great white adventures

There are a lot of negative reviews here, which seem to fall into two categories: (a) There was some issue with communication and trip cancellation; (b) There weren't any sharks/they didn't chum the water/the water was too cold/visibility was poor.We went to the Farallon Islands with Great White Adventures this weekend and everything ran smoothly, so I can't speak to the cancellation and communication issues. As for the sharks, we were able to see an enormous white shark feeding on an elephant seal at the surface during our trip. I was also in the cage three times for a total of about two hours. Visibility was poor, the water was cold (but totally fine with a 7mm wetsuit) and I think our odds of seeing a shark below the surface were extremely low. But those are all things that I feel are made very clear on the GWA website. They are longer allowed to chum the water in this marine preserve, and that makes the odds of seeing a shark from the cage very low. Set your expectations appropriately and you'll probably have a good time: the islands are beautiful, James and his crew can teach you a lot about sharks, you'll definitely see some seals and maybe you'll see an epic feeding on the surface like we did. It's a little bit more like a whale-watching excursion: maybe you'll see some whales (or sharks, as the case may be), but maybe you won't. The crew does their best to make sure you see the wildlife, but there's ultimately nothing they can do to make the animals show up. Maybe you think the trip I just described isn't worth the price tag, in which case you should take a pass on this one. If you want to a "true" cage diving experience with chum in the water and guaranteed sharks, you're going to have to travel a bit further afield.

Do not touch this company. My husband turned up to find the dive had been cancelled. They did not telephone him to warn him beforehand. They have not returned calls or e-mails and we need the information to be able to claim from our insurance. This is a very shady company. DO NOT GO ANYWHERE NEAR THIS COMPANY unless you like wasting your money.

As with most reviews of this organisation I have nothing positive to say. I was contacted 5 hours before my trip to tell me it was cancelled due to poor weather. At this point off went my $300+ dollars to the bottom the sea. The offer to re-book was made but living too far away this was not possible. The further kind offer to help me complete an insurance claim was also made....and that was the last I heard of them. No returned calls or emails nothing. I have made a formal complaint to:http://www.dca.ca.gov/consumer/complaints.shtml and so should you if you have been stung by these sharks. The Bay area has many great attractions and great people to spend your hard earned money on and sadly it is companies like these who ruin it for others. Stay away and spend your money with the good guys.

My son and I did the trip to the Farallon Islands with Great White Adventures in October..supposedly the best time for seeing great whites. This was to be a long awaited trip at the top of our bucket lists. We foolishly expected that the charter would go outside the park boundaries and chum to bring sharks to us. No such luck. NO sharks, no guarantees, and no refunds of course. Basically we went into the turpid water inside the cages for two 30 minute dives with the hope that some shark might accidently swim past. The crew put out two Styrofoam "seals" at "attact" sharks but since sharks are attracted by scent and vibrations in the water, I immediately felt that this was a stupid show for the paying clients.I know you can't convince sharks to show up on request but the whole expedition just seemed doomed for failure. We were told to hope to see a sea lion being attacked on the surface and then we could hopefully catch a glimpse of the shark. Of course if the shark did attack it would likely prefer to eat below the murky surface but, hey, what do I know? After a useless day we headed for home. The owner then pulled out T-shirts for our purchasing pleasure. I suggest to him that, since we paid big bucks and saw absolutely nothing, he should at least give us each a free t-shirt but, of course, he would have none to that stupid idea. Then the owner pulled out a "tip jar" supposedly for the crew. In the bottom of the jar were several $100.00 bills as a suggestion as to what would be a proper tip. Most people gave absolutely nothing. Thirteen divers X $800.00 each equals $10,000 dollars for a one day charter. The guy made a killing! Way overpriced even a bunch of sharks had shown up!If you worked hard for your money, go to Cozumel for a week instead!

Well if so this is the adventure you! The scariest part was seeing the piece of carpet they were going to use to "lure" the sharks. I can honestly say that my blood ran cold from the realization that I the only chance I had of seeing a shark was looking at a book of sharks in the cabin.There is a difference between being a sore loser and a sucker. Sadly everyone who paid for this trip was suckered. Please do your homework, ask lots of pointed question regarding how they lure sharks and what they consider a sighting. Ask if they'll move the boat if nothing is happening. Remember this is your time and money. Sadly this company has no problem is wasting both of yours.

This was a dream trip for my wife, turned out to be over sold and very disappointing. A while was spotted (not a shark) and the crew was excited..... Why? When entering the water you see the visibility is 10 ft.... No chance of seeing a shark at all. Not even that many seals are there,no food source for the Great White. I wish I had read the reviews on this trip before going.... Save your money and go on the Mexico trip.

