Great White Sharks, Isla de Guadalupe, aboard the Solmar V
w/Eric Cheng and Norbert Wu

Special 7-day Expedition w/cinema cage
August 18-25, 2006
UPDATE APR 2006 - Trip has booked full!

Photograph great white sharks with Eric Cheng and Norbert Wu aboard the Solmar V in the clear, blue waters off of Guadalupe Island, Mexico!

view of larger cages and great white shark, from submersible cage

200 miles southwest of San Diego, Isla de Guadalupe is rapidly becoming regarded as the world's best great white shark destination. Water temperatures average from 65°F to 70°F, and visibility is often more than 100'. I've been to Guadalupe twice, and both times, we had white sharks around the boat within 30 minutes of arriving. It is not uncommon to see a dozen or more individuals during the course of 5 days of diving.

the solmar v

We'll be aboard the Solmar V, a 112' luxury vessel that comfortably holds 22 divers when full. The staterooms are air-conditioned and have private heads and showers. We cap the trip at a maximum of 16 divers, so we will have plenty of space on board.

On my personal website, I have posted two travel journals of past trips to Guadalupe. Please check them out to see what to expect: [trip 1] [trip 2]

But remember -- our 2006 trip is aboard the Solmar V. The travel journals show trips aboard the Horizon and the Searcher, both liveaboard vessels that will get you close to sharks -- but without the comfort of the Solmar V.

great white shark, guadalupe. taken from surface cage.

The Wetpixel 2006 trip is different than normal Guadalupe white shark charters for several reasons:

1. We are on the Solmar V for SEVEN days, including travel time from Ensenada, Mexico. This gives you five full days in the water. Normal white shark trips are only 5 days long, which only gives you three days in the water.
    
2. 
   submersible cage. ours will be bigger.
   The Solmar V departs from Ensenada, Mexico. You will fly into San Diego, stay overnight, and take a short bus ride across the border in the morning. Leaving from Ensenada shaves off many hours of transit time aboard the boat (normally, a 24-hour steam from San Diego). Both hotel fare and bus ride are included in the price.
    
3. Currently, there are no other boats scheduled to be in Guadalupe during August of 2006. Guadalupe is getting crowded, with up to 6 dive boats there at a time from September through the end of November. The reason no other boats go to Guadalupe in August is that most boats in the area booked for tuna fishing season and are not available for white shark charters until September. Don't worry -- it's not too soon; white sharks are known to be in Guadalupe in large numbers in August.
    
4. We are bringing along a 2-person "cinema cage" in place of the 1-man submersible cage normally on the boat. The cinema cage, which has two, large 4' x 8' windows, will be lowered down to 20' below the surface. This will free up space in the larger, 4-person, surface cages. A normal rotation will have two surface cages, each with three divers in it, plus the cinema cage, which will house two divers.
    
5. Norbert Wu, a well-known underwater photographer and Mac expert, and Eric Cheng, a computer guy and digital photography expert, will be on board to answer questions and give informal seminars in the evenings.

The price will be between $4,000 and $4,100. For more information, please .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Remember to join the Wetpixel mailing list to receive monthly/bi-monthly updates on trips, recently posted articles, etc.