How many of you divers have seen sharks while diving?

thinking about getting into diving, how often have you guys seen sharks while you have been diving? the amount of times we have been on the boat and have said i might quickly jump in to cool down and then 5 minuites later a big shark has appeard is pretty scary lol..

 

I'm keen to do a dive course and buy some diving gear, what sort of gear should i buy? dont need really expensive stuff as i wanna try it before i start buying $$ stuff. How deep do you guys usually dive? is around 40 meters good to dive?  I'm sure i will be feeling alot better about the sharks when i have a speargun on me :P

how much would i be looking at for a decent dive setup and speargun?

 

cheers looking forward to the replies, troy.


Paul G's picture

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Date Joined: 12/12/07

Go for it Jesse has done 250

Thu, 2012-11-29 18:06

Go for it Jesse has done 250 dives never seen a shark. I have dived for 24 years and seen two and that was at the Abrolhos in the last couple of trips .They just keep on swimming Iin saying that the chance is always there but its not the shark you see you need to worrie about .It will take you 100 dives to get fully comfortable in the water.do it you won't regreat it.

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catchalittle's picture

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Date Joined: 04/09/08

Have seen a few in the past

Thu, 2012-11-29 18:09

Have seen a few in the past and years ago had a cage riped apart by a GW thats why I now stay on the boat

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Nathan

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Date Joined: 21/02/08

Got buzzed at west end a few

Thu, 2012-11-29 18:16

Got buzzed at west end a few weeks back, seen plenty at the Abrolhos.

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GrahamM's picture

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Date Joined: 19/01/09

I have also dived for many

Thu, 2012-11-29 18:18

I have also dived for many years and seen a couple of grey nurse sharks in the metro while diving. I have how ever seen a few more when i venture north i have seen black and white tip sharks, i have also seen many bronzies when diving and shooting at the Abhrolis but i have never felt threatened by any i have seen. But as Paul said you need not to worrie about the ones you see. As for gear i would recomend that a great starting set up if the $ are not too much is a ex rental set which is a great way to get really good gear at a fraction of the cost. Depending on where you live and where you plan on diving. I would also recomend that you do a dive course that includes boat dives as i have seen a few divers freak out when free falling so to speak of a boat as to just gradually swiming deeper off the shore.pm me if you have any ? that  i can help out with

 

Paul G's picture

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40m is a deep dive .If things

Thu, 2012-11-29 18:25

40m is a deep dive .If things go bad your prity well screwed .I would not be looking at that depth until you have at least 50+ dives .and some bloody good dive buds to look out for you. Plenty to see and shoot around the three mile

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troy fuller's picture

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Date Joined: 30/08/10

Yeah i seen a course where

Thu, 2012-11-29 18:27

Yeah i seen a course where they do a few land dives and then some from the boat, cant wait to get in the water and see how it all works down there

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Date Joined: 07/05/11

don't worry about sharks

Thu, 2012-11-29 19:12

Sharks do not like the noise of the bubbles_ the only time u will dive with sharks is when u look for them_ done thousands of dives and dived with some sizeable hammers, bronzies, greys, oceanics, bulls, nurses, reefies and never had a drama_ they are very cool. stick to the shallower dives and get comfortable before u head deeper. 40 m is serious stuff if it goes wrong. best dives are shallow as u get the bottom time and u have thé light...220feet is fun too though

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Just the depth that Varies

D_DOUSH's picture

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Date Joined: 23/12/07

 at the abrolohos  probally 1

Thu, 2012-11-29 19:45

 at the abrolohos  probally 1 dive in 3 i see a shark. never seen one metro.

tot's picture

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Date Joined: 31/01/10

and above Canarvon every time

Thu, 2012-11-29 19:51

and above Canarvon every time shooting fish , but thats just snorkeling

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Vinesh87's picture

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Mate seen a few nothing

Thu, 2012-11-29 19:51

Mate seen a few nothing serious.

Dive gear each to there own, most guys these days are going a more technical style in the BP&W setup. A cheap setup will cost you around $1000 (+ tanks, wetsuits, fins, mask)up until what ever you want to be spend. All the add on bits get expensive. E.g a good can light for serious night stuff $500+

40M is a serious dive as stated. I generally stay around under 30.

40m is deco diving, extra tanks, different gas mixes. You will want a lot of experience before you do all that.

