Where is John Williams when I need him?

"Shark in the water? Cage go in the water, with the shark?"-Quint in Jaws

So one of the neatest things I have done is do a little cage diving with some sharks here in Hawaii. The outfit is called North Shore Shark Adventures and I would recommend them to anyone.

Without going into a huge narrative, it is basically like this, you drive yourself to the North Shore to a tiny little town and the boat dock is right there easy to see. You hop on the boat and 3 miles out to see later you cut the engine and BOOM, sharks are instantly at the surface. No maybes or hopeful scans of the horizon for that dreaded fin slicing through the water. Just 6-12 sharks there, in the water, waiting for little ol' you.

Snorkel gear on, jump in the shark cage and they push you away from the boat. Then chum is thrown in to make it a little exciting for you, as if your heart is not going 160bpm anyways, and you just swim around in the cage for 20 minutes or so and stare at these beautiful creatures. Trying not to get kicked by your cage mate.

Having snorkeled and dived with barracuda and sharks before, this was not totally new. But I had never been in the real ocean 400' deep with pelagic sharks, more than 8 of them and within touching distance. It was quite stunning. Got the requisite tshirt and dvd for proof of my experience.

The company was great, seems like a price bargain for what you get,I would do it again and I recommend it to anyone. And really, how bad can it be if the 68 year old grannies on the boat with me can do it, huh? So you should too!!

Needless to say this has only strengthened the fascination I have always had with sharks. So I think next is going to be the Farallon Islands of San Francisco and doing a cage dive with Great White Sharks!!!!!!!!!!!