20 Unforgettable Shark Encounters from the Bluewater Team

Location: Darwin Island, Galápagos, Ecuador
Featured species: Scalloped hammerhead sharks

Across four amazing Galápagos trips, one encounter at Darwin Island stands out for Scott. Scalloped hammerheads were everywhere: individuals, small groups, and larger schools swimming, hunting, and visiting reef-fish cleaning stations. What made this dive different was their depth. Instead of staying deep, the sharks were cruising at just 30–40 feet.

Scott could settle into a viewing position and wait as hammerheads appeared ahead of him or behind him. Some made close passes; others remained farther away. There would be a quiet interval, then another shark would emerge. Rather than looking down at a distant school, he spent time watching individual animals at close range.

He remembers relatively warm water, perhaps in the high 70s or around 80°F, and thinks he may have worn a full 3 mm wetsuit. Other wildlife sightings blur together across his Galápagos memories, but those shallow hammerheads remain unmistakable. For Scott, they represent exactly what keeps bringing him back: every visit offers something unexpected.

Dive experience: Divemaster; approximately 1,800 dives over 16 years
Location: El Canon, San Benedicto, Revillagigedo, Mexico
When: February 2021
Liveaboard: Rocio Del Mar
Sharks encountered: Silvertip, whitetip reef, Galápagos, silky, hammerhead, tiger, and whale sharks

Nirupam has returned to Socorro almost every year since his first trip, but that first visit remains his favorite dive trip of all. El Canon was particularly prolific. Its sloping terrain drops toward a trench, and sharks rise from deeper water to gather at a cleaning station around 90 feet down.

On his final dive, the scene felt like diving inside a Disney movie. Silvertips, whitetip reef sharks, Galápagos sharks, silkies, and hammerheads shared the water with manta rays and dolphins. A tiger shark added to the spectacle, and a whale shark appeared just as the dive ended. It was an extraordinary finale to a trip that has remained his benchmark ever since.

Listed dive gear: Apeks regulator; Mares Avanti Quattro fins; Bare wetsuit; Mares Bolt BCD; Mares X-Vision mask; Shearwater dive computer.

Listed camera gear: Nikon Z6; Ikelite housing; dual Ikelite DS232 strobes.

Dive experience: Open Water Scuba Instructor; diving for 19 years
Location: Pacific Harbor, Fiji
When: July 2024
Resort: Waidroka Bay Resort
Sharks encountered: Primarily bull sharks, alongside tawny nurse, lemon, grey reef, and silvertip sharks

While working in Fiji, Jamie participated in shark dives every week. Yet certain dives during peak bull shark season were unforgettable, with more than 50 huge, pregnant females surrounding the divers.

Repeated encounters made it possible to recognize individual sharks by their markings, characteristics, and personalities. Jamie was especially fascinated by their interactions: she felt she could pick out the dominant females and follow the social dynamics unfolding around her.

Some sharks passed astonishingly close, but closeness was something to observe, not an invitation to touch. For Jamie, the experience was not primarily frightening. It was surreal, humbling, and awe-inspiring—a series of dives she would happily experience again and again.

Listed dive gear: Mares Planet 88X TBP regulator; Mares Razor freediving fins; Rob Allen wetsuit; Mares Magellan BCD; Scubapro Ghost mask; Garmin Descent Mk2 dive computer.

Listed camera gear: Olympus TG-6; Olympus TG-6 housing; Bluewater 3000 video light.

Dive experience: CCR Normoxic Trimix Plus; approximately 3,000 dives over 20 years
Location: Wolf, Galápagos, Ecuador
When: March 2024
Liveaboard: Calipso
Featured species: Scalloped hammerhead sharks

Gill believes the Galápagos fully deserves its reputation, but exploring it on a rebreather took the experience to another level. Extended, bubble-free dives created opportunities for particularly intimate shark encounters.

After entering from the panga, the group moved with the surge toward the rocky reef and settled into sheltered viewing positions. A hammerhead emerged from the blue, followed by another. As the light and visibility shifted, Gill realized these were only the outer edge of a much larger school.

