You guys are a laugh a minute

Maybe I’ll take my son 4 wheeling on the island instead

Good advice. Black Rock is popular but once you swim around the corner the bottom drops out and is a popular spot for turtles. Tiger sharks love turtles. That said we did swim up the black rock cliffs to the next beach, with turtles, saw divers 35' below and we all waved. No sharks.

Honola bay is great as described. Nothing to add.

We are certified divers and actively look for and hope to see sharks. Last trip to Cozumel we had some reef and bull sharks swimming with us. They mostly ignore you but you should keep your head on a swivel. I was about 60' deep and was tracking a bull shark and then turned to look elsewhere. My dive partners started pointing and sure enough that dude was right on my six. A shake of my fin and he swam away.

We are about 50 certified dives in and now have zero fear of sharks but have a healthy respect for them all the same.

The golden rule while snorkeling is never keep your back to the open ocean for long. Stay aware but i agree the chances of you getting hurt driving to the coast, or tripping on a rock are higher than a bad shark encounter.

We’re actually staying just north of Black Rock. The beach there is quite gentle so it’s a very popular site for beginner snorkelers to swim with the turtles. We snorkeled with a group in Honolua Bay last year. I felt safe then because of our numbers.

Swimming with turtles that the sharks eat? What comes to mind is Seal Island and “air jaws”. I think you should go snorkeling and not fear life but not do so in the shark’s cafeteria

The thing about snorkeling that freaks me out is not being able to see behind you. Because of that I won’t do it anymore. At least with diving, your better able to see what is approaching and you have a metal tank strapped to your back which is probably a false sense of security but it’s something

I was once body-surfing on a boogy board(or trying to) off the Sarasota coast. Saw a sand bar with dolphins and decided to swim out to it. Got halfway there and panicked.
Dolphins don't disappear for no reason....
I started paddling back as fast as I could. BAM! A large dolphin breached about ten feet in front of me. Scared the piss outta me. He told me it was their world and I believed it. Magnificent energy. They circled around a minute but would not get close.

If I'm gonna go, I'd rather feed the critters and end up as someone's future crab dinner then be pumped full of chemicals and lay in a box.

So the Sequoia? Is that a yes

Lol

You have more chance of a plane falling out of the sky and hitting you.

Think of all the people in the sea, how many swims and snorkels plus surfs in a year. Then divide that number by the number of shark attacks.

I think you'll be fine.

I saw sharks on my trip to Belize 20 years ago. We dove the Blue Hole and there were Bull sharks there. That was my deepest dive at 130' and the sharks were down another 30' below. There were two of them doing lazy circles. I didn't bat an eye but it was a cool experience. Sharks are not the smartest animal around and there were about two dozen divers. I dunno... they were not interested in us and we were at the recreational depth limit so nobody was going any deeper.

We use to go to Bimini every summer and I'd go snorkeling all the time, never saw a shark, but did see barracuda. Might be the reason why I never wear bright and shiny jewelry.

I have not worried about it much. A few years ago a guy I knew from autocrossing was attacked by a shark snorkeling in Hawaii. Bled out on th Beach in front of his wife and 2 adult children. Tom and Gayle were high school sweethearts, nice enough couple that I thought it had to be an act for a few months, but they turned out to just be the nicest couple since my parents. About the most horrible story I know, still messes me up a bit to even think about it

Would not keep me off a surf board though

I have encountered sharks numerous time. The scariest was while my brother and I were snorkeling off Saipan in the the channel between it and Tinian. The water was relatively calm there between the two islands so we were a ways off the reef. There were some awesome coral pillars that came up from the bottom which was about 50 foot down. Lots of fish swarming around the pillars. A rather large white tip appeared and seemed to take an interest in us. We were a couple hundred feet from the reef face and decided to head back that way. The shark followed us, meandering back and forth wile we made a bee line. As there was little surf breaking on the reef, so we were up and over in no time and back in the lagoon. I don't know if we were in danger but it sure scared the crap out of us.

Some friends and I were spear fishing while scuba diving in the Gulf off Galveston at the 12 mile rigs (oil production platforms). We were fishing around the legs of the platforms where a lot of fish gathered and had a stringer full of fish that we had speared. I guess all the blood from those fish attracted a big hammer head. Discretion being the better part of valor, we discarded the stringer and headed for the boat. As we were not diving very deep we did not worry about decompression.

A few years ago in French Polynesia at Bora Bora we were on one of the "tourist" boat rides around the island. At one point the guide tied up to a buoy in a channel and chummed the water which attracted some black tip reef sharks. After things settled down a bit about half the folks on the boat donned their snorkel gear and jumped in. The rest said no way. The sharks were still hanging around but were rather timid.
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I have been a certified diver since '84 and have done a whole lot of dives- 99% off a boat in warm water. Seen hundreds of sharks, never had a problem. Biggest was a 13' Hammerhead who swam about 8' from me as casual as can be and meandered off. Remain calm, no frantic moves and never a problem.

You just experienced something on my bucket list, a hammerhead. Over 20 years I've got over 1000 certified dives and am a PADI instructor.


Sharks are magnificent creatures. My biggest was a 12-13 foot bull shark off of Fiji.

They're lazy opportunistic feeders.


Only once did I feel I was pissing a shark off, I was shooting photos with a strobe, and everytime it flashed it gave a twitch of its head, pectorals down, agitated erratic swimming............grins.........I stopped taking photos.


Fiji is known for a world famous shark dive, they take 2 rubbermaid trash cans full of fish guts and heads, the tiger sharks and bull sharks just swim in a circle in a que, each waiting to get hand fed. Now this is an Adrenaline rush!!

https://youtu.be/sba44OxBgfc?t=29

Caribbean reef shark and nurse sharks are like little puppies that like to get petted. 7-9 footers.

