’t normally suffer from such sickness. If a diver is prone to motion sickness, it is worth taking extra medication or precautions for surface cage dives. Alternatively, divers can consider a deep cage dive where there is less cage movement to deal with.

Divers should also consider which air source and dive depth are suitable for their experience level, as there are different types of dive and air sources available at different cage diving destinations. There are also additional equipment precautions to take to ensure the dive goes smoothly and to prevent accidental damage of photography equipment.

Divers can find out more about these considerations, plus how to encourage cautious sharks to come closer to the cage, by reading the full Liveaboard.com article Top Tips for Cage Diving with Sharks.

This article was written by divers and writers at liveaboard.com.