Dozens of hammerheads cruised through the current, their silhouettes filling the open water. Some stayed distant; others moved closer and turned their distinctive heads as though inspecting the divers. Without the usual stream of bubbles, Gill felt almost unnoticed. For a few unforgettable minutes, watching that procession disappear into the blue felt less like observing the sharks’ world and more like being part of it.

Listed dive gear: Apeks DST first stages with XTX50 second stages; Scubapro Jet Fins; Bare Elat 5 mm wetsuit; Seawolf Epsilon drysuit; DiveRite backplate and Oxycheq wing; Tusa Freedom One mask; Shearwater Perdix 2 dive computer.

Dive experience: Master Scuba Diver Trainer; more than 2,000 dives over 16 years
Location: Playa del Carmen, Mexico
When: Christmas season; exact date unconfirmed
Featured species: Bull sharks

The Caribbean was exceptionally flat when Maria led four divers to Playa del Carmen’s shark point during the Christmas holiday. Paddleboarders enjoyed the calm surface nearby, while more than 10 bull sharks swam roughly 90 feet below.

With outstanding visibility and no other dive groups in the water, Maria watched the bulky outlines of the pregnant females—locally nicknamed “gordas”—emerge from the blue. They circled the group calmly for more than 20 minutes, sometimes coming so close that she released bubbles from her alternate regulator to create some separation. The sharks followed the bubbles upward, then returned to investigate.

When the divers moved toward shallower water, the encounter continued. Maria recalls the sharks following in a V-shaped formation as the group approached the reef, completed its safety stop, and returned to the surface. Only after everyone climbed aboard did the sharks head back down. It was her longest and closest encounter after years of diving there—and, in her words, the best Christmas present ever.

Listed dive gear: Aqualung Titan regulator; Mares Avanti Quattro fins; Cressi 7 mm Lady wetsuit; Aqualung Pro HD BCD; Mares X Skin mask; Garmin Descent G1 Solar dive computer.

Dive experience: PADI Rescue Diver and Apnea Total Freedive Instructor; approximately 500 dives over 12 years
Location: Gili Air, Indonesia
When: May 2016
Featured species: Whale shark

Jacqui had been teaching freediving in the Gili Islands for about a year when an ordinary session became something extraordinary. She was drifting with two students in calm, open blue water, with no reef or seabed in sight and visibility exceeding 40 metres.

During her relaxation phase before a dive, she watched sunlight flicker through the water and noticed a familiar spotted pattern at the edge of her vision. It was her first whale shark—an animal she had hoped to see since starting diving five years earlier.

Approximately seven metres long, the shark swam calmly nearby for about 20 minutes. Jacqui and her students made several dives while maintaining a respectful distance before it disappeared into the blue. The unexpected setting made a long-awaited first encounter especially memorable.

Listed gear: Mares X-Vision dive mask.

Dive experience: Instructor; approximately 5,000 dives
Location: Guadalupe Island, Mexico
When: 2019
Vessel: Nautilus Explorer
Featured species: Great white sharks

With thousands of dives behind her, Jessie has many shark memories to choose from. Working aboard vessels conducting great white shark dives at Guadalupe Island nevertheless stands out.

Her recollection is simple and enthusiastic: clear water, numerous large sharks, and excitement both above and below the surface. Her time aboard Nautilus Explorer in 2019 provided the kind of encounters that remain vivid long after a season ends.

Listed dive gear: MK2 regulator; Mares fins, BCD, and mask; custom wetsuit; Oceanic dive computer.

Dive experience: Divemaster; thousands of dives over 32 years
Location: Offshore near Scottburgh, Aliwal Shoal region, South Africa
When: 2018
Sharks encountered: Tiger sharks and a great white shark

During the humpback whale migration season, Anthony heard reports of a whale carcass floating close offshore near Scottburgh. Divers who had visited the previous day described substantial shark activity, and a group quickly assembled to investigate.

On arrival, they could see sharks feeding. Anthony recalls some understandable hesitation before entering the water away from the carcass. Tiger sharks were immediately present, actively feeding, while a great white made a more distant pass before disappearing.

At one point, a small swell pushed Anthony toward a feeding area, forcing him to kick hard to move clear as a tiger shark swam away. The group spent an extended period observing the feeding behavior. For Anthony, the photographic frustration was that his strobes failed—possibly through user error—leaving him with only a few natural-light images of an extraordinary event.

