If you would have asked me a few months ago if I would cage dive with sharks, the answer would have been a firm no. Haha. However, I had a life changing moment in Australia that completely changed my mind. I mean, the ocean is a scary place people!
Flash back to Australia: My husband and I were all set up for a scuba diving lesson that would then take us out to dive The Great Barrier Reef. At the very last second we backed out of the lesson. I was just way too afraid, so we opted to snorkel instead. This boat took us an hour away from shore, it was raining kind of hard, and we couldn’t see any land in sight. The level of fear I had before jumping into the water was a solid 9 out of 10.
Chris jumped in first and put his face in the water. Immediately, he popped back up and said, “Lauren, you are NOT going to want to miss this. It’s incredible.” He gave me the confidence to jump in the water (with a pool noodle of course) and he was right. It was the experience of a lifetime.
Flash forward to planning our Hawaii vacation: I came across Hawaiian Shark Encounters. As soon as I saw this opportunity, I knew I HAD to do it… ya know with my new found courage, I can do ANYTHING! 🙂 The only red tape would be convincing my mom and sister. My sister, who is also terrified of the ocean, said yes right away. I was shocked! Even more shocking… was my mom! Check out our conversation.
I never in a million years thought she would agree to do this. I was SO excited. With everyone on board, I booked our dive for the first full day of our trip. If our excursion was cancelled due to weather, this would allow us to be able to reschedule for later in the week. We ended up having the most perfect day!
I know it sounds super scary, but it wasn’t at all. We saw about 20 Galapagos sharks and they were beautiful! The water was unbelievably clear and the sharks looked so peaceful in their natural environment. Enjoy!
XO, Lauren