When the great whites were last seen, why they left, and which sharks you meet at the cage instead.
The short answer
Great white sharks are now rare in Gansbaai. Sightings began falling around 2015, and the last recorded sighting there was in October 2025. The cage dives still run, but the sharks you are likely to see are bronze whalers (also called copper sharks), sometimes with sevengill sharks and stingrays.
A common explanation is a pair of orcas, Port and Starboard, that has hunted great whites along this coast since about 2017. No trip can promise a great white, and the operators with the most reviews say so in their listings.
Pick a day or your whole stay and we show the shark trips that still take bookings. The sea decides, so an early day leaves room to rebook.
In the next 7 days, all 3 tours on this page still have places.
Boat leaves from: Gansbaai (Kleinbaai)
Boat leaves from: Gansbaai (Kleinbaai)
Boat leaves from: Simon’s Town
Each card lists where the boat leaves from, the transfer and how long the trip runs. Open it for the full details.
About three hours on the boat from Kleinbaai and some 20 minutes in the cage, with a chance of a second turn. Transfer from Cape Town or Hermanus is an option.
A morning out of Kleinbaai near Gansbaai with White Shark Projects, a Fair Trade Tourism certified operator. You start with breakfast and a briefing by the marine biologist, spend about three hours on the boat and get roughly 20 minutes in the cage, with the chance of a second turn. The listing names bronze whaler and sevengill sharks and says openly that great whites have become rare here. Return transport from Cape Town or Hermanus is an option when you book; you can also drive to the lodge in Kleinbaai yourself.
Transfer from Cape Town or Hermanus if you choose that option, otherwise the White Shark Projects lodge in Kleinbaai.
Inclusions, transfer and time in the cage as the operator lists them on its booking page.
A marine biologist on board, meals before and after, and a visit to the penguin and seabird sanctuary. Transfer from Cape Town is an option.
Marine Dynamics runs its cage dives from the Great White House in Kleinbaai on the purpose-built boat Slashfin, with a marine biologist on board throughout. The boat heads for Joubertsdam, where the listing names bronze whaler sharks and possibly broadnose sevengill sharks and stingrays. Breakfast or lunch on arrival, snacks on board, a light lunch after the dive and a visit to the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary are part of the day. Return transport from Cape Town is one of the options.
The Great White House, 5 Geelbek Street, Kleinbaai. The meeting time is confirmed the day before.
Inclusions, transfer and time in the cage as the operator lists them on its booking page.
False Bay, about 45 minutes from Cape Town, with bronze whaler and sevengill sharks. Four hours, snacks and drinks on board.
Cage diving in False Bay from Simon’s Town, about 45 minutes from Cape Town and a short walk from the penguins at Boulders Beach. The owner-run boat looks for bronze whaler and sevengill sharks. The cage sits partly in the water, so your head and shoulders stay above the surface between looks. If you would rather not go in, you can watch from the boat.
62 St George’s Street, Simon’s Town.
Inclusions, transfer and time in the cage as the operator lists them on its booking page.
For about two decades, Gansbaai sold itself as the place to see great white sharks from a cage. That picture still sits on many booking pages. On the water it has changed, and the trips below are what is left of the shark cage business: still running, with different sharks.
Sightings off Gansbaai started to fall around 2015 and became the exception after 2017. The last recorded great white sighting at Gansbaai was in October 2025, as the operator Marine Dynamics told a South African newspaper in September 2026. Reviewers on the boats say the same in their own words: one writes that the crew “hadn’t seen a great white for over a year”, another that they “haven’t been around for years”. In False Bay off Simon’s Town, a reviewer of the Apex trip notes that great whites are unlikely these days as well.
The explanation heard most often is a pair of male orcas known as Port and Starboard. Since about 2017 they have hunted great whites along this coast, and sharks were found washed up without their livers. Great whites appear to avoid areas where orcas hunt. Marine Dynamics adds two other causes it sees: shark nets and drum lines on the KwaZulu-Natal coast, and fewer prey fish after years of fishing. The research on this is still going on. Great whites may return to Gansbaai, but when is an open question.
