GUADALUPE ISLAND GREAT WHITE SHARK EXPEDITION ITINERARY

Day 1:
Divers board the bus at 7:30 AM, The drive down to Ensenada should take approximately 3 hours. Once there the crew will load your gear onboard and take it to your stateroom.

The cruise director will conduct a boat orientation and safety at sea presentation around 11:30 AM. She will also outline the galley procedures and meal times. The shark crew leader will introduce the shark crew and give a brief rundown on what to expect. There will be a videographer aboard who will be taping both topside and in water footage for those who would like to purchase a trip DVD. We are scheduled for a 1:00 PM departure, this depends upon the cooperation of all the passengers. Once we leave the dock, the boat will head directly for Guadalupe Island 180 miles to the south and an 18 hour boat ride away. This is the time to assemble your camera equipment and charge up your batteries and strobes. You want to be able to use your underwater cameras and videos just as soon as we hit the island. There have been times when the sharks have shown up before we've even gotten the anchor set. After setting up your gear you can place your large camera boxes either in your cabin or on the camera table shelf. Relax take a nap before dinner, work on your tan on the sun deck, or watch for whales and dolphins. It is not unusual to see Blue and Fin Whales during these transits. Following lunch the shark crew will pass the DUI weight trip system manuals out to each diver. Please read through the entire manual and sign you name on the last page to verify that you have read and understand the information pertaining to the weight system, then return the signed manual to one of the shark crew. After reading the manual you need to find your weight trim system outside on the deck. The crew will have placed the weight systems along one of the rails. Your galley number will be on the weight system you'll be using during the trip. The crew will assist you and make sure the weight system is properly adjusted for your body.

Just before dinner the bar tender will fire up the blender; try one of his tasty Margaritas. If you'd like a cold beer, just ask."Great White Beer is complementary (one bottle per passenger each day). We also have Mexican beers at $1.50 per bottle. a glass of "House" wine service is included with your evening meal. After dinner you can enjoy one of the shark diving videos or perhaps a feature movie. Most people find that everyone usually retires early during these trips.

Day 2:
At 7:30 AM the shark crew will conduct a complete shark dive briefing. They will explain the cage entry and exit procedures and in cage etiquette. The rotations into the cages and "shark watch" will be outlined so you'll have a good idea of what the diving day will be like and also how the practice dive will be conducted. One of the shark crew will also present a synopsis on the individual white sharks we've been able to identify and their characteristics. See if you can identify them yourself during today's dives.
We should arrive at our primary dive site around 8:30 AM, hopefully the weather will allow us access to the spot. If not, then we'll have to motor down the lee side of Guadalupe until we can find a sheltered site to anchor and conduct the practice dive. Once the anchor is set the boat crew will then launch the pangas for those who would like to fish while at the island The cages will be deployed and the first group readied for the practice dive..The practice dive will last approximately 30 minutes. It gives everyone a chance to see if they are weighted correctly and that all their equipment is functioning properly. It allows you to run through the entry and exit procedures you'll be using for the rest of the trip. It is highly recommended that you bring ankle weights with you to help keep your feet on the bottom of the cage. After the practice dive (if no sharks have show up) we will then go into "Shark Watch." Shark Watch is open to anyone who wants to be in the cages functioning as our eyes in the water. Often the white sharks will approach the boat at depth and can't be seen from the deck. The shark watchers are our early warning system. When they sight a white shark, they pop up to the top of the cage to let the deck crew know that a Great White Shark has appeared. From that point on we begin the rotations. The reward for the shark watchers is that their time in the cage doesn't begin until a white shark is sighted. We fill any empty slots in the cages and begin the one-hour rotations. The next group will be given a verbal count down warning until the next rotation at 15 min., 10 min. and 5 min. before they must be ready to go into the cages for their rotation. Please make sure your are ready for your turn into the cage. That means that you have ALL your gear on, and are standing by the gate with your camera ready to hand off to the crew at the gate. If you think you might use more than one camera during your one-hour turn in the cage, then bring all your cameras back to the aft deck and place them on the fish hold hatch cover. Please make sure you have labeled each of your cameras with your name and camera number. i.e. Jones #1, Jones #2. That way when you pop up in the cage to shout for a camera change and request Jones #2 we know which camera it is and where the camera is located. There's nothing more frustrating for the crew than to have a diver pop up and ask for a Nikonos with a 15mm lens that's somewhere in the salon. Heck there are probably a half dozen Niks in there!!! If you are not ready when you name is called, then we'll just go on to the next diver. Pay attention!! The rotation times will be posted on the marker board above the camera shelves at the back of the salon. The names of the divers will be listed under those rotation times. If you want to pass on your rotation, please let one of the shark crew know. We'll move someone else into your slot for that rotation. You've got plenty of options when you're not in the water, you can reload your film, or video battery, relax, sun bath or take surface shots. Hey you're on vacation, you're suppose to relax and enjoy it!!! We will continue to rotate divers into the cages until around sunset. The cages will be pulled out of the water just before dark and the dive day will be concluded. Time to shower up catch a couple of cold ones before dinner and perhaps view some of the videos taken during the day. The captain will usually make an announcement after dinner and one of the shark crew will do a synopsis of the days sightings. Most folks crash around 8:30 PM and sleep like rocks the first night on the anchor.

