In December of last year, I was fortunate enough to participate in the Dive with the Sharks event at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa. I have numerous hours of dive experience and have seen a few sharks on dives, even gotten close to some small sharks, but I have never been within reach of 6 foot long Sand Tiger, Zebra and 4 foot long White Tips sharks. Until now. The Dive with the Sharks exhibit is available to certified divers and gives you a chance to spend 30 minutes getting as close as you are comfortable with to their sharks.

My dive buddy was a good friend and newly certified diver. We were delighted by how close the sharks got to us. She even had the Goliath Grouper rest on top of her head and bellow. This was a small Goliath Grouper weighing just 230 pounds!

The Sand Tigers were very inquisitive and got so close to me that I actually had to lean back to keep from being hit by a pectoral fin on his pass. The Zebra sharks seemed content staying about 6 feet away, but were so beautiful. One of the other factors that make this experience so amazing is the visibility. The water is crystal clear and allow you to see so much detail. In the wild it is so hard to get the combination of the presence of the sharks and good visibility.

All in all I have to say that this is an experience that any diver that is interested in sharks should schedule immediately! Let me know when you are going because I will go back any chance I can get!