Natalie swims with the Sharks

Bull Shark
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When I heard that it was possible to do a shark feed dive in Fiji, I was 100% certain that I would do it. Having snorkelled with black tip reef sharks in the past, the prospect of diving with Bull sharks and even Tiger sharks (which I didnt think was possible) was the next step for me.

When the boys decided that this was something that they were not not going to do, I had to pluck up the courage and do it by myself.

Posted by Natalie

Bull Shark
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The location of the dive was Beqa Lagoon, located just off Pacific Harbour on the south of Viti Levu- Fiji's main island.

My dive was booked for saturday the 16th of April. unfortunately this was a really dull rainy day, which made the build up to the dive a whole lot more daunting as the sea didnt look as inviting covered by grey rain clouds!

After an early start and an hour cab drive, I arrived at the dive centre at 8am, I was immediately fitted with a wetsuit and dive gear, signed my life away, and then got on the boat to head out to the lagoon. I'd thought that we would have watched a video or had some kind of briefing before we left as to what to expect , but it was literally get your gear on, then on to the boat and off we went.

Bull Shark
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There were 7 of us in our group, I was the least experienced of the group as some were dive instructures and dive masters, and a few were advanced divers. I was so relieved that I'd taken my advanced course in Thailand, as otherwise I dont think I'd have felt confident enough to take part, but even still the minimal dives required are 10 and I just scraped through with 11 dives.

We arrived at the dive spot, appropriately named Bistro, and we had our briefing there, which was very brief! All we had to do was dive down to 24 metres, sit behind the rope, and watch the feed, keeping your arms and hands tucked in. It was never an issue that the sharks would attack us, as they've been doing the dive there since 1985 and have never had any problems. This reassured me slightly, but there was always that feeling in the back of my mind that there's a first for everything!

Nurse Shark
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The sea was extremely choppy at the dive spot and we were all fighting off the sea sickness, so any apprehension of jumping into shark infested waters was immediately forgotten and we were all got in the water as quick as we could.

Although it was choppy at the surface, the conditions down at 24 metres were excellent, and the visibility was between 15-20 metres. The feeding started as soon as we all got down. Instantly there was a massive feeding ball of big Remora & Travelli which were impressive in their own right. Almost immediately there were 5 or 6  6-9ft nurse sharks feeding which were beautiful and very elegant looking sharks because of their long tail fin. These were feeding directly from the feeders hand. They were all so close to us aswell so we got a fantastic view of them.

Bull Shark feeding
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After about 15 minutes we were all completely at ease with the dive so the cameraman invited us one by one to stroke the nurse sharks. For me this was amazing as I didnt know we'd be allowed to do this! The sharks didnt seem to be bothered about it either. So there I was stroking an 8ft nurse shark! To say I was excited was an understatement!

We all returned to the boat after 35 minutes, all wanting to see more-  the big sharks- the bull sharks and tiger sharks. We spent a choppy hour on the boat drinking tea, during which the dive team left a container of dead fish down at the bottom which would hopefull attract in the bigger deep water sharks. After the hour we were all eager to get back in and see more, and fingers crossed see a Tiger shark.

It was time for our second dive, and this time there was no apprehension to get in the water what so ever! As soon as we got down the feeding resumed and almost instantly an 11ft big fat bull shark cruised past us and into the feeding frenzy. I was so excited my eyes nearly popped out of my head! Then in cruised another and another until there were about 6 fullygrown bull sharks all within 2 metres away from us! At one point, one swam within a metre of us, showing no interest in us what so ever! Whenever I'd heard about bull sharks in the past, it had always been about how aggressive these sharks were towards humans, but now having experienced diving with these creatures in such close proximity with no safety net or cage between us, I am certain that they are not the aggressive blood thirsty creatures that they have been labelled.

As the dive went on a silver shark came in and fed along with some lemon sharks amd a silver tip. Each was beautiful and elegant, but none compared to the sheer size and presence of the bull sharks.

We werent lucky enough to encounter a tiger shark, which I'm sure would be the ultimate shark encounter, but we were all completely exhillerated and satisfied with what we'd just experienced. Plus we saw a giant Mauri Wrasse which is a massive fish about 2 metres long and a metre high, which by normal standards is impressive, but was obviously overshadowed by the sharks.

The dive has increased my fascination with these incredible creatures and I would highly recommend this dive to anybody who has an interest in sharks, and you also get the DVD of your shark encounter to remember it by. It is by far the best dive I've ever done, and probably ever will do. The next step for me now is to dive with Hammerheads and a Tiger shark, then who knows- maybe a cage dive to see a Great White. But I'll certaily never forget my first dive with sharks.