Yesterday I attended a shark dive session that was a gift from my fiancee for a birthday. I had the certificate handed to me on my birthday and booked in for the day online without incident.
On arrival the whole centre is superb with many things on site to do, see and experience.
Our 3 year old son was in his element with the zip line helicopter entrance and the high ropes above as well as the selection of bugs, grubs and spiders in the entrance.
When you walk in you're drawn to the amazing looking aquarium with the sharks and other fish swimming around with plenty of room. The site is an accredited Sharks Conservation centre too which is brilliant.
By having a shark dive booked you are eligible for free access to the assault course within the arena. With my knees, I didn't want to risk it before the shark dive and the family were worn out when we had finished, but it looked great!
For my dive I arrived half an hour early as instructed and I was met by Rachel and Ross who guided me through the induction, safety briefing and a professional guide to the kit being used. Although I am a PADI trained diver, it's always good to have a refresh.
Once complete this was the time to get clean! Hot shower and decontamination- Fish don't need hair wax and deodorant!
Then it was into the test pool to get the kit sorted and complete some safety demonstrations by instructors before completing them myself. We were now joined by Kyle who was leading the guide around the aquarium. He also had the GoPro to take some pictures and get some video footage - so make sure you smile!
I was lucky to be the only customer during my experience, so I was fortunate that I was able to spend lots of time in the water.
The whole experience whilst in the tank was different to a normal dive. For this experience, you walk around the bottom of the aquarium, with the sharks above your head (literally just above!) Don't let that put you off if you are an experienced diver, they'll sign your dive records!
I cannot express how good this experience is. Thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Its unlikely you'll able to find anywhere in the wild where this experience is guaranteed, so if I were you book it!
