Guadalupe - Great White Sharks (Guadalupe - Guadalupe)
Departure
Ensenada
San Diego Airport (SAN)
Or
Tijuana airport (TIJ)
Return
Ensenada
San Diego Airport (SAN)
Or
Tijuana airport (TIJ)
Open Water - No minimum logged dives required. Non-Divers are also welcomed to join us for a chance to dive with some Sharks.
Unlimited Dives!!
5 Nights
Itinerary Highlights
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The best great white shark (Carcharodon Carcharias) encounters in the world are at Guadalupe Island and Nautilus is the best way to get in the water with them. That is a big statement to make, but we can back it up!!
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The simple truth is that there are loads of great whites at Guadalupe, and a surprising number of them choose to interact with the shark boats. 350 individual white sharks have been identified just in the bay that we dive in, and we’re still counting! Partial proceeds of every trip go towards supporting shark scientists, research and conservation efforts, and the continuing effort to identify and learn more about this population of animals. We typically see around 7 great white sharks at a time on 3 out of 4 submersible dives a day. We dive in aqua blue water, with 125 feet or more of visibility. The island itself is 25 miles long and provides a sheltered and calm anchorage during the 3 dive days. These are stunning numbers and it is what makes Guadalupe Island the best great white shark diving on the planet.
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But it is not just about the number of sharks and the amazing interaction. 5 operators are permitted to operate in the Guadalupe biosphere reserve, which gives you options when it comes to picking the right boat. We humbly suggest that when it comes to the shark cage diving and the experience, there is no better option than Nautilus.
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We are very proud of our ships, the incredible men and women from around the world who crew them, and our commitment to safety and excellence in guest experience. We don’t think that it is a coincidence that twice as many divers choose to voyage out to Guadalupe with us compared to ALL of our competitors combined. In 2019, we anticipate staging 20,000 dives with our favorite sharkies!! Just the scenery alone at Guadalupe is quite stunning and feels almost like Jurassic park, as if you are at the edge of the earth in the deepest, darkest and most remote part of the pacific.
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It doesn’t matter if you are a super experienced diver who has seen almost everything, a first-time shark diver or a non-diver braving our shark cages, all are welcome! We cater to a wide variety of dive skill levels and interests – ultimately, it is always about the shark cage diving experience.
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We strive to arrive on site the evening before diving starts, to ensure a nice calm dinner, a peaceful quiet sleep, and as early a start as you wish on your first dive day. Sleeping in and having a late breakfast is also encouraged!! It’s your vacation after all. We put as many cages in the water as needed to provide “freestyle shark diving”, which means that certified divers always get 3 or more submersible cage dives (our specialty) and everyone gets virtually unlimited diving in the surface cages. We say BAH to regimented “hour in/hour out” tightly-scheduled diving and WAHOO to being able to jump into a surface cage whenever you want, for virtually as long as you want. Our cages open early and stay open late. We also ensure you get a full dive day on our last day on station. That’s what we call the Nautilus difference.
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We love what we do – from our operations team of 11 staff, Mexico shoreside support team of 15, or the 80 crew onboard the ships. Each and everyone of us hopes that you will join us, and we are all committed to providing you with the the best darn possible vacation.
Itinerary Description
Two options for the meeting point:
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Option 1: Meet in San Diego. Slice 8 hours off your ocean transit time by jumping aboard “Shredder”, our luxury Volvo highway coach. Our goal is to get you down to the boat as effortlessly and comfortably as possible. Your adventure begins when you join us at our San Diego Dive Center. We ask everyone to please be there by 7 pm at the latest. “Shredder” (named after one of our favorite great white sharks) usually departs at 7:30 pm and will whisk you down to Ensenada in 2.5 hours including clearing the border. Mexican custom regulations require all guests exit the vehicle at the border with their belongings, obtain a tourist card and then walk through customs before boarding the vehicle again. We will help you. No problemo!
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Option 2: Alternatively, you may also meet us directly in Ensenada, Mexico at around 9.30 pm. If you are meeting us directly in Mexico and you are not a Mexican citizen, you must stop and get an FMM.