Listed dive gear: Scubapro regulator; Aqualung fins; Rob Allen wetsuit; Aqualung Islander BCD; Tusa mask; Shearwater Tern dive computer.

Listed camera gear: Nikon Z8; Aquatica housing; Inon Z240 strobes.

Dive experience: PADI OWSI
Location: Faial, Azores, Portugal
When: Early 2026
Featured species: Blue sharks

Henrique’s first encounter with blue sharks was something very special. It took time to find them out in the deep blue off Faial, but once they appeared, the group suddenly had around six to eight sharks around them.

The sharks moved through the water with curiosity and confidence, circling the divers in the open ocean. For Henrique, the experience stood out not only because it was his first time seeing blue sharks, but because of the setting: suspended in blue water, watching sleek pelagic sharks materialize from the surrounding ocean.

The encounter captured the particular magic of the Azores, where patience, blue water, and the possibility of something extraordinary can turn a day offshore into a memory that lasts.

Dive experience: Divemaster; more than 1,000 dives over 38 years
Location: AR-305, USCGC Spar wreck, North Carolina, USA
When: Believed to be June or July; year unknown
Featured species: Sand tiger sharks

The USCGC Spar wreck, whose highest point Jaime describes as sitting in about 75 feet of water, provided one of her most memorable shark encounters. The water was exceptionally clear and blue, opening up in every direction as the group descended.

Then came the sharks—hundreds of sand tigers, as Jaime remembers it. Large adults cruised slowly through the water with juveniles among them, while schools of fish shifted like silver clouds around the wreck.

What stayed with her was the absence of chaos or fear. There were sharks above and below, fish everywhere, and blue water stretching into the distance. Hovering quietly amid that living ecosystem felt magical: a reminder of how much beauty a single dive can hold.

Listed dive gear: Sherwood Oasis regulator; Mares Avanti Quattro fins; Henderson wetsuit; Pro QD BCD, noted as no longer in service; Mares Liquid Skin mask; Aqualung i200c dive computer.

Dive experience: PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer; approximately 7,000 dives over 25 years
Location: Azores, Portugal
When: July 2020
Featured species: Blue sharks

Some of Jasmine’s best shark dives took place while she was working in the Azores. Rather than swimming around a site, divers stayed clipped to weighted lines at approximately 10 metres and watched the blue sharks circle.

At one point, nearly 20 sharks were present. They repeatedly approached to investigate, sometimes coming close enough to make contact. Remaining in one place allowed Jasmine to watch their movements and curiosity unfold around her.

There was just one lingering disappointment: she narrowly missed seeing a mako. Even without that extra sighting, the blue sharks made these dives some of her most memorable.

Listed dive gear: Apeks XTX40 regulator; Pro Blue fins; Scubapro wetsuit; Aqualung BCD; Oceanic Mini Shadow mask; Garmin Mk2s dive computer; Big Blue torch.

Dive experience: Divemaster; approximately 400 dives; diving since age 15, with some breaks
Location: Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia
When: March; year unspecified
Dive operator: Legend Diving Lembongan
Featured species: Brown-banded bamboo shark

Melina’s memorable encounter did not involve a huge school or a dramatic open-ocean pass. It came near the end of one of her first tropical dives, after the group had spent its time looking for mantas.

On the way back, they spotted a large adult brown-banded bamboo shark resting on the reef. As one of Melina’s first shark sightings, it made an immediate impression. Watching a bottom-dwelling shark at rest offered a different kind of encounter from the pelagic scenes many divers imagine.

The surprise was part of its appeal. A dive focused on finding mantas ended with a completely unexpected shark—and a memory that has stayed with her ever since.

Listed dive gear: Aqua Lung Calipso regulator; Mares fins; Camaro wetsuit; BCD submitted as “Apeks wd30”; Cressi F1 mask; Suunto Zoop dive computer.

Dive experience: Instructor; approximately 3,000 dives over 27 years
Location: Port Lincoln, South Australia
When: June 2025
Operator: Rodney Fox
Featured species: Great white shark

Tim’s account is the shortest of the collection, but it needs little elaboration: while he was cage diving with Rodney Fox in South Australia, a great white shark bit the cage he was inside.

