Seal Island's world famous flying great whites!

We cater for not only day trips but any length of time that suits you. This includes exclusive trips, group bookings, natural history filming or commercials, research projects and team building. We will arrange a package to suit your needs. This is the ultimate way to feed your passion. Contact us for prices and additional information.

Since appearing in Air Jaws as well as more than 35 other documentaries that Apex Expeditions have facilitated since 1996, the jumping great whites of Seal Island images of Air Jaws 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.

Our objective on each trip is to pass on our passion, enthusiasm and experiences
we have shared with the sharks to our guests.

During the high season which extends from mid April through to mid September it is almost a daily occurrence to see these huge sharks, some of which are over 15ft, leaping into the air whilst trying to capture their prey, the Cape fur seal.

During the course of the last 10 years we have witnessed and documented over 4000 predatory events, a figure not even closely matched by combining all other predatory data from all white shark sites worldwide together.

All of our trips that we offer focus heavily on observing this natural behaviour but we also do observe sharks around the boat as well as offering cage diving.

So in a nutshell you can do pretty much everything in a day. 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.

So while we watch the sharks around our boat we are constantly collecting data for various NON-INVASIVE studies possible as well as increasing our own knowledge and that of our guests.

While the sharks circle our vessel guests will also have the opportunity to cage dive with the sharks if they wish or observe them from the surface as they investigate our boat at close quarters.

Seal Island has an average visibility of around 25ft (7-8m) which compares favorably to other sites in South Africa.

While Seal Islands claim to fame is it’s spectacular sharks you will also have the chance to see many of the 64 000 seals which call 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. All of our trips leave from Simonstown which is only 30 minutes from Cape Town and so allows you not only to take in the sharks but also be able to see Cape Point and the Boulders beach penguin colony all in one day. Both Cape Point and the Boulders are within 15 minutes of Simonstown. 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 tastes.

The vessel that we use is a custom built high powered catamaran, licensed for 10 guests. We do however limit our capacity to 6 guests or less to ensure a personalized and uncramped experience. Weather during our high season, which is April-September is usually fine as Seal Island lies deep in False Bay and unlike other shark localities on our coast it is not exposed to the open ocean and bumpy seas.

For those who do have a little more time or are serious shark enthusiasts we offer extended expeditions of two-ten days. The 10 day 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 will have you hunkering for more.

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.

For anyone who may have seen great whites already or someone who wishes not to be caged up and see the sharks on their terms this is an unsurpassed opportunity for you. We do also offer expeditions that are two days or longer where we can show you the great whites on one day and the awesome pelagic animals on the next as well as a large variety of other species. Best months for this combination are April, May and June. As with the great whites we collect data on these trips to help conserve these pelagic sharks from the pressures of shark finning and longlining and hopefully add to our understanding of them.

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 clothing in winter (June-Sept), sun block and wind breaker in summer (Oct-Apr) Cameras and plenty of film ( the sharks jump very very fast). 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!

During our high season for white sharks (April-Sept) the chances are 95% or greater. 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, both for free diving and for scuba. For trips of 5 days or longer free self catering accommodation is inclusive. This accommodation is within 2 minutes walk of our launch site. B&B accommodation as well as any other form of accommodation can be arranged upon request. We will also arrange a airport pick up and drop off if required.

On those nasty weather days we can also gladly arrange tours to the famous Winelands, spectacular Cape Point (which is only 15 minutes from where we launch ) or a dive with the sharks in the Two Oceans Aquarium.

Please contact us for all prices and any other information that you may require.