The sharks that come to the bait today are mainly bronze whalers, a requiem shark that some operators and reviewers call the copper shark. Reviewers count anything from a couple to a dozen on a trip, and describe the larger ones at around 3 metres. Broadnose sevengill sharks turn up too, and stingrays and Cape fur seals often join in. On some days nothing comes at all: one White Shark Projects reviewer waited over an hour without a shark, and a Marine Dynamics group saw orcas instead.
Because the cage floats at the surface, you hold your breath and look down as a shark passes, rather than diving. Visibility decides a lot, and after rough weather it can be poor.
The listings differ in how plainly they say this. White Shark Projects names bronze whaler and sevengill sharks and explains the decline of the great whites in its briefing. Marine Dynamics names bronze whalers, sevengills and stingrays. Shark Explorers in Simon’s Town names bronze whalers and sevengills. The White Shark Diving Company listing on Viator still mentions great whites next to bronze whalers. Several unhappy reviews come from people who expected great whites; reading the listing and this page first avoids that.
If a day without sharks worries you, look at the terms: White Shark Diving Company gives a voucher for another trip if no sharks are seen. All trips on this site can be cancelled free of charge up to 24 hours before the start.
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| Photo | Tour | What's in it | Rating ↕ | Tour price ↕ | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Shark cage diving, Kleinbaai | Gansbaai · about 20 min in the cage · breakfast + lunch · transfer as an option | ★ 4.7 (915) | R 2,550 per person | Book now |
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Marine Big 5 boat trip | Gansbaai · no cage · whales Jun–Dec · transfer as an option | ★ 4.7 (826) | R 2,490 per person | Book now |
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Eco-friendly cage diving cruise | Gansbaai · marine biologist · meals + penguin sanctuary · transfer as an option | ★ 4.6 (378) | R 3,805 per person | Book now |
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Cage diving, 8-person cage | Gansbaai · breakfast + meal · no-shark voucher · transfer for a fee | ★ 4.8 (242) | R 2,750 per person | Book now |
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Cage dive and wildlife safari | False Bay · Seal Island if weather allows · no transfer | ★ 4.8 (54) | R 4,400 per person | Book now |
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Cage diving, Simon’s Town | False Bay · 45 min from Cape Town · bronze whalers + sevengills · no transfer | ★ 5.0 (40) | R 3,550 per person | Book now |
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Viewing trip, cage optional | Gansbaai · 3 h · cage or deck · breakfast + soup · no transfer | ★ 4.5 (20) | R 2,800 per person | Book now |
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Sharks and whales combo | Gansbaai · cage trip + whale watching · meals · no transfer | ★ 4.7 (13) | R 5,000 per person | Book now |
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Day trip with hotel pickup | Gansbaai · Cape Town hotel pickup · 10–30 min in the cage · breakfast + lunch | ★ 4.4 (11) | R 4,929 per person | Book now |
Prices are live from GetYourGuide and Viator and include taxes and booking fees. Transfers from Cape Town are only in the price where the row says so. “What’s in it” summarises the booking page. Check the full inclusions there before you book.
Divers and deck-watchers on these boats, quoted from GetYourGuide.
★ 4.7 (915 reviews)
“Bus trip was long. … Firstly, the great whites are very rarely seen here now. I think this needs to be made more clear. It’s a dive with bronzed whalers. Second it’s not really a dive. You stand in a cage with your head out of the water and you duck down when a shark comes past. The visibility was so poor that you could only see what was directly infont of you so that was disappointing but uncontrollable.”
“even tho we didn't see any sharks on day. the crew were very nice and upset for us. but that's nature. they waited around for over an hr. but no joy. but we did see a lot of seals. a whale and a huge elephant seal.”