After approximately 3,000 dives, that moment at Port Lincoln still earned his choice as his most memorable shark encounter.

Listed dive gear: Atomic B2 regulator; Hollis F1 fins; Cressi 5 mm freedive suit; Scubapro Hydros Pro BCD; Hollis M1 mask; Oceanic ProPlus X dive computer.

Listed camera gear: Sony a6700; Sony 10–18 mm lens; Ikelite housing; lighting submitted as “Karaken KS-160.”

Dive experience: Instructor; approximately 4,000 dives over 25 years
Location: Sumbawa, Indonesia
When: 2021
Boat: Local fishing boat
Featured species: Whale sharks

For years, Sandrine seemed to have terrible whale shark luck. While working in Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia, she repeatedly missed sightings. First-time divers would return thrilled after seeing one, while she had been on the wrong side of the site, heading the other way, or already back aboard.

During the pandemic, local contacts in Sumbawa reported whale sharks gathering around fishing platforms for an easy meal. After a 15-hour journey and a 3 a.m. departure aboard a local boat, Sandrine finally broke her streak.

Her first whale shark encounter, after 20 years of diving, turned out to involve three sharks. They stayed around the platform for hours, and she remained in the water despite persistent stings from what she described as jelly plankton. After waiting so long, she was reluctant to miss a moment. It remains her best memory.

Listed dive gear: Apeks XL4 regulator; Mares Avanti Quattro fins; Scubapro Everflex wetsuit; Aqualung Outlaw BCD; Cressi Nano mask; Suunto D4 dive computer.

Dive experience: NAUI Advanced Diver; approximately 115 dives; diving since August 2018
Location: Moorea, French Polynesia
When: September 2020
Trip: Bluewater Travel snorkeling-with-whales trip
Accommodation: Hotel Kaveka
Featured species: Oceanic whitetip sharks

My most memorable shark encounter happened on one of Bluewater Travel’s snorkeling with whales trips in Moorea.

It was our very first day on the boat, and we hadn’t seen a single whale all day. Just as we were about to call it and head back, we finally spotted a group of humpback whales!! Not long after we got in the water, we spotted at least two, maybe three, oceanic whitetip sharks casually circling beneath us…

But then one started coming up.

First, it swam toward the other group. Then it turned and started coming straight toward me and my husband!

At this point, I was TERRIFIED. Thankfully, I had an extendable GoPro selfie stick, so I pulled it out as far as it would go, fully prepared to nudge the shark in another direction if I had to. Meanwhile, my husband, like a true protector, stretched out his arm and pushed me behind him as the shark got closer and closer.

I know there are plenty of divers who would LOVE to see oceanic whitetips while snorkeling with whales, but this was my first time seeing a shark in the wild that genuinely scared me. It was terrifying in the moment, but it also became one of those wildlife encounters I will never, ever forget.

Listed camera gear: GoPro Hero13; GoPro housing; Bluewater 3000 video lights. This equipment list is separate from the account of the 2020 encounter.

Dive experience: PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor; approximately 3,500 dives over about eight years
Location: Sardine Run, Port St Johns, South Africa
When: June 2023
Operator: Working with Offshore Africa
Possible species: Dusky sharks, bronze whalers, and blacktips; identifications unconfirmed

During Courtney’s first season working as a back-up dive guide on the Sardine Run, the team found something far larger than an isolated bait ball. She recalls an area approximately 1.5 kilometres long and nearly 15 metres deep packed with sardines.

The feeding activity continued for two or three days. Sharks burst out of the water and thrashed against boats, while the sheer concentration of fish and predators made the ocean appear to bubble.

Courtney is candid about being unsure of the shark identifications, but there is no uncertainty about the scale of the spectacle. That first season delivered a vivid introduction to the intensity of the Sardine Run.

Listed dive gear: Mares Rover regulator and BCD; Scubapro Seawing Nova fins and Rob Allen freediving fins; custom Rob Allen two-piece wetsuit; Beuchat Maxlux S mask; Suunto D6i dive computer.

Listed camera gear: Canon R10; Ikelite housing; Sea & Sea YS-D3 strobe.

