One of South Africa’s newly proclaimed marine protected areas, the Aliwal Shoal is home to South Africa’s Baited Shark Dives without cages:
No Cages!
20-50 Black tip sharks!
1-5 Tiger sharks!
Off the hook!
Depth range 1 – 10 m/33ft
 Tiger shark sizes have been recorded from 5–7 m/16-23 ft. If you want to be astounded by the shear grace and awesome spectacle of these predators you've come to the right place. These sharks truly are sleek, beautiful and designed to perfection and Aliwal Shoal is one of the few places in the world where you can encounter these magnificent gentle creatures.
On these dives we bait for Tiger sharks with Black tip sharks joining in the fray. The dives take place early in the morning launching from the Dive Centre, and take place at a prime location just south of the Aliwal Shoal Reef. Experienced dive masters and safety divers make for a professional, safe and very enjoyable dive. Skippers share their knowledge of the ocean and instructors share their thoughts and wisdom while we wait for action on the stem. Please remember, the Tiger sharks do try to visit us on every dive! The black tips are always feeding.
ITINERARY
8:00 am Meet at the dive centre and kit up and listen to your shark briefing
8:30 am Exciting launch for the surf on the zodiac.
12:00 – 2:30 pm Return to shore, shower, coffee and debrief.
Please bring your cameras, but if you would like a DVD made of your dive for R400 please contact Celia to arrange this. Please also bring sea-sick tablets and dive card.
Included are Air tanks and weight belts; Light refreshments are provided.
- Surface snorkelling experience needed if you are only snorkelling
- Boat based viewing is also a treat
TIGER SHARK FACT SHEET – (Galecerdo Cuvier)
Description:
Blueish-green to dark gray/black topsides with a yellow-white to stark white underbelly. They have dark, vertical stripes mainly on juveniles. As these sharks mature, the lines begin to fade and almost disappear. Large blunt-nose predators with sharp serrated teeth. A ridge is present along the back between the dorsal fins. They have an excellent sense of sight and smell. They are common in tropical and sub-tropical waters world-wide and the maximum size recorded is 7.5 metres.
Behaviour:
Lives in a depth from the surface to 370 metres, has a scavenging nature with a shallow-water feeding pattern.
Habitat:
Notable tolerance for many different kinds of marine habitat, but generally prefers murky waters in coastal areas, commonly found in river estuaries, harbours and other inlets where runoff from the land may attract a high number of prey.
Diet:
Prey includes sea turtles, rays, other sharks, bony fishes, sea birds, dolphins, seals, squid, various crustaceans and carrion, being the least discriminative of all species. The tiger shark’s highly serrated teeth combined with the saw-like action from shaking the head back and forth allows it to tear chunks from much larger marine animals.
Sightings:
Usually seen on baited dives. Although present in areas on and off the Aliwal Shoal and surrounds, they are not often sighted.
Other details:
High vulnerability due to commercial and big-game fishing . Rated as Near-Threatened on the IUCN Red List. They are harvested for their fins, skin, and flesh, and their livers contain high levels of Vitamin A, which is processed into vitamin oil. They have extremely low repopulation rates, and are very susceptible to fishing pressure.
Dive with your Tiger Sharks Now...before they become extinct!
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