diving with sharks

Bandit
David Morgan and Brenda Webb
Wed 21 May 2014 21:18
Have to admit, we were a little nervous about snorkelling and diving after seeing the gigantic tiger shark....but after speaking to a couple who had dived near it and survived, we figured it was probably so full of whale meat we were safe.  The couple had been diving with the dive school in the pass and after that dive, came around into the anchorage looking for the tiger shark (word had got out quickly).  The instructor had a piece of whalemeat and banged the coral with a long stick and eventually the tiger shark turned up – but apparently it did keep its distance.  We still figure we got the best view of it from Bandit – looking down on it in crystal clear water was an experience we won’t forget in a hurry.
 
We had yet another magnificent snorkel through the pass – this time we saw dozens of sharks including a few black tipped reef sharks that came within metres of us....exciting but not scary at all.
 
David did a dive with the guys off True Blue – a beautiful Oyster 655 owned by a expat Kiwi Don and his wife Lesley.  Four went diving – David, Zak (skipper), Lesley and Anna (a visitor). They did a drift dive through the pass with Don and I in the tenders keeping a wary eye out for them (and for tiger sharks) and David rated it as one of the best he’s done.  They saw more sharks than they could count – all of which were just sitting in the current watching the world go by.  There were plenty of grey sharks as well as black finned sharks.
 
We’re enjoying it so much in this area we plan to  stay another few days before heading to Tahiti to stock the boat and meet David’s daughter Charlotte and her husband Colin.