White Shark Ecoventures

Gansbaai, South Africa

+27 21 532 0470

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Beautiful, majestic and scary all at once

24 visitor photos

Ranked #4 of 14 attractions in Gansbaai

51 Reviews

Type: Tours

Owner description: White Shark Ecoventures is widely acknowledged as one of South Africa’s leading shark cage diving and viewing specialists and is part of an industry... more » Owner description: White Shark Ecoventures is widely acknowledged as one of South Africa’s leading shark cage diving and viewing specialists and is part of an industry attracting over 40 000 visitors per annum to South Africa. Driven by her passion for these animals, our CEO Cindy Thornhill was co-founder of the White Shark Cage Diving industry in South Africa in 1992.Our MD, Mariette Hopley was the founder of the Great White Shark Protection Foundation in 2001 and is still the chairperson for this foundation. She wrote the constitution for the WSCD Industry and invited operators to join the Section 21 registered Foundation. Due to her efforts and input, she managed to ensure that the WSCD industry was accredited as a responsible industrial body in the non-consumptive sector with MCM (Marine & Coastal Management) and Government. Mariette has also been nominated to be appointed to the Robbin Island Portfolio Committee, as the nature conservation portfolio member. Mariette’s involvement in conservation and rehabilitation of all wildlife species over the years, have earned her an international contract with IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare). During the war in Iraq in 2003, IFAW deemed Mariette as the only person qualified enough to be send into the war stricken area of Baghdad, where hundreds of highly stressed, abused, injured and war stricken animals at Saddam Hussain’s palace and the Zawra Park Zoo. Her expertise with marine , rapture and water birds, as well as other animals such as bears, lions, tigers and smaller predators, made her the ideal candidate for this very difficult task. After her initial assessment of the severity of the situation, she selected and deployed various other specialist members from across the globe to come out to assist her with her tasks in this war stricken red zone. Her experience also lead to her involvement in 3 major oil spills around the South African coast line, namely the Apollo Sea, Cordigliera and most recent Treasure Oil Spills. Here she was the Logistical Co-ordinator for IFAW and was deployed to built facilities and to rehabilitate and clean more than 33 000 African Penguins. Due to her expertise in the field, she had a very high success rate with all 3 these project.. Mariette is also actively involved in the lobbying of species for international CITIES listing and have participate in various campaigns opposing canned lion hunting, large predator breeding programs, illegal ivory trade and culling of elephants. Mariette was instrumental in the lobbying of Great White Sharks to become listed on CITIES and was the Executive Committee Chairperson for SANCCOB for two consecutive years. Mariette has also designed the MH feeding box and pen divider for SANCCOB, for marine birds which are kept in quarantine. Both these inventions were specifically designed to ensure that stress is reduced to a minimum, when handling the birds.In parliament, Mariette was nominated to serve on the National Minister for Environmental & Tourism Affairs (Fishing Industry Task Team), as the non-consumptive representative for the WSCD, mariculture and scuba diving. Here she performed the task as advisor to the Minister and spokesperson for the non–consumptive industries.

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51 reviews from our community

STS2009

2 reviews

Reviews in 2 cities

5 helpful votes

“Excellent Shark Cage Trip!”

Reviewed May 17, 2013 NEW

Just got back from a shark cage trip with White Shark Ecoventures. It was an incredible trip and all of us who went there had a great time! I was impressed with the accommodations, how well organized the trip was, and the professionalism of the staff and boat crew. The guides were very knowledgeable about the sharks and the information... More

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darrenduffell

Birmingham, United Kingdom

1 review

“White shark Ecoventures”

Reviewed April 4, 2013

Fantastic trip we saw heaps of sharks with the first one there within minutes of lowering the cage. Very knowledgeable driver/guide/skipper (Vee-an) with so many operators to choose from we got very lucky with choosing white shark Ecoventures.

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Ross D

London

Senior Reviewer

9 reviews

Reviews in 7 cities

10 helpful votes

“Good Day Out”

Reviewed March 11, 2013

Overall we had a great time with White Shark Ecoventures. We started off with a breakfast and a quick induction. We were out to sea for about 30 minutes before the 1st shark arrived. The cage could hold 5 people which was a shame as with 25 people on board it was a bit of a wait for the last... More

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Nicktet

Santa Rosa, California

Senior Contributor

26 reviews

3 attraction reviews

Reviews in 21 cities

12 helpful votes

“Its all down to the weather!”

Reviewed February 15, 2013

This is a very professional outfit with good ethics in terms of keeping the balance of nature, with an excellent adherence to safety. Our guides name was pronounced (Vee-an) and he was excellent and very knowledgeable about the Great Whites, and very up-front and honest about what we might, and might not see once we were out there, as there... More

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Danielle S

Berkeley, California

Reviewer

3 reviews

3 attraction reviews

Reviews in 3 cities

2 helpful votes

“An EXCITING experience with Great Whites!”

Reviewed December 11, 2012

Going shark cage diving is truly an experience unlike anything else! You can’t get these kinds of encounters with great whites anywhere else in the world, especially so easily and for such a good price! Transportation from your hostel, breakfast and lunch, diving equipment, and lots of information on sharks is all included. Sea sickness pills are highly recommended, otherwise... More

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312659David_B

Cape Town Central, South Africa

1 review

1 helpful vote

“Amazing day with the Great White Shark!!”

Reviewed November 19, 2012

I want to thank to everybody for this amazing day,the staff is great,the crew,the boat...everything!!! One of the most incredible days in my life meeting the great white shark..i saw up to 4 big white sharks.. The water was 13º but once you are in the cage with the sharks you dont feel cold at all ;) I really recomend... More

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LW2010NY

New York

Senior Contributor

49 reviews

21 attraction reviews

Reviews in 18 cities

28 helpful votes

“AMAZING!”

Reviewed November 12, 2012

I never normally write reviews but it was such a perfect day and incredible value for money i just had to recommend this company. As per the review below, its not only shark diving, Wiehann gave us commentary all the way to Gansbaii about the area, townships, history. It was fascinating, They gave us breakkie when we arrived, a safety... More

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Travelnomadkiwi

Senior Contributor

24 reviews

3 attraction reviews

Reviews in 13 cities

6 helpful votes

“Once in a lifetime experience!”

Reviewed November 12, 2012 via mobile

A great day out from Capetown. WIEHANN MYBURGH picked us up from a hostel in Capetown and drove us out to the launch spot. He started commentary about south Africa and the sights we saw as soon as we started driving. A great bonus. Lunch and a full safety briefing before we launched. We saw 11 sharks in total and... More

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francois s

Aberdeen, United Kingdom

Reviewer

3 reviews

Reviews in 2 cities

4 helpful votes

“Adults great, kids not so”

Reviewed October 23, 2012

We wanted to make this trip special for our family. We specifically asked for suits for our kids 8 and 11 and were re assured that on board it would sorted out. Sadly there was not kids suits, kids had to wear oversized, overused suits and broken boots, too cold to be able to stay in the water and make... More

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GRIMS

Attard, Malta

Top Contributor

62 reviews

26 attraction reviews

Reviews in 34 cities

31 helpful votes

“The experience of a life time”

Reviewed October 20, 2012

Bad weather had forced us to put this trip off for two consecutive days. Then we were informed that the trip is on on our last day in the area. We arrived early and settled in for breakfast and safety briefing. Soon we were out to sea, in rough weather. When we arrived at our spot we mad our way... More

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