 

Vin

Dizzy's picture

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Have seen a few, and never

Thu, 2012-11-29 20:05

Have seen a few, and never really been worried.
 

Coolest was within the first 20 minutes of my very first Abrolhos dive back in the 90's, @ around 25m down and had a BUS of a nurse pass by within a couple of metres of me, so graceful and effortless.

I wasn't phased in the slightest, but turned around to see my dive buddy's eyes filling his whole mask while he was doing a "chomp-chomp" motion with his extended arms...... nearly shat himself.

 

Most memorable was the shock I got when deep breath-hold diving under a bombie in ningaloo.

Cleared a little ledge and came face to face, literally nose to nose with a sleeper in a big cavity under the bombie.

That was shock enough, but then I went around the other side to have a look and saw its tail hanging out the other end, which meant it was MUCH bigger than I originally thought.

But it didn't move the whole time, just kept snoozing.

 

Watched a massive wobby steal a big cray off my uncle at steep point in the late 70's,  but being so young I didn't notice how spooked he was so it didn't register.
(They're harmless enough, but it caught him by surprise while he was wrestling the big cray from under a ledge)

 

As (relatively) calm as previous experiences have been, I'm bloody apprehensive these days - especially with the kids swimming off the boat I'm up front keeping an eye out.

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Where's Poddy :-)

Thu, 2012-11-29 20:13
Dizzy's picture

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Yep, that one trumps them

Thu, 2012-11-29 20:24

Yep, that one trumps them ALL. 

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try a 3.5m great white in 4m

Fri, 2012-11-30 12:38

try a 3.5m great white in 4m or less vis following all the way back to the boat ;)

Notorious's picture

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 See shark/s almost every

Thu, 2012-11-29 20:16

 See shark/s almost every boat dive 

 

Mind you we are spearfishing and often chumming/burleying up

 

Never seen a great white though and hope I dont

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yeah ive seen a few bronzies

Thu, 2012-11-29 20:42

yeah ive seen a few bronzies out the back of garden island, dropped down the anchor one day to be faced with a 6ft one having a good look at us. Never really been too bothered by them though, feel much safer on the bottom than mid or top water.

Reefmonkey's picture

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go for it

Thu, 2012-11-29 21:09

if you do your course dont buy any gear until after your course and your comfortable you'll keep diving, a grand and a bit will get you new entry level sorta stuff and a tank. If you buy what ever gear you end up buying take the time to make sure is all comfortable and fits well. 40 meters is pretty ambitous. If your diving for fun the majority of good dives will all be less than 20m and you get alot more bang for your buck diving shallow. Work up to 40 if its your thing though atleast go to 30m.

dived with more sharks than i can ever count from bulls and big hammerheads off onslow to sleepies and port jacksons. seeing sharks makes a dive. Only one kind of shark i dont want to see and haven't seen him yet.

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 On the south coast we see a

Fri, 2012-11-30 08:02

 On the south coast we see a 2m+ shark about one in 3 trips just free diving off the rocks but we are burleying ect, they aren't that worried just come in for a look then shoot off after a few laps. 

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Dhuvinile's picture

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 Go for it I've done over 250

Fri, 2012-11-30 11:20

 Go for it I've done over 250 dives and ony seen wobbies and 2 grey nurse sharks, we shoot fish on just about every dive and never see anything worth worrying about

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Date Joined: 01/05/09

im with notorious, almost

Fri, 2012-11-30 12:39

im with notorious, almost every boat dive i seem them, ranging from 5 foot bronzies to 4m great whites and everything inbetween including bull sharks, massive hammers and many a frisky whaler

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Yep. Rare to do a dive in the

Fri, 2012-11-30 12:57

Yep. Rare to do a dive in the north west without seeing a few. Thick up here at the moment. One spot is that bad it is pointless spearing. The sharks still beat you to the fish every time.

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Notorious's picture

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 have u tried a pranga head?

Mon, 2012-12-03 05:54

 have u tried a pranga head?

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ironpirate's picture

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Date Joined: 20/09/12

 karratha thick as see at

Sun, 2012-12-02 09:54

 karratha thick as see at least 10 or 15 per dive just concentrate on a good shot or you have lost it ha ha shark shield seems to work (makes me feel better any way)

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