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GREETINGS SHARK FANS!
Shark Diving International would like to wish a
prosperous New Year that is full of adventure to
each of our
shark fans.
Our Team is ready for
another stellar season opener in FIJI. Then we will be
gearing up for the White Shark season at Guadalupe
island.
Join
us for the Ultimate Shark Diving Experience!
We have the the Worlds Best Destinations, the
Best Vessels, the Best Crews, and most important of
all we have the SHARKS!!
Has the cold winter got you down?
Come and Warm up with us in FIJI!!
Join us for Shark Diving in Paradise 2007 |
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Ready to escape the cold and
enjoy a nice Tropical Adventure?
Join us
for Shark Diving in Paradise 2007.
This Tropical shark adventure has it all!
BIG
sharks, friendly people, luxurious resort, and some of
the best scuba diving in the world! You can see as
many as 8 different shark species on just one dive!
Not only is this a fantastic Shark Diving experience, it
is also a huge cultural experience. Including nightly
entertainment such as Fire Walking and native music.
The Beqa Lagoon resort is located close to
Fijian
villages, we can arrange visits with local guides. Beqa
Lagoon Resort private villas (called bures) are large
and luxurious. Tucked in the coconut trees, just a
few meters back from the beach, each bure is
elegantly furnished with rattan and bamboo and
decorated with colorful splashes of fabric and works
of art. Every beach front bure has its own spacious
courtyard with a plunge pool and bamboo fence to
ensure your privacy. 
Shark Diving in Paradise is also very affordable!
$2699 pp.
Your trip includes R/T Airfare from LAX; 7
nights,
luxury Beach front Bures (Fijian Villas), 6 days of 2
tank boat diving with up to 8 species of sharks;
Unlimited shore diving, both day and night; 3 gourmet
meals daily; Ground transfers, and much more!
Our trip to Fiji in 2006 was one of the greatest
adventures of the year and most of the 2006 team is
returning with us this year!
Our
16 shark divers were pampered and spoiled by the
Fijian staff (not to mention very well fed). We
gathered for many
delicious and creatively prepared meals at the Bure
Kalou. Situated at the edge of the lagoon with a
soaring eighty-foot thatched roof, it was the perfect
setting to relish the chefs' fine cuisine comprised of
local shellfish, fresh fruits and vegetables, New
Zealand lamb and Australian beef.
We all enjoyed fabulous accommodations in very
private bures. These exquisite bures provided the
perfect setting to relax and reflect on the incredible
experiences we shared. Less than an hour after
diving with a 16-foot Tiger shark, Bull sharks and
scores of other sharks we relaxed in nice big
hammocks with ice-cold Fiji Gold brew and soaked in
the gorgeous South Pacific sunset.
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| WYLAND to visit Guadalupe with Shark Diving International |
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Shark Divng International is honored to host world
renown marine life artist
Wyland on the Solmar V at Guadalupe Island
this season.
You can join Wyland and a few
of
his close friends on this epic 7 day White Shark
Adventure!
This very exclusive expedition
will give only a few lucky shark fans the opportunity
to
dive with Wyland and personally share this incredible
experience with him. Aug 25 to
Sept 2 2007Wyland,
the most influential marine life artist of our time. With
more than 78 monumental ocean murals throughout
the world, Wyland's art has transported many into
the sublime chambers of nature's underwater
kingdom, all guided by the eyes of an authentic
environmental visionary.
This painter, sculptor, writer, underwater
photographer and muralist is one of the most prolific
and celebrated artists of our day. His mission is to
inspire an entire generation to appreciate the beauty
of our world's oceans featuring great whales,
dolphins, manatees, orcas, sea turtles, sharks,
colorful fish, living reefs and all life in the sea.
Wyland captures it all with beauty and emotion.
As a marine life artist whose work has been hailed for
its worldwide environmental implications by such
world renown ocean scientists as Dr. Robert Ballard,
Dr Sylvia A. Earl and Dr. Roger Payne, Wyland is
bridging the marine world of science and art.
Today his art is found in museums, galleries, and
public walls and in many public and private
collections throughout the world. He is also founder
of the Wyland Foundation, a nonprofit organization
dedicated to the preservation of the world's oceans.
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2007 White Shark Season
Are You Ready To Get
Up Close and Personal? |
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After 6 amazing seasons at Guadalupe our 100%
success rate still stands strong!
