C and I have had the privilege to be in Waikiki for the past week. C had to work all week but I was
lucky and got to hang out at the beach most every day. It has been a wonderful, relaxing week to say the least. C finished Thursday evening so on Friday morning he went out and did two dives. The first one was a wreck dive. He dove down 85 feet and got to look inside an old barge that had sunk. The second one was 45-50 feet down and was reef dive. I got to tag along and hang out on the boat, which was nice once I got over the motion sickness. We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the beach after having a
Puka dog for lunch! (These are the best veggie dogs!!) Today was one for the books! C works with someone whose niece has a boyfriend who guides
shark encounters. This guy got us a great deal to go out and swim with sharks so C and I decided we'd go! There were 11 of
us total. We woke up at 5:00AM to head to the north shore. All of us were moody and cold and really not sure why we had signed up for such an event on a day we all would have preferred sleeping in. By 6:30 we were on the boat and headed three miles out. The sun was just beginning to come up and the water spraying us actually felt good. It was a pleasant ride to the "shark sight." So, we didn't really know what to expect. The previous day, when C went scuba diving, we were talking to one of the dive guides and he told us we would be lucky to see a handful of sharks. He had done it a couple years ago and said it was "okay" but not worth the high cost. So we were on the boat heading to the shark sight thinking there might be a handful of sharks. We were wrong. The Shark Guys told us to peek overboard and we realized we were being followed. There were SO MANY sharks following the boat!!
They were like Pavlovs dogs following their food source. They swarmed along the sides of the boat with their fins raised above the water just like in the movies. The guys dropped the shark cage and prepared it for the first group to hop in. Only six people were allowed in the "pool" so C went in with the first group. Of course he had to check it out before I was going to get in!! While you are in the shark cage you wear snorkel gear so that you can keep your head under water and see all the sharks. There are two sides with slits of plexi-glass but for the most part it is just a cage. We were given explicit orders NOT to reach outside of the cage and to keep track of all our body parts so they weren't floating outside the cage lest a shark think it was bait. As C was in the cage, I was on the boat with the other five watching the sharks swarm around. The crew threw fish into the water to keep them happy. One of the crew members thought he would be entertaining so he took a longer fish (a marlin) and slapped the water with it to get their attention. Once that happened the sharks came up to the boat, hungry! He floated the marlin on top of the water and waited. All of a sudden a 10 foot shark pops his head out of the water, mouth open, teeth glinting and chomps right down on it. I can't even begin to describe my racing heart at this point!! (Watch the video!!) Each group got about a half hour in the cage, so when the first group was finished, I got to go in!! It is quite a rush to watch these creatures swimming around you with their cat-eyes and sharp teeth. We would see the meat sinking through the water and all of a sudden a shark would rush up and chomp it down. They knocked the cage a few times fighting over the meat. It was AMAZING!! We are so glad we did it. Such an incredible, surreal experience! We spent the rest of the day relaxing and re-living the events of the morning with the rest of the group. What a day! We hope you enjoy the photos and video. We head home tomorrow...
lucky and got to hang out at the beach most every day. It has been a wonderful, relaxing week to say the least. C finished Thursday evening so on Friday morning he went out and did two dives. The first one was a wreck dive. He dove down 85 feet and got to look inside an old barge that had sunk. The second one was 45-50 feet down and was reef dive. I got to tag along and hang out on the boat, which was nice once I got over the motion sickness. We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the beach after having a Puka dog for lunch! (These are the best veggie dogs!!) Today was one for the books! C works with someone whose niece has a boyfriend who guides shark encounters. This guy got us a great deal to go out and swim with sharks so C and I decided we'd go! There were 11 of 
us total. We woke up at 5:00AM to head to the north shore. All of us were moody and cold and really not sure why we had signed up for such an event on a day we all would have preferred sleeping in. By 6:30 we were on the boat and headed three miles out. The sun was just beginning to come up and the water spraying us actually felt good. It was a pleasant ride to the "shark sight." So, we didn't really know what to expect. The previous day, when C went scuba diving, we were talking to one of the dive guides and he told us we would be lucky to see a handful of sharks. He had done it a couple years ago and said it was "okay" but not worth the high cost. So we were on the boat heading to the shark sight thinking there might be a handful of sharks. We were wrong. The Shark Guys told us to peek overboard and we realized we were being followed. There were SO MANY sharks following the boat!!
They were like Pavlovs dogs following their food source. They swarmed along the sides of the boat with their fins raised above the water just like in the movies. The guys dropped the shark cage and prepared it for the first group to hop in. Only six people were allowed in the "pool" so C went in with the first group. Of course he had to check it out before I was going to get in!! While you are in the shark cage you wear snorkel gear so that you can keep your head under water and see all the sharks. There are two sides with slits of plexi-glass but for the most part it is just a cage. We were given explicit orders NOT to reach outside of the cage and to keep track of all our body parts so they weren't floating outside the cage lest a shark think it was bait. As C was in the cage, I was on the boat with the other five watching the sharks swarm around. The crew threw fish into the water to keep them happy. One of the crew members thought he would be entertaining so he took a longer fish (a marlin) and slapped the water with it to get their attention. Once that happened the sharks came up to the boat, hungry! He floated the marlin on top of the water and waited. All of a sudden a 10 foot shark pops his head out of the water, mouth open, teeth glinting and chomps right down on it. I can't even begin to describe my racing heart at this point!! (Watch the video!!) Each group got about a half hour in the cage, so when the first group was finished, I got to go in!! It is quite a rush to watch these creatures swimming around you with their cat-eyes and sharp teeth. We would see the meat sinking through the water and all of a sudden a shark would rush up and chomp it down. They knocked the cage a few times fighting over the meat. It was AMAZING!! We are so glad we did it. Such an incredible, surreal experience! We spent the rest of the day relaxing and re-living the events of the morning with the rest of the group. What a day! We hope you enjoy the photos and video. We head home tomorrow...
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