The advice from Mike and Java are spot on, I was in Maui in December with my kids and we went snorkeling as well.

Someone like Rusty has a ton of experience too, so I would listen to him. I would not be scared at all. If you go with a group just make sure there is a fat slow swimmer, then you and your son are golden.

This... The likelihood of you being killed in your car the next time you drive it is also a lot higher than a shark attack but we are not rational. A shark looks like a freekin monster! Rows and rows of teeth, armored skin and black eyes :(

All critters are getting more aggressive toward man these days. They've had it with you.

https://i.pinimg.com/236x/c0/35/d9/c...64fe7e702a.jpg

And you can always poke them with something sharp and then swim away quickly.

Barracuda, are sly, they just follow you, keeping the same distance away, waiting, watching and plotting

I've dived and snorkelled with reef sharks, even took my 12yr old daughter and on a shark snorkelling excursion

Cage diving with Great Whites is top on my bucket list

Cage Diving or out of cage with a great white would def be something I'd do, 100's of hammerheads schooling off the Galapagos

https://youtu.be/KsWuJtQpgsw?t=41

I HATE SHARK WEEK on TV


At first they gore-a-fied them, but have started to turn the broadcasting to educational mode.

Each year worldwide there are ~ 10 deaths attributable to shark attacks compared with ~ 150 deaths worldwide caused by falling coconuts.

You callin'' me a coconut.

Joke: I'm allergic to sharks. I come out in bites.

Yeah but they're METRIC bites down under, which with current exchange rate = .65 bite radius to American sharks.

Feed them more of your Yummy steak pies!

Ha, steak pies is all we have.

.65 and becoming less :(

Before my ears went bad, my diving was split 50/50 between springs and caves and off the coast of West Palm.

In about 100 saltwater dives in West Palm, the Bahamas and the Keys, including night dives and wreck dives, the only time I've seen a shark in the wild has been on the end of a fishing line.

I *know* they were there, and I could've seen 'em at any point, but my biggest concern when diving oceans was sticking my hand in a hole after a lobster and finding out the lobster had company in said hole.

it’s the ones you don’t see that would worry me

How about a nice big fat cuddly nurse shark in the opening credits.

Cozumel Mexico. GREAT diving with tons of sponges and corals with current for drift dives where you fly along like superman.

SCUBA is SO much less work than snorkeling and you see SO much more.

https://vimeo.com/85508998

I was in a surf lineup in indonesia and a tiger shark went directly under me and my board from behind. It appeared to be much longer than my 6’ board but i cant tell because i was in shock. I stayed out of the water for 3 days after that.

Ive snorkled with black tips. Once in a strong shallow current one passed me like a jet plane. Unbelievable how efficiently they glide at speed.

Never seen bull sharks or great whites. Is a case where you need to trust yourself to fate.

As said, even with plenty of time in the water all of my in-person shark experience is fishing... Watched this guy darn near beach himself chasing bait right in front of my usual fishing pier right after the tide started coming in. Put a mud minnow right in front of him and had a good time.

This is a bonnethead - good eating and get to be about 5' long max. Also catch baby atlantic spinners or baby sharpnose - too hard to tell difference between, also very similar to blacktips (which don't have black tips on all their fins like the spinners and sharpnose). Fortunately, I don't keep 'em to eat since keeping size varies by 48" between the three species...

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Saw that a few minutes after this post - entire leg gone. ****.

Speaking of bloody encounters...


I went camping in a rural area up in No. Cal many years ago where I had not been before. It's not liked we hiked in or anything, but there apparently been bear issues there recently so there were a list of to do's and not to do's on signs all over the Nat Forest camp area.

warned against a bunch of normal things, secure food, do not leave trash around, some after dark and encounter hints... Suggestion 9 warned "that lady's having their cycle could be a smudge pot of sorts" to yogi & boo-boo, and 10 was "and alas, sexual activity is discouraged by guests in tents"!! the sign actually said "and alas"...

i live in the mountains not on the coast, alas...

it the paper sign had not been in a frame screwed to post and info boards behind 1/2"x1/2" metal wire I'd have taken it for my man cave..

Greetings from NSB - Shark Bite Capital of the World! :D

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Have never been bitten nor even brushed against, but I have seen quite a few over the years while out surfing. We call them the men in the grey suits! :p

I've caught a few while fishing and always returned them - they were on the small side.

Me off Fort Myers hooked into a small Lemon:

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I'm not a diver, but have snorkeled and took these pics of some beautiful Black Tips while on Christmas vacation in Moorea,Tahiti in 2004, using a disposable camera:

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As has been mentioned...use common sense and you'll be fine. They are such amazing and beautiful creatures...and so graceful!

Also, I'm really impressed reading that so many others here surf(ed). SmileWavy

I've always been fascinated by sharks. Sharks are like snakes, they're everywhere, most have no interest in you.

Snorkeled in Marathon key several times and have seen large nurse and small sharks. I'd be disappointed not to see them, but I have yet to see a turtle.

I've seen a nurse and black tip on the gulf side while kayaking. I once saw a lost alligator near the beach. I think most attacks are brought on by people doing stupid things and then there's women. I think if I bleed for an entire week each month I'd factor that into a salt water dip.

Don't swim with a hard-on!

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6443515/shark-rips-off-penis-swimmer-dead-brazil-beach-video/

Sad. I’ve watched the video a few times and it does look like you can see a shark for a second. What a stupid lack of judgment

https://www.foxnews.com/us/haunting-last-words-shouted-baton-rouge-teen-after-he-went-overboard-vanished

tiger shark attack that killed russian dude.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2k38PuY2_g

This looks like fun. 1 Make sure it's a sturdy cage 2 Make sure that the great white is too big to fit inside the cage, and too small to break the cage.

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