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We had a wonderful experience with African Shark Eco Charters! Our trip to Cape Town was a long time in the making. We began planning in 2019 for a July 2020 trip, and then COVID-19 happened. When we re-booked for July 2021, Cape Town was on level 3 lockdown but then re-instated level 4 lockdown the week of our trip. I mention this because there were very few things we could do in Cape Town which was disappointing since we had undertaken a 52-hour journey to get here. Then African Shark Eco-Tours came to our rescue! Nadine helped us make the most of our visit by adding transportation and a guide to explore Cape Town beyond the shark dive (more on that in a minute). The shark dive itself was awesome! Our expectations were set low because there had been bad weather the previous two weeks and with COVID bringing tourism to a near standstill, operators hadn’t been out very recently to confirm that the sharks were active. Despite that, we were lucky enough to see three seven-gilled cow sharks! After the dive, we continued on with our guide to Boulders Beach (cute penguins!), Cape Point (southwesterly edge of the continent), and a drive along the western shoreline including several stops to take in golden hour near Chapman’s Peak and Camp’s Bay. Our guide/driver Garrett May went above and beyond and drove us to the top of Signal Hill to watch the sunset which was stunning! We really appreciated the willingness to craft an unforgettable experience that was not a standard package on the website. It was the highlight of our trip - especially given that all the museums, restaurants, and bars were closed! The only thing that I would caution about is to make sure that you don’t confuse the term “meet point time” with pickup time. Thank you African Shark Eco-tours for making our trip!…
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Date of experience: June 2021
1 Helpful vote
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I'd been planning my trip to the Great White Shark Capital of the world for over 6 months, and the shark dive was one of the first things I booked after doing extensive research on all the operators running out of False Bay. Carmen answered a billion questions a long the way - and then when tragedy struck the day before my dive -high winds which made for unsafe dives ... she moved mountains for me to ensure I was able to dive with a competitor out of Gansbaai (where it wasn't as windy). I would have been devastated had I not gotten to dive with sharks, so Carmen SAVED my trip! I can't thank her enough! I was so grateful I made a point to stop by the shop the day after my dive to thank her in person. And she was just as delightful and gracious in person as well. I wore my ASEC hoodie yesterday, that's what made me think of her and me wanting to review this company! On top of rerouting my dive, she also secured me a driver for the 4 hr RT journey, because I didn't have a rental car. She truly went above and beyond! This might be common in South Africa...but in America we don't typically go out of our way to sell you on our competition! So I was humbled and eternally grateful for the team spirit attitude Carmen had! Thank you thank you thank you! I do hope to eventually get back to South Africa and dive with ASEC - because I do think they're a fantastic organization with ethical practices.…
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Date of experience: September 2019
2 Helpful votes
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The transparency of this company coupled with the personable staff made this trip well worth it. They were upfront regarding the lack of White Shark presence recently (which was appreciated); however, did more than enough to ensure an awesome experience and we saw plenty of 7-gill cow sharks as well as several whales.…
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Date of experience: December 2019
Helpful
A fantastic trip- whole crew where brilliant and made sure everyone had a great shark experience. Dont forget to take seasickness tablets as advised we had no problems .
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Date of experience: January 2020
Helpful
Lifetime Experience with ASEC starting from helping us out with an afternoon trip on the very next day. Crew were friendly, professional, eco-friendly, and helpful. They also use Scuba which was great as it allows you to stay under water for as long as possible. Got to see 3 Sharks (not Big Whites though - but we didn't expected that) and what an experience. Sea was rough, but our experienced crew managed to spot the Sharks for us. This is also a much closer option than Gansbaai or Hermanus if you are staying in Cape Town. Overall a good day out and a great operator! Made the best of our trip to Cape Town! For Non Swimmers: Yes, you can avail this experience if you're not afraid of chilly waters or holding your breath under water for few seconds. Of course, Scuba gears make it so much easy. (I'm mentioning this as I didn't know basic swimming at the time of writing, had no problems under the cage)…
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Date of experience: December 2019
1 Helpful vote
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