Cage Diving with Great White Sharks (South Africa)

I'm sitting in the water in a metal cage as the boat its attached to lurches unforgiving with each 6 foot swell. The "Jaws" theme song is stuck in my head as I scan the wobbly water for fins.
"Ready, divers read," the captain of the boat yells. He throws the line of three large fish heads at the end and begins to drag it towards the cage.
"Down! Down!" he yells.
The chill of the Atlantic is no match for my wet suit. The water is so cold its like someone has punched me in the stomach. I struggle with buoyancy despite the weight belt to get as low as possible in the cage without any extraneous limbs sticking out of the bars as live bait.
The cold is instantly forgotten as I see the great white; all muscle and sleek, cruise up to the cage right where I am floating. Suddenly he surges and snaps for the bait just above my head and the open roofed cage above me. The classic snapshot of his teeth make the "Jaws" music intensify.
The captain pulls the bait away before the shark closes his powerful teeth on it. He cuts by my side of the cage within inches of me because I fought for the seat at the very end of the cage where all the action seemed to be. He appears to stop, motionless and look at me with his huge eye before rounding the corner close enough for me to touch him.
Gansbai, South Africa is known as the "Great White Shark Capital of the World." The company I dove with, Shark Dives Unlimited, has seen all sorts of celebrities and nature show hosts walk though their doors. Mike, one of the owners is the man you wee in the classic footage of a man swimming with great whites with nothing but his camera between him and the shark in the open water.
Despite appealing to adrenaline junkies like myself, the company is enthusiastic to correct the bad reputation of sharks. Shark attacks are so minimal, yet so highly publicised. The average annual deaths for shark attacks between 2001 and 2005 was just 4.4. Falling coconuts kill more people each year than sharks do. Think about your odds of dying when you get in a car and the fact that it is 30x more likely one would be stuck by lightning that bitten by a shark in a given year and its obvious they do not deserve the reputation they have.
"He's more afraid of you than you are of him," Mike says.
Humans, on the other hand are a shark's worst enemy, killing as many each year that many types will soon be on the endangered species list. According to estimates by NOAA fisheries, humans kill over 100 millions sharks each year. Who is more dangerous then?
Seeing a great white swim inches away from you is more calming than scary. It's like time stops and there is something so primal about this incredible shark, all taunt and muscle. For me, it was mostly about the adrenaline. I am always off to find the ultimate adrenaline rush and though it wasn't in the shark diving, it was still one of the most fun things I have ever done.
There is something completely surreal about sitting in the cage, a cage that could easily be crushed by an angry shark with an open top just a few inches above water level that the shark could jump into no problem, as the boat crew spills fish blood and guts into the ocean to attract a great white.
It was a truly unique feeling and I was struck with the hilarity of it all and this quest for an adrenaline rush. Waiting in the cage before the first shark, the tangible unknown assaulted me and I was happy.
Back on the boat, everyone furiously chews gum to relieve seasickness. The way the boat anchors makes even those who think they have an ocean-worthy stomach nauseous and more people than not lost their lunches to the ocean. But when the captain yelled out, "shark" and the people from the top deck could see the dark shadow gliding through the water towards the boat and a fin slicing through the swell, all else was forgotten.
Down in the cage, holding your breath in the icy cold in the shark's own dark territory you can't help but be impressed by its beauty. But be careful because shark diving is absolutely addictive.
So for me, it was no that great adrenaline rush I had hoped for, but it was still pure fun and one of the most unique things I have ever experienced.
I guess now I have to convince someone to take me base jumping.