This operation is a tourist trap at best. It sounds exciting but read the two years of reviews on line before wasting your money. I wish we had done that. My review will echo the reviews of those who felt ripped off with a few added thoughts. In talking to fellow travelers on the boat I found that we all pictured a cage going in to the water where sharks like to hang out and that the cage was there to protect you from any and all sharks you see. No guarantee of a Great White but certainly an experience that was more than being dumped into a large empty fish tank. Would anyone sign up if the web site said "most of you will sit in a cold cage for 90 minutes and see absolutely nothing but 10 feet of water"? If you are a diver it will be the most boring and frustrating "dive" of your life. The boat sits in 60 feet of water but the cage is lowered just below the surface. You get 3 x 30 minute sessions in the cage where you get plenty of sightings of the rudder and propellers, sometimes a bird feather floats in. On one of the sessions in the cage we saw a small sea lion near the rudder for a few minutes and when back on deck we were asked about it as if was supposed to be exciting. You can see lots of sea lions as a diver for a trip that will cost 1/6th of this price and you won't be confined to a cage so you will see lots of other things too. On this trip you are in a small cage, near the surface, in miles and miles of open ocean and nothing to entice the sharks to bother checking you out. Your hope quickly morphs into the cold reality that your chance of seeing a Great White up close is less than winning the lotto. That is why so many write reviews about this being a scam. Once again, there is nothing enticing the sharks to come and check you out. Their web site says they don't chum but does lead you to believe they have the know how to entice the sharks to check out the cage. The two decoys, shaped like seals, they have floating (not moving, just floating) on the water, do nothing. One is a piece of carpet at the end of a rope. The other one is made of neoprene. The ocean is full of shark food that is tracked by smell and movement. These two items, something you probably wouldn't even buy for a kiddie pool, do neither. Next time you see this adventure being sold at the Dive show, keep walking. If you are not a diver and/or your adventure meter is lower and it is enough to be in a cage where sharks also swim out of your sight while you breath from a regulator underwater, this trip is for you but it is still pricey. If you book, be sure to talk to a diver or James who is on the boat during the 3 hour ride to the island. We had some non divers on our trip who got only a quick 5 minute tutoring as we began to get in the cage and some of them were in and out of the water in 10 minutes and never got back in. I think they might have had more time in the water for the boat's rudder and propeller sightings with better instruction. Three things to know before getting in: How to clear a mask, how to equalize your ears (for most it wasn't necessary but one guy lasted only 8 minutes in the cage because he didn't know how), and the basic use of a regulator. (The 4 regulators are shared all day and only dipped in the ocean between sharing) The site says they see sharks 75% of the time. If you book the shark cage, you are undoubtedly looking for an encounter in the water. Don't be led to believe that the 75% is while in the water. I suspect that a majority of that 75% is seen topside and a fin in the distance counts as a sighting because once you are there, the talk shifts from seeing one in the cage to seeing one on the surface. Stay home, watch shark week and you will see the sharks up close, for free, from several angles while sitting in your favorite chair eating a good meal. The crew was very friendly and knowledgeable about the area. If you want to spend $775.00 (+trip insurance, gear, travel) for a 12 hour boat ride to know about the island and watch up to 12 people come out of the water extremely disappointed, this is the trip for you. Otherwise, stay home and read about the Islands on line. Maybe watch a video on line about Alcatraz too. At the end of the day there is a tip jar to add insult to injury. While the food was adequate and the crew was very friendly and helpful, they willingly take part in an organization that leaves most feeling ripped off. Do I want to buy a $20.00 t-shirt with your logo after the trip to advertise for you? No thanks. I buy a t-shirt after having a real adventure. Saying I went out on the shark cage tour means nothing when it offered no real hope of adventure behind the web site advertising curtain. Their site suggests a 7-10% tip. My friend left 4% for us because he is incredibly generous by nature but he keeps saying "we could have bought 2 round trip tickets to Hawaii for this price". (We are out about a $1100.00 each including travel from S. Cal. Others flew from the East Coast and one Mother/Daughter team traveled from Canada) As we left the boat we were told that even though we didn't see one shark, they probably saw us. If that is worth $775.00 (+trip insurance, gear, travel), this is the trip for you. Or, try diving at the Long Beach Aquarium for $300.00. The staff is professional, the gear is well kept, and you do dive with well fed sharks and other interesting sea life. It includes the t-shirt and you will surely see a shark.