Day 3:
The crew will have been chumming through out the night to keep the scent in the water around the boat. The cages will be deployed at first light. Sometimes the white sharks will hang around the boat all night so we might be going into the first rotation right away. If there are no white sharks once the cages are set, then we will begin "Shark Watch." Again, once the first white shark is sighted we begin the diver rotations, so be ready. There are often situations where there are multiple Great White Sharks around the cages. This makes for some interesting photo opportunities and surface shots. These are very intelligent sharks and quickly learn to modify their attack approaches on the hang baits laid out for them by the wranglers. If a well focused wrangler jerks the bait away from the white shark at just the right moment the shark misses and often changes its next effort based upon what it saw previously. Please give the wranglers plenty of room to operate. They often have to heave the baits out in front of the cages. If you hear "fire in the hole" watch where you are or else you could end up with a 20 lb tuna head on the side of your face! You'll often hear us shout, "Don't talk to the wranglers!" It breaks their concentration when someone tries to engage them in a conversation while they need to focus on the bait, so "don't talk to the wranglers!!"
We again continue the rotations until just before dark. The cages are pulled shortly thereafter.

Day 4:
Hopefully the white sharks will still be with us when we launch the cages at first light. If not, then its "Shark Watch" time again. Then into the rotations once the first white shark appears. We will dive until late afternoon when we need to pull the cages and clean the boat. All the gear is secured for the return transit. This is the time when you must also secure your personal equipment. Make sure your gear is in a safe spot so that it won't be damaged during the transit if it gets rough. Time to head for home.

Day 5:
The Andrea Lynn should arrive at the dock around 2:30 noon depending upon the weather and strength and direction of the prevailing current. After breakfast final announcements will be made and the souvenir shirts and other items will be laid out for purchase. Tip envelopes containing a trip evaluation form will be passed out to each diver. Please take the time to fill out the trip evaluation form. This is how we find out where improvements need to be made in our trips. Place your tip for the shark crew and Andrea Lynn crew into the envelope and give the envelope to the cruise director. If you want to put your tip on a credit card, see the cruise director. After this its the time to settle up with the cruise director for any bar, tackle, fishing rig rental, or fish processing purchased during the trip.

Please make sure your gear is packed and organized for off loading before we dock. You don't want to leave anything aboard since the boat may be turning right around for another trip. The crew will off load your luggage and put it aboard the bus. We should return to San Diego around 7:00 PM. We don't recommend trying to fly out the same night. It would be best to overnight in San Diego, then fly out the next day.