Great White Shark Expedition

Come with us and experience the world's most famous, most feared and most spectacular shark - the Great White.

To see a great white shark in the wild is a very special and rare experience but to come face to face with one underwater is one of the most exciting experiences available to divers today!

This tour takes place around the scenic offshore islands of South Australia and has been described as the ultimate adventure that Australia has to offer.

To reliably expect to see Great White Sharks in South Australia, we need to travel out into the clear blue offshore waters of Australia's largest seal colony, the famous Neptune Islands. These remote offshore islands are reliably accessible only to larger ocean going live-aboard boats such as “Princess II”.
Even though ‘the majority’ of our initial inquiries request shorter length tours, we feel that it is unrealistic to expect success with only a day or two spent on location. Despite the huge number of people willing to part with good money and gamble on doing a shorter trip, we strongly recommend a minimum of 3 days on location to maximise the potential success of each expedition date.

Our various 3-5 day length tour agendas are designed to firstly allow us time to get out to our viewing locations and back, while also allowing for finding productive spells of weather and reliable shark action. This agenda gives passengers a more realistic chance of enjoying at least one extraordinary magical day when all the conditions favourably come together.

More time spent onboard allows expedition members to spend more quality time with this spectacular animal. These precious moments always seem to go way too fast, and many photographers or passengers, who are travelling from overseas to make this trip the focus of their entire travel to Australia, often do consecutive back-to-back tours to maximise their exposure.

During our days at sea, we also encourage shore parties, and always look for an opportunity to stop off at a special place to snorkel with Australian sea lions on the way out. There are many options to fill our days with interesting activities.
 

Port Lincoln-Port Lincoln Itinerary

Departure Day:
Guests will board the vessel on the morning of departure at 9AM. We travel out through the sheltered gulf waters and islands of the Spencer Gulf and Thorny Passage. Depending on the weather, group wishes, and recent shark activity down at the Neptunes, we often look to stop off at Hopkins Island to snorkel with the extremely rare and beautiful Australian Sea Lions. If the weather is not suitable for the Sea Lions, we go directly to the Neptune Islands and the Great White Sharks.

On location with the sharks:
Once on location we start chumming and watch out for sharks. We begin cage diving in the surface cages on the first day, and usually wait until the second day to lower the submersible cage dives to the bottom. When conditions allow we also offer island excursions. After a test dive to orientate new divers with the shark cage, divers are encouraged to enter and exit the cages at their leisure. There is plenty of time to just relax, get involved in our research programs, or just enjoy the shark action topside. Our activities revolve around the shark activity, shore parties, mealtimes and special talks. We generally stay on location during the day, and usually only move location during the night to give us maximum daytime productivity.

Last Day Arrival back in Port Lincoln:
After a full day on location we depart after 6pm for the return journey back to Port Lincoln, arriving to our homeport after 10pm. Most passengers stay onboard the vessel again this night and depart the following morning. Alternatively, it is possible to pre-arrange alternative accommodation in Port Lincoln with a late night entry.  Flights out from Port Lincoln cannot be taken until the following morning.
 

Prices and Dates (2009/2010):

Price includes all live-aboard expenses such as accommodation, food, beverages, linen, National Park fees and taxes.

Standard rate:
The standard rate per person is for twin/double occupancy accommodation. All single passengers are paired up with each other once onboard. After meeting everyone, we try and match all single passengers with the most compatible other single cabin buddies to the best of our judgment. Each cabin has a private bathroom. Couples and friends are automatically paired up, so please advise if you are travelling with a friend upon booking.

Exclusive Private Single Cabin rate:
If you are willing to pay extra not to share a cabin, and have your very own private cabin with private bathroom, then please ask about private cabin availability on your preferred date. This option is available at 1.7 times the normal twin share rate as listed below on the table. Please call us to explore this matter if you wish?
 

Full Group Charter rate:
Price on application. We cater for group bookings of up to 12 passengers with special custom made agendas. Groups may set new dates or fill any existing dates on our calendar below. We cater for other regular diving tours with no Great White Shark component, either targeting other shark species or involving other ecotourism/adventure components.