We are the #1 Shark Diving
Team in
the
USA!
Absolutely every trip we have made to Guadalupe
Island, the GWA/SDI Team has produced White
Sharks for
our clients!
Our 100% safety record is still intact as well!
We are booking up for the 2007
Guadalupe and
Farallon Season!
If you want to experience the absolute Best White
Shark Diving Adventure on the planet you need to
book your space NOW!!
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Tiger Beach Trip Testamonial from Veteran
Shark Diving International Client |
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Sensory overload is a great analogy of Shark
Diving International's Bahamas trip.
When speaking with other divers about considering
Bahamas as my next shark trip. I was told you better
be prepared. After hearing that, I called Lawrence at
SDI and booked the trip.
Everyday on the boat
was
nonstop action. After boarding the vessel in the
evening, I awoke to breakfast with Jim Abernethy
explaining that good weather allowed for a chance at
a distant shark site, so the captain changed course
during the night. Jim announced we are now arriving
at a site named "The end of the map where
Monster's live". While sounding haunted, words came
out of the crew’s mouth such as Submarine's not
sharks. This site is famous for divers getting chased
out of the water early because the sharks are just
too big. They have seen tigers over twenty feet
here. It was at this point I knew that Shark Diving
International had provided another perfect trip for me.
By day two I was realizing there are beautiful
Monster's everywhere in the Bahamas. But it was
apparent that the crew on our trip had special
feelings for the girls at the world renowned Tiger
Beach. Your shark dive at Tiger Beach begins the
second you touch the water. Almost ten minutes into
one of the dives we looked at each other in
question "where are the tigers" as 30 lemon sharks
circled us. Two minutes later it was raining tiger
sharks, as Emma (14 ft.) came eye to eye with me; I
lost count of the other tigers at 12. I believe my
heart stopped at one point in that dive. Highlights
are never ending on this trip. Such as holding two
tiger sharks off of me at the same time and not ever
feeling threatened by them or at the end of a long
day of diving, Jim announcing after dinner "suit up for
the night dive with Tigers. We found ourselves
getting out of the water with stories of a lifetime,
but I'm truly at a loss of words when I think of the
final dive of our trip. It is something you just have to
experience for yourself if you love sharks!
Immediately after that amazing dive and having
taken numerous trips with Shark Diving International I
asked Lawrence where it ends, he answered
instantly “it doesn’t”. I have already booked my spot
on the Bahamas trip in 2007 .Thank you to everyone
at Shark Diving International for all the hard work it
takes to provide such an outstanding and safe
experience with sharks.
Bob
McNerney,
San Pedro ,CA.
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TIGER BEACH PARTY
WHAT A BLAST!! |
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December 2006
We ended this
incredible year with a team of 10
lucky shark fans and my good friend Jim Abernethy.
We traveled to West Palm Beach, Florida boarded
Jim's boat the
Shearwater and headed for the West End of Grand
Bahama Island. Our mission was to dive in the open
water with Tiger Sharks and hopefully with a few
Great Hammerheads as well.
As it turned
out this
trip ended up being one of, if not the most intense
shark diving trips of my life! We always hope
for good weather on all of our trips. This trip was
blessed from the get go. We had perfect weather all
the way! The bright Bahamian sky provided us with
excellent light for shooting lots of photos and video.
On day one we arrived at one of Jims deepwater dive
sites called "End of the map where Monsters live".
This time of year there is a good chance of
encountering Great Hammerheads.
We did not see any Great Hammers but we had
several Bull and reef sharks in 100 foot plus visibility.
It was a good warm up spot to prepare us for Tiger
Beach.
Tiger Beach has
become synonymous
with BIG Tiger
sharks and lots of them. We were not disappointed.
