Expeditions
Each Expedition is hosted by Chris & Monique Fallows who’s passion, knowledge and love of the wildlife in the area makes this the most personalized and educational trip on offer, with a limited maximum of 8 participants to ensure the best viewing potential.
2010 Expedition
Package Deals
If you are a serious shark lover and if it is a life’s dream to experience the Great White Shark, then the best way to do this is to book a longer stay.
Seal Island's world famous flying great whites!
Chris and Monique
Thank you very much for taking us to Seal Island today. We had a great time, and it certainly was the highlight of our trip thus far. We particularly will remember the first attack near the boat and the two breachings which we observed.
Our expectations were exceeded! I hope that the Wilderness Safari and Graham spread the word about your work.
Good luck in your research and endeavours.
Best regards,
The Mudges (Dan, Kathy, Tapley-Ann, and Ashley)
Since appearing in Air Jaws as well as more than 35 other documentaries that Apex Shark Expeditions have facilitated, the breaching Great Whites Sharks of Seal Island are amongst the most talked about natural phenomena worldwide. This phenomenon is not only for the worlds’ famous film crews but can also be witnessed by you on one of our various expeditions.
Apex specializes in small groups and takes a maximum of only 12 guests per trip.
Being part of a smaller group will give you better viewing & photographic opportunities, a longer cage dive and will allow the guides onboard to spend time with each guest.
Our objective on each trip is to pass on our passion, enthusiasm and experiences
we have shared with the sharks to our guests.
The best time to see Great White Sharks at Seal Island is from mid April to mid September.
During the high season you should have the unique opportunity of seeing the white sharks breach out of the water to hunt seals, as well as have excellent close-up views when we attract the sharks to the boat for closer viewing as well as cage diving.
The intense predator/prey interactions and breaching behavior of the Great White Shark is what sets Seal Island, False Bay apart from any other shark spot in the world. Chris Fallows and colleagues were the first to document this unknown behavior in 1996. Since then we have witnessed and documented over 5000 predatory events, a figure not even closely matched by combining all other predatory data from all white shark sites worldwide together.
Whilst we prefer to term ourselves passionate naturalists and not scientists we work closely with various scientific organizations worldwide and have been prominent authors in the worlds leading scientific papers relating to white sharks and natural feeding behaviour. Examples of these papers can be found on this site.
Our Morning Trip focus’s heavily on observing this natural behaviour but once this activity quietens down we do also attract the sharks to the boat for closer viewing and of course cage diving. So in a nutshell you can have the opportunity of seeing all aspects of Great white shark behaviour on our Morning Trip.
The sharks do not hunt the seals as intensely in the afternoon so our Afternoon Trip is for cage diving (or surface viewing) only. For those with time or budget constraints the Afternoon Trip still provides a fantastic encounter with the Great white shark.
On both the Morning and Afternoon Trips we are constantly collecting data for various NON-INVASIVE studies as well as increasing our own knowledge and that of our guests. The sharks approach very close to the boat and as the surface viewing is excellent we are able to easily identify the individual sharks that visit and get to know them. This is one aspect of our work that is truly rewarding as many of the same sharks return to Seal Island year after year.
Location
All of our trips leave from Simonstown which is only 40 minutes from Cape Town CBD. Simonstown is also home to the famous Boulders Beach Penguin Colony and with Cape Point being within 15 minutes of Simonstown it is possible to do all three in one day.
For those who would like to stay within walking distance of our point of departure we can gladly organize various forms of accommodation to suit all requirements and needs. Alternatively a round trip transfer can be arranged from Cape Town.
Water Visibility and Weather Conditions
Seal Island has an average visibility of around 25ft (7-8m) which compares favourably to other sites in South Africa. According to our data we have found that the average size shark that we see is 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) in length. The shark high season does fall over the winter months but as Seal Island lies deep in False Bay the surrounding mountain ranges protected it from the prevailing winter wind and swell allowing us to comfortably run trips in moderate conditions. We generally experience calm days between cold fronts and average 7 trips out of every 10 days.
Other Natural Encounters
While Seal Islands claim to fame is it’s spectacular sharks you will also have the chance to get close to the 64 000 strong Cape fur seal colony that calls Seal Island home as well as numerous other bird species including the comical Jackass penguins.
During July–Sept whales are sighted on almost all trips, particularly the Southern Right Whale. The shy Brydes whale can also sighted throughout the season.
Longer Stay Package Deals
For those who do have a little more time or are serious shark enthusiasts we offer extended expeditions of 5 to 10 days. These expeditions focus on all aspects of white shark behaviour and by the end of the expedition we usually have shown you a spectacular array of white shark interactions and a glimpse into the life of these awesome animals that we are so passionate about. Many of our guests book these extended trips and we have a large amount of repeat guests each year.
Having either worked at or visited every other white shark site worldwide we are 100% confident we can offer you a white shark experience like no other. Come and join us and share in our passion for these Apex Predators as we watch them and all the magnificence they have to offer.
We gladly cater for people wishing to book exclusive trips, group bookings, natural history filming or commercials, research projects, and team building and can arrange various packages to suit your needs.
Our list of satisfied guests over the years have included the likes of The BBC , National Geographic, Discovery Channel, CBS 60 Minutes, Animal Planet, MTV-Wild Boys, German, Dutch,Spanish, French and many other films crews. Well known personalities and hosts have included the Sex Pistols, Tiger Woods, Peter Benchley, Charles Howell, Nigel Marvin, Simon King, Steve Leonard, Sigurd Tesche, Terry Nutkins, Michaela Strachan, Mark Cawardine, Mike de Gruy, Jeff Corwin, The Kratt Brothers to name a few. More importantly however are the thousands of people who have become friends and great ambassadors for the sharks.
What do you need to Bring.
Warm jacket, sun block, hat, polarized sunglasses, beach towel (if diving) and Cameras. We would also recommend taking anti motion sickness tablets if you are prone to sea sickness. Also please bring a spirit for adventure and a love for nature, we can supply if extra is needed!!
What do we supply?
Hopefully sharks!
We provide sandwiches, snacks and refreshments while on board. If you do not have your own wetsuit (5mm recommended) we supply all required dive gear. Sizes Small to XXL are available.
Low Season Trips
If your visit to Cape Town falls over the low season which is October to March we can book you with an operator that we recommend in Gansbaai (2.5 hours from cape Town). The season here is a little longer and there is a slightly better chance of seeing sharks this time of year here.
The operator that we use operates the smallest groups for the best experience and operates in the most eco-friendly manner. There are 8 other operators in this area and it can be confusing as to which is the best company to book with, so this is where we can advise you.
There is no extra charge for us to book you on the Gansbaai tour.Please contact us for all prices and any other information that you may require.
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