Ocean swimmers and scuba divers, are you scared of shark attacks?

[cantdrv55]

You guys are a laugh a minute

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

[JavaBrewer]

Originally Posted by MikeSid

Snorkeling in Kaanapali you will be fine as long as you don't venture out north around Black Rock. The south side of Black Rock is fine, but very crowded. North of Black Rock, just around it, I encountered a lot of turtles. Fun to swim near, but also where you might find a few sharks.

I would recommend you head north a bit to Honolua Bay. You'll have to park on the side of Honoapiilani Highway and walk to the Honolua access trail. The trail is about 300 yards to the shore. The shore is rocky and not comfortable to sit on, but the snorkeling is the best you will find from a beach. Swim along the south side of the shoreline as far out as you are comfortable and hopefully you'll be brave enough to get to the double bay part that has large rocks to swim between. Lots of fish to swim with here.

Honolua Bay won't be crowded (mostly because the beach is not comfortable and there isn't a ton of parking). But it is so worth your time.

Respect the trail on the way down. It is maintained by locals and it is a bit like a spiritual area.

If you are nervous or new to snorkeling, take a couple dips at Black Rock to get comfortable. But my guess is that if you enjoy snorkeling at all, you'd vastly prefer Honolua Bay to pretty much anything else you can access by shore.

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.

[cantdrv55]

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.

[ramonesfreak]

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

[john70t]

Originally Posted by ramonesfreak

After seeing a bull shark (key west) eat my 150lb tarpon in 2 bites while people were jet skiing and parasailing all around us, no never again would I snorkel or swim in the ocean. I’ve also watched way too many kayak ocean fishing videos with shark encounters. No thanks

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.

[look 171]

So the Sequoia? Is that a yes

[cantdrv55]

Lol

[Bill Douglas]

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.

[otto_kretschmer]

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.

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

Spent my childhood snorkeling in the Bahamas, most of the time on my own, or on weekends with a friend, never once saw a shark

Also spent a summer working as a snorkeling instructor in Mexico, did dozens of snorkelling trips in Sea of Cortez with guests, never once saw a shark

You'll be fine but just in case are you confident you can swim faster than your son?

I'd be more worried about getting sun burn than being attacked by a shark

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.

[Tobra]

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

[Jolly Amaranto]

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.

[Cairo94507]

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.

[Rusty Heap]

Originally Posted by Cairo94507

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

[Rusty Heap]

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

[911boost]

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.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

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.

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

[The Synergizer]

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

[masraum]

Originally Posted by 911boost

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.

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

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by Racerbvd

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.

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