I want to start by saying this review is about the 5 day trip with GWA to Isla Guadalupe, Mexico. I believe it's the same group that books for the Bay Area (Farrallon) Trips. Anyone complaining about a 2 hour "choppy" boat ride, get over it! The trip to Isla Guadalupe was 20 hours of 8-10 ft gut wrenching swells! Everyone, including many of the staff, got sick either coming or going. BTW, that's 20 hours EACH WAY! The ride nowithstanding, the middle 3 days were amazing. Lots of big Great White Sharks, tons of time in either of the 2 surface cages or the one submersible cage. Warm, clear water, with GREAT visiblity. Everyone came home with tons of pictures and/or video of a number of GW Sharks. We even "discovered" 2 previously unknown (unrecorded?) GW Sharks and got to name them and add them to the registry. No, we didn't get to see 100's of sharks, but we had 10 or so that kept everyone entertained, all three days. As a friend said, this ain't Sea World, it's Mother Nature! 2 disappointments (and thus the less than excellent rating), I was surprised to learn that GWA doesn't operate these trips. They just act as a travel or booking agent to Charter with the boats there. Also, they promote that they will only have 16 "divers" on the trip, funny, but we had 20! 4 more doen't seem like much, but the boat was more crowded and there was less available cage time. A little disceptive in that regard. Overall, a very good trip that I would definitely recommend, it's pricey, but worth it.

Was on the SOLMAR V from Sept. 25th - 29th 2014 for Great White Shark Cage Diving. The crew was the best! Food was 5 star, Sleeping bunk as you would expect to find on a live aboard dive vessel.This was the trip of a lifetime! If you have the heart to view nature in all it's glory, this is the trip to take. I can not find one negative thing to say about my time on board. The shark viewing was awesome! I met some like minded folks whom also appeared to have thoroughly enjoyed themselves.The crew of the Solmar V are super safety focused and go above and beyond to ensure you have the time of your life.Put your fears away! GO!!

This trip is a joke: Lets see: - $800 pp - the 3 hour puke inducing ride out to Farralon (on a good day) - stories about all the sharks seen "yesterday", but none today - as many trips as you can stomach down into the no visibility, nothing to see, spin sycle of a washing machine, cage.You go into the tank just under boat level, there is nothing to see but blue, low visibility ocean and you get tossed around horribly in the cage. One of the ten divers on our trip lasted more than a round! Skip It!!!!!!!

TL:DR Just don't book this trip, there aren't enough ways to get sharks to the surface and you probably won't see a great white, much less a predation event. It's too much money to not have at least a 50% chance of seeing a great white. DEFINITELY don't travel to the Bay Area for this trip. You probably read the Devil's Teeth and got super stoked about seeing great whites right off the coast of San Francisco! It's true they're out there. When the book was written (and the author complained about tour boats) there were minimal regulations on how you draw sharks to the surface. I had a long talk with James, the one of the owners of Great White Adventures (there wasn't much else to do on the boat) and from what he said the regulatory environment has changed a lot. Which is probably good for the sharks, but terrible for tourists. Most notably tour boats can no longer drag a decoy across the water, they can let one "float" but as soon as the boat is moving the decoy has to be pulled up. Sharks aren't smart but they ain't that stupid and they know their prey moves. Also, the boat is restricted from getting too close to a shark and from what I could tell, they can't actively pursue them. Tour boats also can't get too close to researchers who are tagging sharks. Lastly, James said they used to chum (which I thought had always been illegal) but they can't do that anymore either. So when we set out in the morning of the dive, the staff said they see sharks about 80% of the time. When we returned unsuccessfully that number had gone down to 60%. My guess is that's a lifetime average and the reality of the last few years is that it's far below 50%. On the boat was a very sweet gal who was on her second trip out to the farallons, hoping to fulfill a lifelong dream of seeing a great white. Second time she was disappointed. There were also a few people that had flown in from across the country just for this trip. At least I'm local and didn't waste money on travel. While Great White Adventures is not entirely dishonest about their operation, and they put plenty of disclaimers up, they are holding back on the truth about how often they see sharks, and I think if customers knew, they would find it far less compelling to pay $800+ for a boat trip to a desolate, smelly rock with an outside chance of seeing a shark. Of course I could be wrong - if so I'd challenge the owners of Great White Adventures to publish a dive log on their site and publicly share how often they see sharks. But I'm not holding my breath. So if I haven't convinced you not to go, here's a few tips:Be prepared for cold, wet weather - bring more layers than you think you'll needIf possible, bring a drysuit. You're sitting in 51 degree water for 30-45 minutes at a time. Mostly looking at jellyfish. Visibility is about 20 feet Don't travel to SF just for this tripDon't go this trip. There are other options for seeing great whites that are a better use of money

