For $1500 per person, you can get on board for a 4 night/3 day, ultimate great white shark cage diving experience to the Neptune Islands off Port Lincoln in South Australia. These dives also include the world first bottom cage dives to view the sharks on the ocean floor plus rays and other fish species. With 8 different sharks spotted last week, this is fantastic!

This offer is exclusive to Goin’ Off Safaris & we have 2 trips available with limited positions.

Departure dates & times are;

• 9pm July 15th to 9am on July 19th (8 positions available)
• 9pm July 19th to 9am on July 23rd (5 positions available)

Contact us asap as these spots will go very quickly!

The start of the winter season has been excellent and up to 8 different sharks have been seen daily, with plenty of action from both the boat and of course, in the underwater protective shark cage. In a world exclusive, the ocean floor cages are really proving to be a big hit for those that are certified divers, not only to see these predators scan the ocean’s bottom, but to view the massive rays and other schools of fish. It really is incredible!

Tags have been implanted in a number of sharks in recent weeks to be able to track their movements. “Marine” is a 3.2 feisty little female (see pictured bottom left) which has just been implanted with CSIRO acoustic tag.

Other regular Great Whites that have been seen recently are Mrs.Moo- a 4.5m female, Moo – 4.3m male, Kallel- 4m male (see very bottom) and also some smaller sharks such as Punk-a 2.8m female, Ropey, 3.5 female plus 2 other large females which haven’t been named as yet. With all these females around, Moo and Kallel must be in their  element, but as they are regular habitats of the Neptune’s, they will know that “Jonny” is about to make an appearance any time now!

Jonny, pictured bottom right, is a very big male who historically appears about now & hangs in the area for usually 2-3 months and certainly makes his presence felt! Kallel is another shark that is enormously popular and is renowned as the most photographed Great White by the way he presents himself to the camera’s & his inquisitive nature.

The season is shaping up to be a belter & we have some great offers for the month of July. We have availabilities for 3 different, 4 night/3 day trips for a special half price deal of $1500 per person. Departure dates are July 5th-9th, July 15th-19th and July 19th- 23rd. Contact us for more details.

To listen via podcast or see a transcript of how tags are used with the great white sharks & then tracked via satellite, go to www.csiro.au/files/files/pbhy.rtf or http://www.csiro.au/multimedia/Great-White-Sharks-Journey.html

Normally priced at $2995 per person, these spots will go quickly at the now reduced price of $1497.50!

Both trips are 4 nights/3 days & are available only for the 27th-31st of May 2010 (4 vacancies)  & the 31st May- 4th June has 7 vacancies.

Dates are Feb 21st-24th, from Pt.Lincoln priced at $1250 per person (normally $2495). Bargain!

Shark numbers are fantastic at the minute & have been all winter with 5-8 big sharks present everyday, giving you the ultimate underwater experience whilst safely being protected by the large & specially designed underwater cage.

For those of you who would prefer to stay on the dry deck of the boat, a special passenger price has now been released of $395 per person & you still have the option of upgrading to diving once on board. The views from the deck & flybridge are still outstanding & guaranteed a special Kodak moment!

Day trips are the most popular but multiple days out with the sharks & other marine life are also very well sought after.For further info please contact us.

Enjoy this magnificent spring weather & when you have pulled all the weeds out from the garden, come & have a look these ripper creatures!!

Last weekend saw us fill a classic Beech 18 aircraft for a customized tour of Lake Eyre & beyond over 4 incredible days! Departing from Adelaide, our group took in Wilpena Pound  & Arkaroola in the Flinders Ranges,Innamincka, Coongie Lakes,Birdsville, Dalhousie Springs, the Painted Desert & Evelyn Downs cattle station. On the ground, our guests met local characters at the legendary Birdsville Pub, Coopers Creek Homestay, the famous William Creek Hotel & then had the best nights sleep in the underground rooms of Coober Pedy’s Desert Cave Motel. Every day is another amazing encounter with the guys flat out taking in all sights, scenery & there is no better way to catch the best vantage points to appreciate the whole outback experience & that’s by air. 

