I’m going on a cruise in the southern part and they have scuba or snorkel diving excursions. I am a bit afraid of sharks. What are my chances of encountering one ? Is there anything else I should be aware of ?
Question on going snorkeling diving in the southern Caribbean.?
30
Jul
goindrinkn
July 30, 2010 at 9:41 am
If you are on a cruise and are not Scuba certified, the excursion will be a resort or discovery dive. If you’d like to try to scuba dive, this could be fun. If you’d like to see more of the reef, you may want to stick with the snorkleling. The reason being you will be tunnel vision focused on breathing on scuba (which is cool don’t get me wrong) but you would tend to miss what’s going on around you.
That being said when it comes to sharks, in either case (scuba or snorkel) you are in the ocean (or sea) it would be wrong for me to say that they are not there. They are. BUT, it’s a big ocean. Sharks really don’t want to have anything to do with you (or people) unless you are feeding/chumming etc, but even then they are after the fish / etc and not you.
If you are on an excursion, there will be many people in the water with you. Plus the group will be “loud”. The kicking, swimming, bubbles (especially if you are on scuba) etc are very loud in the water. Most of the higher forms of sealife know that this is unnatural and avoid it.
There is a chance that you could see a nurse shark under a ledge, or a bull shark or other kind. But realize that “encounters” happen all the time for divers and are uneventful. On top of that the cruise line has a duty not to put you as a passenger in danger. These excursions are usually to areas where issues can be controlled. Never too far out, never too deep, never too much danger. They normally put you in a float vest so you can’t go and touch the reef. The other dangers could be fire coral, or long spined urchins or jelly fish. They will cover that at the time of the dive. You may see a baracuda, which look a little scary, but in fact are not agressive at all (it’s a big myth) they are very curios and swim with there mouth open exposing their teeth. That’s why the bad wrap.
So things to remember – Don’t touch the reef and you won’t have to worry about fire coral / urchins. It is safe. People do it all the time. Take you camera (or a waterproof disposable) you will things you want to remember. and most of all, Have Fun!