You've been hearing the stories and seeing the photos for years now. I have just locked down the dates for my personal Rock N Roll White Shark Expedition 2009! Email me with any questions whatsoever, below is basically all the nuts and bolts, you'll need extra shorts cuz you'll definitely be crapping your wetsuit. Great White Adventures is the best and safest outfit in the business and you'll never forget the five days about this beautiful luxory boat with non stop frothy white shark action all around you. You DO NOT have to be a certified diver, you only need to have a taste for adventure while being around the best 16 people I can possibly put together on one boat for 5 days! Once we pull the cages up each night we rip it hard, the METAL is cranking and we share our best photos and videos shot that day.
Here is the basic info for the Dean Karr August 7 to 11 2009 Great White Shark Adventure to Guadalupe Island. Please review the following information.
You need to call and make your reservation and make an initial deposit. Trip cost is $3395.00. Space is limited!
You will need to be in San Diego, CA on or before August 6th. The group (16) will meet at the Holiday Inn Downtown http://www.hisandiegodowntown.com/ to board our 56 passenger luxury motor coach at 9:00am on August 7th 2009. The bus ride down to Ensenada is only 90 minutes. You may have to momentarily stop at the Mexican border but this does not occur on every trip. You will arrive in Ensenada then board the Solmar V at the MEGA Yacht dock at the marina.
You will be assigned a cabin ( all cabins are double occupancy) and stow your dive gear then attend a vessel safety briefing. There will be delicious snacks and cold beverages served. The Solmar V departs at 12 noon or as soon as we are cleared by Mexican customs and immigration. All passengers will need a passport to re-enter the USA. All passengers must send us a photo copy of their passport in order for us to procure a Mexican visitors visa prior to departure.
The transit time from Ensenada to Isla Guadalupe is approximately 18 hours. The transit time may very due to weather and or animal encounters. We nearly always encounter pods of whales mostly Blue whales and huge pods of pacific common or white sided dolphin. We would stop and enjoy the whale encounters but the dolphins prefer that we remain underway and circle around several times and allow them to surf our bow and wake.
This underway day is spent relaxing. It is also a great time for photographers and camera people to assemble and check equipment.
This is important because the shark action usually begins shortly after arriving at Guadalupe.
Dinner will be served around 6:00 pm.
We arrive at Guadalupe shortly after breakfast on day #2. The group will meet in the salon for the mandatory dive safety briefing (20 mins). As the group is being briefed the Solmar crew will deploy the cages and prepare the dive stations. The divers will be assigned into teams. We have 2 main cages that float on the surface at the stern of the vessel. These cages can hold 4 divers each. The group of 16 will be divided into 4 teams of 4 divers and we will rotate each team every hour. The diving will begin as soon as the briefing is complete and the first teams are ready. When you are not diving you may observe all of the incredible topside action from the dive deck or from above on the sundeck (best).
When we have the main cages and teams cooperating and operating safely we will deploy the submersible cage.
The submersible cage we will use on the Dean Karr trip will be our world famous " Cinema Cage" . This cage is not so much of a cage as it is a platform/elevator. The "cinema cage" is attached to the Solmar crane and is raised to the main deck on the port side of the vessel and divers can step right into the cage. When all 3 divers are ready the cage is lowered slowly to depth usually 40 to 50 feet down. The "cinema cage" holds 1 safety diver and 2 passenger divers. The safety diver has communications with the topside crew and there is also live video feed to the salon where everyone can watch the action below. Only certified divers may use the submersible cage however uncertified divers may dive in the main surface cages. Depending on how many certified divers we have the submersible dives last for 25 minutes on some trips there are less certified divers so these dive times can be increased. Also the submersible cage operations are weather dependent. If the water conditions become unsafe we may need to suspend the submersible dives. Unsafe conditions may be experienced if the wind causes the boat to swing on the anchor or cause the vessel to rock too much to utilize the crane.
Diving operations continue throughout the day and usually ends shortly after the sun drops behind the island approximately 5:00pm in October.
Each consecutive day dive operations begin at 7:00 am or whenever the first shark arrives.
During the day we also offer "Panga" inflatable boat rides along the shore to observe all of the other wildlife like elephant seals, sea lions, fur seals, birds etc, etc.
All onboard meals and beverages are included with the trip. The food on the Solmar V is excellent and a variety of cuisine is offered. Breakfast is served from 7 to 9 am. Lunch time is usually dictated by shark activity but is generally served mid day. Dinner is served around 7pm. The Solmar V is also well known for its vegetarian meals so if any guests are vegetarian or vegan they are well taken care of. All passengers will need to submit any dietary requirements prior to the trip. This is easily done when each passengers fills out their waiver and release forms which they will receive upon booking.
We will remain at Guadalupe for 3 days and depart approximately 3:00pm on day #4 returning to Ensenada approximately 2:00pm on day #5 . The bus will be waiting at the marina to take the group back to San Diego. The bus will stop at the US border and all passengers will disembark and proceed through customs. The bus will proceed through its own check point and pick up the group again 2 blocks (100 yds) away from the customs office. Border traffic may cause delays on the return to San Diego so return flight reservations should be made with this in mind and either make a reservation for late evening August 11th 2009 flights or next day departures is always better.
As for fishing on the trip. We do troll lines behind the Solmar on the way to the island. We often catch tuna and albacore along the way. We only catch a few fish and only what we eat or feed to the sharks. As for fishing at the island we do not usually fish there but sometimes if the sharks are being lazy and not playing with us, we might put a line out and hook a tuna. However we rarely get to land a fish because a BIG white shark will show up and eat the tuna right under the boat.. Then we have sharks everywhere and the fishing gear is put away.
I hope this may answer any questions you have!
Thank you - Dean Karr