 Spring is going to be something else as the wildflowers & wildlife will be lighting up the country side so if your thinking of capturing some of the countries absolutely finest scenery, at its spectacular best, get in contact with us asap to book your customised trip. Opal Air charters are our local & well known proven operators with gun pilots,Lindsay Matthews & Chris Phitzner at the helm.  Flights carrying 6-8 passengers are available from Adelaide, Wudinna, Coober Pedy or after a Great White Shark Dive in Pt.Lincoln, we’ll go from there as well!!

True story, as the below article indicates!. This is a great coup for our coastline to have something like this on the big Imax 3D screens to be shown to audiences around the world. As most would know, Goin Off Safaris takes you to the real stage underwater to dive with the Great White Sharks, swimming with Bluefin Tuna, Sealions & Dolphins plus everything in between !

I like whats said in Michele Hall’s  producers notes where ” this is some of the most exotic & isolated undersea  locations on Earth” . 

I would love to see some of Jim Carrey’s funny faces whilst underwater amongst some of these beauties!!

Whilst Gustavo was a little jett lagged & tired, the 3 other amigos were ready to go! Shark diving was first on the agenda, but lucked out with the big boys.Smaller Bronze Whaler were prominent though & a good day out was had by all. It was a full deck onbaord the Adventure Lady as we all got into the tuna cage on Day 2. Once again, this is a treat  to do & if you dont feel like swimming with ( mad if you don’t ) the tuna, you can observe them downstairs via the underwater viewing platform. Matt has also added some Snapper & Trevally to the farm to mix in with salmon that entered the pen very small & with all those free lunches, have grown too big to get out !!

With the boys seemingly keen divers, we decided to keep with the theme. Hunting & gathering abolone was the afternoons task & the boys were very good learners. At a secret destination, we had plenty of  big Greenlip Abolone ready for the pan in no time. Prepared properly, this is a delicacy & with fresh oysters,steak & a couple of cold beers around a big hot fire on a beach, it doesn’t get any better!

A few yarns were spent around the fire, some tall, others true & then bedtime, ready for another big day on the water. Whilst Pods, Sheep & Millsy were all seasoned campainers of the famous Aussie swag, it was a first for Gustavo. The swag is like a small canvas horizontal “ tent” if you like, with a nice thick mattress, sleeping bag & pillow inside of it & it just “rolls out” as your bed for the night ! You are covered & protected from wind & rain & any other little crawlies that could stop you from a perfect nights sleep. You know when one is sleeping well by the snoring from that general direction & Gustavo was sleeping very well indeed & good on him, as he had put in another top effort during the day !

After eggs,tomato & bacon on the beach,we packed up & went north/west to greet another crew of ours at the wonderful Baird Bay. The boat was full again & the action a plenty as the dolphins continued to impress & hang around everyone in the water & the sealions were as playful as ever. Along the way, we did the usual stop offs & camera poses at the Cummings Monument & Talia Caves which always go well in the holiday album.

From here, it was departure time for everyone. Sheep ventured back to Ceduna for no doubt another hero’s welcome, Millsy & Pods continued on their own ” Thelma & Louise ” adventures & our favourite Argentinean, Gustavo jumped on a plane to explore other exciting parts of our great country. Great to have you on board boys!

Through some research, Bleechy found us & we put together for the group a trip to remember with a few other extra activities to fill the week & make sure the boys went home happy punters. On day 1, the fellas headed out with a full boat load to go diving with the Great White Sharks. A great day was had but unfortunately no big whites were spotted which is a rarity as there is a 85% success rate of seeing the sharks during this time of the year. The weather was looking rough for later in the week & we had a call from Sceale Bay Bluewater Charters fishing guru, Matt Guidera who suggested that we get up to Sceale Bay to make sure of the next days weather to muscle in some tuna.

That was a  much appreciated call from Matt, so we had a change in itineries & much to Zac’s dissapointment, we had a very early start to the 2nd days play ! It was worth the 5am wakeup, as we arrived at Sceales & boarded Matts 7m Markham Dominator right on 8am. The boys had rubbed the sleep out of the eyes & after a brief scenic viewings of the massive limestone cliff faces of the peninsula with ospery nests & beautiful tranquil waters, we headed out for the mighty blue rockets or better known as Southern bluefin tuna.

