Craig and Shona run a great operation at Scuba Addicts. Matt and Thor our guides were really experienced and full of exciting stories of Tiger shark encounters.

I suggest a good 7mm full length wetsuit for South Africa with a hood and gloves, in October the water temp was 21°c but it felt much colder. I wore a Fourth Element Proteus Womens 7mm Semi-Dry Suit from Mikes Dive Store in London.

The launch off the beach in the rib is a real life James Bond experience, Cam is the master at getting out of the white water but hold on tight and bring sea sickness tablets the swell can break even the strongest stomach.

Bring books and things to do, you dive two tank dives early in the morning and then have the rest of the day free. Umkomaas isn’t the most happening of places and it isn’t safe to wonder about alone – even on the beach.

The dive is intense, you start with a negative entry roll through a frenzy of black tips splashing about on the surface. Dropping down to only about 10 meters you can now sit back and watch the show. Get as close to the drum line as you feel comfortable (within reason) but expect to get barged by the odd shark the closer you are.

Although this dive uses baiting techniques, these mimic the natural feeding pattern of the shark as close as possible, and do not induce a feeding frenzy at any stage. We weren’t lucky enough to see Tiger sharks on this dive but they are very common. Aliwal Shoal is a must for the adrenaline junkie or shark fanatic, this dive allows the avid photographer or videographer an excellent opportunity to capture these magnificent creatures in all their splendour in their natural environment.

The only danger on this dive is missing out!

Cathedral is a dive site at the Shoal, we were extremely lucky on this dive. Dropping down to about 17m you can explore a cave surrounded by a crater-like rock formation with Ragged-tooth sharks swimming in and out patrolling their territory.

The rest of the reef onwards is a plateau with the edges dropping five to ten metres at some places. The main attraction at Cathedral is obviously the Ragged-tooth sharks however we got 2 sail fish, black tips and a scorpion fish as a bonus.

The diving here is world class and Im going to go back to do the Sardine run for sure.

This trip was organised by Aqua-Firma, I can’t speak highly enough of this company. From start to finish Ralph made it so easy for us all. From finding the best places to eat in Zanzibar to organising extra excursions for everyone.

The trip had the highlight of diving with Dr Simon J Pierce and Dr Chris Rohner, both are leading the way in Whale shark research and conservation. We were given presentations in the evenings about tagging, feeding habits and behaviour. Spending ten days with these two was a geek-out dream.

We snorkelled with the Whale sharks in the morning and dived in the afternoon. On two of the days we just dived.

The dive boats in Mafia are something else, beds to lounge on, matted floor and a huge sail to take us back at sunset.

Photo credit: Simon Pierce