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Get in the water with the so-called ‘man-eaters’ – great whites, tiger, bull and hammerhead sharks – to appreciate these magnificent but sadly maligned creatures .
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Overview >Bucket list experience:
Dive with great white sharks at Guadalupe Island
San Diego, California, United States of America (USA)
Last updated: 03 October, 2022
Guadalupe Island, off Baja California, Mexico, teems with these infamous predators – dive operators have identified more than 75 different individuals – who come to feed on fur seals. If you’re crazy enough to share want to dive with a great white shark, this is the best place in the world to do it – sightings are virtually guaranteed, the water is a pleasant 18°C-20°C, and the excellent visibility up to 40m allows unrivalled views of those impressive teeth.
Price from: £3,500
Minimum age: 18
Age suitable: 18+
When: All year around
Duration: 5+ days
Getting there & doing it
Divers are usually collected from the Ramada Hotel at San Diego Airport and transferred to Ensenada, a port on the Pacific coast of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula.
A basic itinerary is 5-days/6 nights, which includes spending three full days at the site (and a 20-hour journey each way to get there). Divers do three 60-minute dives per day in groups of four to six. You can also do longer itineraries of 8-10 days which include other stops to swim with dolphins and manta rays.
You don’t need a dive qualification to do this; you’ll get a safety briefing onboard instead. Dates are limited, so book well ahead.
When to do it
Trips operate from July to end of September. Seas are too rough at other times.
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Since Steven Spielberg’s smash hit film Jaws in 1975, the Great White Shark, carcharodon carcharias, has both fascinated and/or terrified us. Here are our recommendations for the best places to get up close to man’s most feared predator.
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