Dive experience: Divemaster; more than 2,000 dives over 42 years
Location: Osprey Reef, Coral Sea, Australia
When: October 1989
Liveaboard: Takaroa
Featured species: Reef sharks; exact species unconfirmed

Laura learned to dive in the Bahamas, where small reef sharks were regular visitors at safety stops. Those early encounters helped her become comfortable seeing sharks underwater.

Her first liveaboard trip to Osprey Reef made a different impression. In clear Coral Sea water, she saw schools of roughly 20–30 reef sharks—a striking sight early in her diving life.

A night dive in a cave added another dimension. Knowing the sharks were somewhere outside in the darkness made the experience especially memorable. Decades later, that combination of clear-water schooling sharks and nighttime anticipation still stands out.

Listed dive gear: Mares MV second stage; Scubapro M25 first stage; Scubapro Air2 inflator; Mares Volo fins; Sharkskin suit; Scubapro Lady Hawk BCD; Cochrane dive computer.

Listed camera gear: Camera submitted as “Sony rs100 v5”; Fantasea housing; two Sea & Sea lighting units; Sea & Sea snoot.

Dive experience: Staff Instructor; diving for 22 years; stopped counting at 3,200 dives
Location: Sodwana Bay, South Africa
When: November 2005
Dive operator: Coral Divers
Featured species: Whale shark

Elma was heading out on a Zodiac when the captain spotted a whale shark. The group entered the water to snorkel, turning a boat journey into an unexpected wildlife encounter.

One moment made the sighting particularly unforgettable: Elma recalls a woman in the group being lifted out of the water by the whale shark. The encounter stayed with her long after that November day. Physical contact with wildlife is not something to seek out, but the unexpected proximity made this a lasting memory.

Listed dive gear: Apeks Flight regulator; Apeks RK3 fins; custom Rob Allen 5 mm wetsuit; Mares XR wing and backplate; Apeks VX1 mask; Garmin Mk3 dive computer.

Listed camera gear: Olympus TG-6; Seafrogs housing; Sea & Sea YS-D130R lighting.

Dive experience: PADI Assistant Instructor
Location: Protea Banks, off Shelly Beach, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
When: June 2019
Featured species: Oceanic blacktip sharks

After a reef dive at Protea Banks, Wayne’s group was joined during its safety stop by around 20 oceanic blacktip sharks. He stayed near the buoy line, watching in awe as the sharks moved among the divers beneath the boat.

Wayne filmed some of the action on an older GoPro, which he thinks may have been a Hero7 Black. While he looked upward toward the boat, two sharks approached from behind and passed close enough to bump him.

He remembers the encounter as fantastic: an ordinary safety stop at his home reef transformed into one of his favorite shark experiences.

Listed dive gear: Scubapro regulator; Apeks RK3 fins; Scubapro/Bare wetsuit; Hollis BCD; Mares prescription mask; Garmin Descent Mk2 dive computer.

Listed camera gear: Sony A7CR; Ikelite housing; Ikelite DS160 II strobes. Wayne’s encounter footage was captured on the older GoPro described above.

Dive experience: Divemaster; approximately 1,000 dives over seven years
Location: Sodwana Bay, South Africa
When: 2024
Featured species: Sand tiger shark, locally known as a ragged-tooth shark

The seasonal arrival of ragged-tooth sharks makes Sodwana Bay especially exciting for Lisa. One encounter with a female in 2024 remains particularly vivid.

The divers kept their distance, avoiding chasing or crowding her. As they watched quietly, the shark gradually came closer until she was swimming directly toward Lisa. At such close range, Lisa could see what she described as algae on the shark’s teeth.

At the last moment, the shark turned away, narrowly avoiding Lisa’s GoPro. It was one of those encounters in which time seemed to slow down. Lisa’s affection for “raggies” extends beyond the sightings themselves: after the season, she enjoys searching the seafloor for naturally shed teeth, reminders of these special visitors.

Listed dive gear: Scubapro regulator; Cressi fins; Aqualung wetsuit; Tusa BCD; Deep mask; Aqualung i330R dive computer.

Listed camera gear: Olympus TG-6 with Olympus TG-6 housing; GoPro Hero11.