Snorkeling - who has encountered a shark?

Just curious who has encountered a shark while snorkeling? Or if not what was the coolest thing you saw and where?

Actually, we have snorkeled with sharks on several occasions. This is pretty common in the Society Islands (places like Moorea) where folks love swimming with Black Tip Sharks. We have also spotted sharks when snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef which were generally Black Tip and reef sharks (we do not worry about this species). DW thought she caught a glimpse of a Tiger Shark on the Great Barrier Reef....but it went quickly out of view and we really could not confirm whether it was really a Tiger Shark (not a good species to see in the open sea).

Hank

I saw sharks while snorkelling in both Fiji and Rarotonga. In both instances, they were just the reef sharks. I've also seen a wobbegong )that sgtrange, bottom-dwelling shark) at Hervey Bay in Australia.

The best experience I had was when a ray came close to check me out. It was much bigger than I was. It loomed out of the distance and just swam slowly up close then turned, banking like a plane, and slowly swam away. I was a bit scared at first, but ended up feeling quite enchanted.

This is probably another reason why we don't snorkel. LOL.

Keith

In Bora Bora, we went on a boat ride around the island that included a stop to swim and feed the sharks. Everyone made it back with all parts intact.

In Roatan we saw an enormous Eagle Ray...probably 7 or 8 feet across. It swam below us, just quietly drifting along. It was very cool.

I would so freak!!! I can't even imagine being in the water with a shark lurking nearby. Yikes..... :eek:

We saw a nurse shark while snorkeling near Cozumel.

We've seen nurse sharks a couple of times, in Grand Cayman for sure, usually pointed out to us by a guide. They are not dangerous, so it was kind of neat.

This is probably another reason why we don't snorkel. LOL.

 

Keith

The sharks running around in our nation's capital are a lot more dangerous then the sharks we have encountered in the sea :)

Hank

I would so freak!!! I can't even imagine being in the water with a shark lurking nearby. Yikes..... :eek:

 

This is one of those fears caused by the media. The reality is that a majority of shark species are not dangerous to humans. Personally, I would rather be in the water with black tip sharks, reef sharks, nurse sharks, etc....then those darn jellyfish that always seem to find me :(

Hank

Here are a couple of up close and personal ones we took in Tahiti

Candy Gram..

This is one of those fears caused by the media. The reality is that a majority of shark species are not dangerous to humans. Personally, I would rather be in the water with black tip sharks, reef sharks, nurse sharks, etc....then those darn jellyfish that always seem to find me :(

 

Hank

I know most species of sharks are not dangerous to humans, I am excited about snorkeling in the Caribbean in less than 2 weeks I was just curious what people have seen!

After 13 cruises with snorkeling trips in nearly every port we have never seen a shark. We have seen rays, morey eel, octopuss and barracuda, but no sharks. I wanted to snorkel with them with Stuart Cove in Nassua but it didn't happen.:(

Candy Gram..

Landshark........:D

This is one of those fears caused by the media. The reality is that a majority of shark species are not dangerous to humans. Personally, I would rather be in the water with black tip sharks, reef sharks, nurse sharks, etc....then those darn jellyfish that always seem to find me :(

 

Hank

I've seen those bloodied limbs on people attacked. Media or not, that was real blood and those were real bites. :D

Here are a couple of up close and personal ones we took in Tahiti

Awesome pics!

Here are a couple of up close and personal ones we took in Tahiti

WOW! that's amazing!

After about 20 cruises, we finally saw one on our last cruise! I was thrilled! :D We were the first ones to hop into the water off of a catamaran over by St John, and as my husband and I stuck our masks in the water, we saw a 12 foot nurse shark swimming below us. So cool! We also saw quite a few sting rays and sea turtles that day. It was my favorite snorkling day yet. :)

While staying at a resort on St. Thomas, locals told us about "Charley", the resident 6 ft. barracuda. They said he wouldn't attack, but was very territorial, so stay out of his way, and that if you saw him to stay calm, don't splash or act panicked. No one seemed to be able to tell us where his territory was.

So, we're snorkeling along the shore in shallow water, with me ahead of husband, just admiring all the fish. Looked down and all of a sudden, there he was, just floating about 3 feet below me. I swear he was looking up at me and looked much bigger than 6 ft. Staying calm and still was very hard, but I just slowly pushed away, then tried to signal husband to go around. He spotted Charley like I had, so it all ended well. Without the prior warning, I don't know that we would have reacted as calmly as we did.

During a stay (a long time ago) on St. John, USVI, I was snorkeling off a beach (Maho Bay). I had the company of a sand shark and a barracuda nearby. I snorkeled nearly every day for three weeks there and never saw creatures like them again, nor since! Smaller ones of course, like sea urchins, sea cucumbers, colorful fish, and beautiful coral. And as much as I enjoyed my waverunner excursion around Bora Bora, I don't like to think about what lies beneath!

Shark? What shark?

In Belize in November 2012 I dragged my office mate to shark ray alley off of caulker cay on a snorkel boat and we snorkled with nurse sharks and rays. I have probably snorkeled 100 times plus every where possible (Hawaii, Tahiti, northern and southern carib and northern and southern Great Barrier Reef Aus) and only once saw a non-ray shark before in the wild. (white tip less than three feet long at Dunk Island AUS). Got to say it was the highlight of the year if not the decade for me and she (Nanci) was scared witless especially when along came a six foot baracuda who was looking for lunch in the chum that the 10 or so nurse sharks were guzzling on. He was less than ten feet away looking at her looking at him and they both took off like bats out of he** in opposite directions. I wish I had a waterproof camera which of course I did not own at the time. (santa did bring me one this year though)

If you really want to see nurse sharks there are several companies outside of the cruise ships which set up snorkel trips in Belize with the nurse sharks. They are harmless unless you stick your hand in the chum tubes even though they are called ragged tooth in AUS for a reason.

This is probably another reason why we don't snorkel. LOL.

 

Keith

The same with us ..