My husband and I went November 6 swells were at least 4-5 feet we actually had the following day booked as well eager to see two days worth of sharks but happy to know the 7th was cancelled due to "swells" . Where to begin with this horrible review . The boat ride Is 2 1/2 hours out to the farrallons . Extremely choppy waters one guy puked the entire 12 hours we were at sea . The crew takes you to two different locations that are "known" for shark sightings yeah ok ! Me and my husband urged the crew to move the boat around eager to find sharks why stay in the same spot for 4Hours if you see nothing but jellyfish ?!?? They refused . They claimed the day before they saw so many sharks here by the end of the day you can tell the gimic they are playing . My husband and I did 3 dives 20 mins each the water was soCold even with an 8 mill wetsuit and hood you feel it after 15 mins of just sitting in the cage waiting for absolutely nothing . The water was 5 feet visibility freeeeeeeeezzzzing cold and the highlight was the jellyfish . The best part of the trip was the hot tub you can go in afterYou get out of the cage but we didn't pay 2000 dollars for a hot tub in the middle of nowhere !!!!! To make things worst on the way back the crew had the audacity toPick up their crab buckets they threw out from the night before and I thought oh how nice they are going to make us a nice crab dinner on board NOOO it wasConvent for them to pick up theirDinner !! Well excuse me i didn't pay 2000 dollars to pay for fuel to pay for your crab fishing . So rude ! I truly wish I read the reviews before going ! If I could rate this trip 0 stars I would . Horrible scam !!!!!

We joined this trip on October 27th and really enjoyed our day. We were top side observers, and even though no one saw a shark that day the crew was really friendly and provided a lot of very interesting shark information. About six weeks before my sister had joined a whale watching boat, which stopped at the Farallon Islands, where they saw a fresh attack on an elephant seal, but as they were out there for whales they had to leave before the shark came back. The crew on the Superfish was able to confirm that they did witness the sharks return after about an hour, which must have been amazing. So you never know what you will get because it is the wild, but those islands are beautiful to see on their own. We loved this trip and will do it again for sure the next time we are in San Francisco. Fingers crossed that next time we get to see one of the most beautiful creatures in the world (in my opinion of course). By the way we were really happy with the food and drinks. Both were very good and we thought of generous proportions.

My wife and I took this trip as it looked like something unique: opportunity to see marine life in a protected sanctuary. The experience is really aimed for divers as the experience is to be in a shark cage in the water to see great white sharks. We came as "topside observers" which means that we stayed on the boat and did not go into the water. The boat leaves from Emeryville harbor (just north of Oakland) at 6:00 AM. It passes through San Francisco Bay and under the Goldengate Bridge. It is a nice view to witness sunrise on the Bay. Arrival at the Farallon Islands is at around 9:00 AM. On any of these eco-tourism activities, it is always hit-or-miss regarding what you may see. In our case, though the weather was clear and sunny, there were no sharks (even for the folks in the cage) and we only saw a grey whale in passing. Visibility in the water (so I was told) was very good and most of the divers said that they could even catch glimpses of the bottom 40-feet below. The scenary of the islands was stunning especially with no one else around but us.Food was available on board the boat: continental breakfast on the outbound trip, hot soup and sandwiches (build your own) for lunch, and cookies on the return. The crew was extremely knowledgable and friendly. All-in-all, while it was disappointing that we could not see any real marine life, except the sea lions on the rocks and jelly fish in the water, the trip was good. I knew the risks when I reserved the spot and accepted them. Everyone gets a $200 lifetime discount for returns so I would not be adverse to trying again (topside cost would drop from $375 to $175 per person).

I'd recommend this to anyone interested in a unique adventure. The Farallon Islands are an amazing protected marine/nature sanctuary. The experience of going out through the Golden Gate, 30 miles to sea and spending the entire day out on the ocean is wonderful!! The cage diving was fun, a truly unique experience (I'm not a certified scuba diver, so was interesting). Saw lots of jelly fish, seals, and a blue whale. Didn't see any sharks, but it didn't matter. The negative reviewers may not have appreciated the trip in totality, & possibly set very unrealistic expectations being bummed when they didn't see a shark. Go with an open mind, with the broader goal of enjoying the total experience --don't go if you think you're going to get into a cage and see a shark --though you might! Great day overall!!