We made our first dive at sunrise on day two. We
had chummed overnight and the water around us
was full of Lemon sharks. Lemon sharks are mild
mannered and friendly. We were in the water for
about ten minutes when we started to notice some
larger animals out in the distance about 150 feet
away just big shadows coming and going but not
quite
visible. Then Jimmy and Ed (one of the crew) jumped
in
with a couple of milk crates. One was full of fish
carcasses and one was empty. The empty crate was
to fend off the sharks with! Ed calls this crew
job "Tiger Shark Matador". Ed took his position in the
middle of the group and started shaking the crate full
of fish and all of a sudden
there were Tigers everywhere! They came in low
across the bottom sniffing the sand like dogs. They
were bold and would approach very close turning
away at the last second and move onto the next
diver and the next and the next then swim out to
make another pass. Every where you looked was a
Tiger shark! You had to stay alert and be looking in
all directions at once! I counted 7 Tiger sharks on
the
first dive along with over 15 Lemons. Once the Tigers
showed up you had to completely ignore the Lemons
and keep your eyes on the tigers. We were in the
water for over an hour. That is one thing that makes
Tiger Beach so great is that you are in only 20 feet
of water. Plenty of bottom time!!! We were
exhausted by the end of the day and we all went to
bed early. The next day my Buddy Jimmy had a great
idea! He thought it would be cool if I played Tiger
Shark Matador! I have to admit I was not sure I was
ready for that but I know a great opportunity when it
hits me in the head! "Yeah OK" I said. Everyone else
was smiling at me and saying things like " Nice
knowing
you Buddy" or " Can I have your camera gear after
your gone?" stuff like that. It is nice to know I
would be missed. I was feeling the Love! So I got
ready and jumped in with Ed and when we got to the
bottom he handed the crates to me and stood right
behind me to cover my six. I started shaking the fish
crate and here they came! I swear there were 50 of
them! It got real busy real fast. It was intense! I just
had to hold the fish crate up higher than the sharks
and keep the empty crate down low to keep them
from
bumping into my body. Well it went well for about 30
minutes. Then at one point I had a young Tiger swim
up high and to my left. At the same time I had
another Tiger swimming low and away to my right.
So, I
concentrated on the one
Tiger that was high
on my left. She was trying to turn in on me while her
left eye nictitating membrane kept closing and she
was
bumping the crate. I never heard everyone yelling at
me about the big one coming in low from the left.
Like I could really hear anyone anyway. But everyone
said they yelled look out! Well the next thing I
know
is that my right fin is off the bottom and I am being
shook like a rag doll! Then my mask came off! I
pushed off the shark with my left foot and my right
fin finally came off and I was free. I got my mask
back on my face and clear in about 2 seconds. Oh
yeah, I also tossed the fish crate as far away as I
could and got up off the bottom a few feet to get
clear. Ed retrieved my fin back for me and took over
the Matador spot and the show went on. I got back
in formation with the rest of the group and sat there
shaking for about 10 minutes until my heart rate got
back to normal. WOW!! That was really intense!!
When I got back to the boat everyone said I did a
great job and they got the best photos and video of
the whole trip! Jimmy comes out of the water and
says "Great Job" your on for tomorrow and go
get ready for the night dive! I just say "Yeah OK"!!!
 Let me start by
saying that Jimmy claims that less than 100 poeple
have done this Tiger Beach night dive. I was a little
reluctant after my Matador experience earlier in the
day. But 4 of my shark fans were up to it and
the rest had had enough action for one day. We
jumped in through a large group of Lemons that had
been hanging around all day. After about 10 minutes
our first Tiger came in out of the darkness. It came
in slow and cautious and headed right for the center
of the group and started sniffing the bottom. Then
out of nowhere came a Bull shark! It came in from my
side of the group and darted in and out of sight for
the rest of the dive. The Tiger put on quite the
show. I got a rude awakening when it decided to
check me out up close. It swam up slowly and I
trained my HD rig with my wide angle lens and
greenforce lights right at her. She approached with
confidence and then all of a sudden charged the
lights and just ran right over the top of me! BAM!!
The lights went out and I fell back on my butt. I
rolled over and got back on my knees and looked
around waiting for her to turn back and come at me
again but she was gone. I got my lights back on and
looked at everyone else and they were just looking
at me like what are doing turning your lights off for?
The next day I got back in with Ed and Jimmy. I took
the bait crate from Ed and passed on the empty
crate. I used my BIG Gates HD rig as a shield instead.
I got the footage of my life with 3 massive Tigers
bumping and biting my camera housing! It was the
experience of a lifetime! Stay tuned for the release
of this footage on our website and on the web!!!
You will just have to see it to believe it!!!
If this trip sounds like a good time it is
because..... IT IS A REALLY GOOD TIME!!!!
We
are
already filling
up our 2007 and 2008 trips! If you want in on our
Tiger Beach Party you better sign up quick!!
Yours in Sharks,
Lawrence Groth
Photos by Jim Abernethy
Your Invitation to Tiger Beach Party 2007
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