Most reviewers praise the crew, the briefing by the marine biologist and the meals at the lodge. The critical reviews return to the same points: great whites are rarely seen any more and the sharks in the cage are mainly bronze whalers (copper sharks); on some days no sharks turn up at all; visibility can be poor; and the boat rolls enough that several reviewers urge everyone to take seasickness tablets. One reviewer describes a transfer from Cape Town that broke down on the way. Weather can move the trip to another day, so an early date in your stay is the safer choice.
★ 4.6 (378 reviews)
“I didn’t expect to see any great white sharks on this trip, since they have nearly disappeared from these waters, but I still found it very disappointing that the tour went straight to coastal waters targeting Bronze Whaler sharks. The cages are anchored in shallow, turquoise water stirred up by sand, which takes away much of the feeling of being further offshore in deeper blue water. … It would simply have been more transparent to set expectations clearly, as the actual experience feels very different from what many imagine when they hear “shark cage diving.””
“The experience was good, unfortunately for a few years now they do not spot the great white sharks in the bay anymore (single sightings). We did spot 9 copper sharks and 2 stingrays along with some Cape fur seals though :) the weather was not so great 2 days before the trip, so the sea was rough and visibility quite limited, so if you have flexibility book it when you are sure of the conditions to be the best.”
“Unfortunately we didn’t get to see sharks but we saw orcas, which is probably the reason why the sharks were not there. Still it was a first class experience. Highly recommend it”
Praise goes to the conservation work, the marine biologist and the organisation of the day. Several reviewers write that great whites have all but disappeared and that the cage dives are with bronze whalers (copper sharks), stingrays and seals. The critical reviews mention short time in the cage, poor visibility after rough weather, a rushed day and, in two cases, a penguin sanctuary stop that was dropped. One reviewer saw no sharks but orcas instead. Water temperature of around 13 degrees comes up as well.
★ 4.4 (11 reviews)
“They hadn’t seen a great white for over a year”
There are few written reviews for this trip in English. One reviewer counted six sharks; another notes in a single line that no great white had been seen for over a year.
★ 4.8 (54 reviews)
“We booked Apex in Simons Town because it is just 45 minutes from the cruise terminal (rather than some of the other sites which are up to 3 hours away). This is nature, so there is no guarantee of anything, … After a brief stop at the seal colony we stopped at the cage dive site, once the cage was fixed the bait went in and the sharks came!! We were split into 3 groups of four and as each group took their turn in the cage (about 25 mins each!) the crew kept the dozen or so Bronze Whalers close to the cage and entertained. You are unlikely to see Great Whites in False Bay these days, but 3 meters of Bronze Whaler more than makes up for it!”
The written reviews are positive throughout and mention bronze whalers in the cage, the stop at the seal colony and large pods of dolphins. One reviewer chose Simon’s Town because it is about 45 minutes from the city and notes that great whites are unlikely in False Bay these days.
Taken from the GetYourGuide pages of the shark trips. Cuts are marked with …, the wording is unchanged, and names are shortened to first name and country.
Very few. The last recorded great white sighting at Gansbaai was in October 2025, and sightings had been falling since around 2015. The cage dives now mostly show bronze whalers.
The most common explanation is two orcas, Port and Starboard, which have hunted great whites along this coast since about 2017. Marine Dynamics also points to shark nets in KwaZulu-Natal and to fewer prey fish.
If seeing sharks close up is the point, most reviewers are happy: bronze whalers come close to the cage, and the trips include meals and a briefing. If only a great white will do, you will very likely be disappointed.
A requiem shark found along the South African coast, also called the copper shark. It is the shark most often seen at the cages in Gansbaai and Simon’s Town today; reviewers describe the larger ones at around 3 metres.
They have become unlikely there too. The Simon’s Town operators focus on bronze whaler and sevengill sharks.
Where the boat leaves from, transfer and time in the cage.
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