Sea birds were active on the surface, which meant they were chasing live bait & something else was chasing them.It did’nt take long as we trolled through the area when we had 2 hookups.Snowy & Haydos both hooked up first & the sweat had yet to dry off Snows brow before Bleechy & cannon arm Zaccontinued the frenzy. With high fives all round, back slaps & some side splitting laughter from the Bleechmore commentry team, it was a great start to the day. Yours truly got in the action as well & after another hook up soon after, Matt announced that we had caught the legal boat limit of 6 perfect tuna! We did manage a few more & got to the boat, but luck was with them & they soon sped to the depths below. With that mission completed, we headed into shore & cleaned the tuna up ready for the nights meal.  There is nothing better than fresh sushimi followed by hearty tuna steaks & a fresh salad washed down with a few coldies after a days work.Welcome aboard!

After a well deserved rest the boys were pretty keen to tackle some big sand dunes & go sandboarding. Haydos & Zac put in some quality performances & were taking the sport to higher levels & were proving to be naturals in the field. A couple of busters here & there made an interesting spectacle for all.Snowy & Bleechy wer’nt going to be outclassed as they to put in some good displays as well, though I’m tipping that they were enjoying things better on top of the dune, rather than climbing back up these monsters!

The best way to get some unwanted sand off oneself is to go swimming & just not anywhere. Just around the corner was Bairds Bay & once again the dolphins & sealions put on a show for everyone. The dolphins in particular have been in good numbers & are as happy as the humans as they glide in between the group, chattering to each other & seemingly smiling as they interact. It really is amazing & this continues with the sealions. They actually appear clumsy on land but once these play full creatures get into the water, its all go for them & they put on a real performance . With the sand now washed out, we got cleaned up & headed into the Streaky Bay pub for dinner & showed off the full scaled 5m , 1.5 tonne model of a Great White Shark caught off local waters by 15 yr old Dion Gilmore. Its more than impressive !

Day 4 saw us back on deck Sceale Bay Blue Water charters. With the winds howling, it wasn’t possible to go too far & protection was sought against the magnificent limestone cliffs of Cape Blanche. We got some huge King George Whiting,( some others that were a bit short one end), tommy ruff, plenty of silver whiting & also some unwanted reef fish of rock cod. The sheltered waters were very calm & clear so we jumped in for a bit of snorkelling & found ourselves some very nice sized greenlip abolone, just a perfect addition  for tonights dinner, which capped off another good mornings fishing. With the unwanted wind around, an afternoons drive was in order so we headed to Talia Caves. The ocean was near at its best, pounding in with some huge waves crashing against the rocks & loudly bellowing through the empty tunnels & the caves itself , showing us all how these caves were originally formed through many years of erosion. With Snowy being a self acclaimed lover of rocks, we couldn’t go past the opportunity to show him the ancient windworn granite inselbergs called Murphys Haystacks. They are a very impressive  outcrop of granite boulders purported to be more than 1500 million years old ! After a few days of hunting & gathering, we had our last supper at Sceales; more oysters & sashimi, freshly caught crumbed whiting & vindaloo abolone .

We deaprted Sceales & we made our way back to Pt.Lincoln for our last days play. We had to have 2 stops on the way with the first at the worlds smallest bakery at Colton. ( Colton is inbetween Ellsiton & Venus Bay). An honesty system is used to pay for your purchases & the wood oven bread rolls & fruit buns that we got were something else. And very cheap as well ! We had a quick bite at the Cummings Monument, which gave the boys a vantage point to see miles & miles of uninterrupted clifftops & with the water being so clear, you could nearly see the crayfish crawling around the reefs below.

Our last activity saw us onboard Matt Waller’s Adventure Lady, as we went swimming & feeding the 60 tuna in Matts tuna cage. This is a great experience, especially as we had all caught tuna earlier, so it now gives us a spectacular insight on how the fish attack the bait, how they move & the fight to get to the pilchard before the other tuna. All this without crashing into another companion! It’s amazing. As was Zac & Haydos throwing out handfulls of pilchards virtually on top of their Dads & to see the frenzy of tuna going for the bait & so skillfully manouvering away with the catch was another great highlight. Wouldve looked great from underwater as well ! It was a great way to finish a great trip with some great people. Thanks again for coming on board & we’ll talk during the footy season ! Cheers.