I Paid HOW MUCH to be Seasick for This Long?"

Saturday morning I was fetched birght and early (5:30am), after hanging out until 1:30 at two bars in De Waterkant with a nice couple I met, to trek off 2+ hours to Gansbaai for cage diving with great white sharks. To make a long story short (I know, that's not the purpose of a blog, is it?), I was sick for about three of the 4.5 hours we were out on the water, got in a cage, saw a couple of sharks, cruised back to shore, drove back to Cape Town.

Where's the magic, you ask? Well, I will say this, the swells on the ocean were kind of magical. I do not recall ever having been on a boat or ship where the waves seemed to be as high as the vessel itself. The sea was also magical in that it had such a dramatic effect on about half the people on board. There were two guys who, after getting sick over the side of the boat, were lying on the bow for the remaining 3 hours or so. I got sick just before donning my wetsuit and getting in the cage. Once I was in the water, I felt about 95% better; but damn was it cold!

To sum up, the Hawaii shark cage dive experience was MUCH better, even though that wasn't with great whites. That I would do again just like it was the first time. South African shark cage diving I would do again IF

1. it were paid for by someone else,
2. I were on a smaller boat with fewer people, or
3. it were part of a scientific endeavor of some sort.

What comes on TV a little while after I get back to the lodge in the evening? You guessed it: nothing other than the 1975 classic Jaws.