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Next stop: Guadalupe Island tomorrow evening, and in calm water by dinner time! Our big, comfortable ships are the only large, steel, stabilized dive boats in this part of the Pacific and you can expect the best ride possible, although it’s always a good idea to bring anti-seasickness meds. Captain Mike has always joked that drugs and alcohol make for the perfect crossing – we are pretty sure he means Gravol and a nice glass of wine.
Today we will be travelling and relaxing at sea. An orientation will be held in the morning, followed by a fire and boat safety drill. A drill? On holiday? Don’t worry, it is for your safety but we will make it lots of fun. We are proud to have the first, and some of the only, ISM safety certified passenger vessel dive boats in the world. There are many strict requirements that we meet and comply with. Shark 101 will be in the afternoon, then you will have a chance to try out a shark cage on the back deck! Cocktail hour is at 7pm, although our guests often enjoy some cocktails well before that! Guests who have signed up for on-board WiFi will have all day to send photos home via email and WhatsApp. Guadalupe Island should appear over the horizon in the early evening, ensuring our guests have a calm night in the protected anchorage to relax and get a restful sleep before the next morning’s excitement of diving with our sharky friends first thing! Just say “NO” to all the other shark boats with noon departures and morning arrivals with a big rush to get the cages in the water.
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Cages open at 6:30am and you can start diving as early, or late as you want. One of the best things about the way we operate is that you can almost always jump into a surface cage and stay in as long as you want. The current record on-board stands at 31.5 hours in the cages over three days! Certified divers can make at least three dives a day in our deep-diving submersible cages, and there is often the chance to get an extra dive or two in these cages as well. We have a simple goal – we want to make sure you can dive as much as you want, for as long as you want. And don’t worry about missing a meal if you are in the water – our chefs and hostesses will cook up breakfast to order or save a plate of food for you.Many of our divers love warming up in the hot tub or the dive deck showers between dives. Our water makers produce more than enough hot water for you to shower in your private en-suite cabin whenever you want. The only difference between using the hot tub or your private shower is that we feel more comfortable serving you snacks and drinks when you are in the hot tub…Provided it is not too windy, “theater under the stars” on the top deck will be on offer tonight. Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is always a favorite, followed closely by The Perfect Storm! Gazing up at the clear, starry Mexican sky from your comfortable lounger creates much more than a 5-star experience: it is a many-thousand star experience!
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Have lots of divemasters in the water and on the dive deck to ensure an excellent diving experience for our guests.
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We love doing Shark ID in the late afternoon, followed by cocktail hour and our famous (and delicious!) Mexican Taco Fiesta on the top deck.
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Today is our last day of sharking! We want to give you every possible second in the water at Guadalupe, so we stay on-site until 5pm before swinging the cages on-board and heading back north to Ensenada. This means you get the maximum amount of time possible with your new toothy friends before heading home.Tonight we will have our last Shark ID session. Shark ID helps the scientists we work with by providing them with incredibly valuable information on shark population, movements and developments. Our guests and crew have helped identify (and name!) many of the 350 individual Great White sharks in the bay that we dive in at Guadalupe Island. Conservation, research and regulation are all dependent on constant census and identification work. Your adventure with Nautilus matters. A portion of every charter fee goes to supporting science and conservation. In 2018, we were excited to launch our bespoke shark ID software, which uploads data in real time from our ships via our satellite system to a public domain shark ID database and sends automated email alerts to the scientists that we work with.
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Sadly, your time on-board will come to a close when we arrive in Ensenada at 1:30 p.m. Before you disembark, we will ensure you get a copy of the trip highlights DVD that our crew has put together. “Shredder”, our luxury coach, will be ready to transport guests to either Tijuana or San Diego. It will be sad for us to say goodbye. Hopefully we will see you again very soon. Even though diving with Great Whites is a powerful, amazing experience, we refuse to say it is “once in a lifetime” – many guests get hooked on white sharks and soon return for another adventure. We have been lucky enough to have guests return as many as 17 times! We cannot wait to welcome you on-board so you can discover for yourself why these trips are so incredibly popular!And remember, dive safe! And always dive with a Nautilus LifeLine Marine Rescue GPS.
Please note: the itinerary above is an example of the planned route and dive sites cannot be guaranteed. All dive sites are subject to weather conditions and the final route taken is at the absolute discretion of the captain and dive guides.