Bull sharks, where?

Where to go to find bull sharks?

I was at Chumporn recently and the water was unusually warm so there were no bulls or whale sharks around.

I have heard Cancun?

Any suggestions?

I have heard Cancun?

There are Bull Sharks showing up around Playa Del Carmen, about an hour or so South of Cancun. (Cozumel is across the way) There has been more sightings and there has been baiting going on in the area, with a bit of issues about whether the operations are doing it properly and some operators are questioning whether some of the sharks are behaving differently. Usually they are there in January-February. Karen (NCMermaid) probably can add more info.

There are Bull Sharks showing up around Playa Del Carmen, about an hour or so South of Cancun. (Cozumel is across the way) There has been more sightings

So nowhere that "almost" guarantees them?

Oh well...

I've heard Beqa Lagoon in Fiji is very good for Bull Sharks.

I'll second that!

If anywhere is "guaranteed", then it must be Beqa.

Adam

I'll second that!

 

If anywhere is "guaranteed", then it must be Beqa.

 

Adam

Cool, thanks to you two guys above,

just got back from Beqa lagoon - did 2 days (2 x 2 dives) and had over 40 Bulls on each of the dives , had a tiger shark come in on the 2nd dive of the 1st day as well - apart from the Bulls there are 8 other species of sharks around - I saw silver-tips, lemons(heavily preggo) black- tips , white- tips , Grey Nurse (sand tigers (again preggo) -all in all a very cool dive as they place you right in the action if you have a camera - I smelt like fish blood and guts for hrs after the dives :D

Was diving Beqa Lagoon, Fiji just a week ago....you WILL SEE BULLS, AND A LOT OF THEM. Very big, stout, 8-12 foot bull sharks will be waiting for you....almost a guarantee. I highly recommend Aqua Trek adjacent to THE PEARL resort. Branden the manager is a very pleasant bloke. The staff is also very pleasant and also do a good job keeping the bulls off of your dome! You will also see sickle tail lemons, tawny nurses, most of the reef variations, and possible a tiger shark!

You can always try a JASA trip where bulls come as close as you want...or more!

AMW and bax737

Thanks, sounds really good.

Will suss it out.

cheers.

You can always try a JASA trip where bulls come as close as you want...or more!

 

What is a JASA trip?

Bahamas???

What is a JASA trip?

Bahamas???

Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures

http://www.scuba-adventures.com/index.php

Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures

http://www.scuba-adventures.com/index.php

I must have missed the Bull Sharks Steve...plenty of Reef, Lemon, and Tiger.

I must have missed the Bull Sharks Steve...plenty of Reef, Lemon, and Tiger.

I would agree from my experience. Not to say that one will not see Bulls on one of Jim's trips, but they are not consistent and predictable for one location, as I think the original post was implying. I've been on 3 JASA trips and not seen a Bull on any of these trips.

Hmm.

I have been on both. I liked the operation at Beqa (Brandon) for the sharks, but the small fish, snappers, and trevally ruined almost every shot. Just too many damn fish in the way!

The bull sharks were common at Jacks Jungle - where Marcus was bitten. I don't know if JASA goes there anymore but it's worth asking. They are also common at Walkers but the conditions aren't very good there IMO.

Cheers

James

Maybe is the time of the year? I have only been once on a JASA trip but bulls seemed to be always where they supposed to be, and in high numbers (more than 10-15 circling around) and with tigers in the mix...

Hmm.

 

I have been on both. I liked the operation at Beqa (Brandon) for the sharks, but the small fish, snappers, and trevally ruined almost every shot. Just too many damn fish in the way!

So true, there are MEGA numbers of small fish that get in the way of the perfect shot....especially these black and white striped damsels that show up as HOT SPOTS in the image just when you think you are getting the money shot!!!

I've done both Beqa and a trip with Jim. I don't even see how you can compare the two for photo opportunities. The Beqa dive is the old school shark dive, line up on the reef along a cable, shoulder to shoulder and watch the sharks come in. Occasionally one will slip in from behind and give you a chance at a clear shot, but normally there is such a huge column of bubbles coming up from the excited divers that you have expect the sharks to drop a few feet when they swim through the air column. I've only done it a couple of times and it may be possible to setup a special photo dive, don't know. On the other hand when you go out with Jim, he's going to take you down to the reef and setup you up individually in your own spot. (As long as you keep your head on a swivel) Maybe three or four other divers spread out on the site. The whole trip is like this with multiple opportunites for great images spread out over multiple days. As Mike mentioned we didn't see Bulls on our last trip but I'll bet if you ask Jim he can put you on them. At Beqa the Tiger Scarface shows up one or two days a month, On our Shear Water trip there were too many of those beautiful animals to count.

I don't want to spook folks off the Beqa dive, they are doing a great job out there protecting the area (one reason there are so many fish) and it's a great boon to tourism in the area. The Fijians who run the dive are super. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. But if I want the opportunity to get some great shark images I'm heading to the Bahamas with Mr. Abernethy.

Cheers,

Steve

Thanks to everyone for the information.

Not sure, prob the JASA trip first.

cheers

I don't want to give the wrong impression from my last post. I heartily agree with Steve et all about Jim's trips being incomparable when it comes to getting pictures of sharks. I was simply responding to the title of this post, specifically about seeing Bull Sharks. I went through this quest myself as after three trips with Jim I still did not have any images of a Bullshark, having only seen them on other trips such as the Dry Tortugas and West Palm Beach in the distance. I researched Walker's Key as I wanted to keep things in the Caribbean, but Walker's Key is now closed, apparently for sale, unless of course you go there on a boat.

I also strongly recommend you go with JASA, but I would recommend that you speak with them first about the specific trip you are planning, letting them know that you specifically are interested in seeing bulls. For example their Tigers and Dolphins trips in the summer are probably less likely to see bulls, than their Hammerhead trips in the Winter. Of course one can see a bull on any trip or any dive for that matter, you just may want to specifically try target the trip to increase the likelihood of an encounter(s).

Walkers is probably better done from a local boat hire as u do it for an entire week. It's shallower and when they start feeding, it's difficult to get single shots of bulls. A night dive with the bulls is probably the most "interesting" dive there. That's if u want to concentrate on bulls.

Beqa bulls are the fattest compared to the ones I've seen from S africa,Moz n bahamas. I don't know if u want shots of bulls or just to see them. Ask the operators (esp @ walkers) for accurate info. Too often people with only a few data points can condemn a place or raise it up to mythical proportions. I had a great 8 days with many bulls. But this was years ago.

By asking several operators, u can get a better picture than just taking the word of 1 operator which may not be up to date or just doesn't want to go for other reasons.