Its hands are its teeth. Hence, I suppose the misunderstanding. Kim, with her background in marine research, sought to bring the myth to the surface and in so doing pioneered another, characteristically South African, extreme sport. Hermanus, the whale-watchers Mecca, an hour and a half south of Cape Town, hugs one side of Walker Bay, Gansbaai the other. The sleepy shores and somnolent mountains of this old fishing village give little away about the nature of its real attraction, the heart-attack inducing pleasures of diving with the Great White Shark.
Dyer Island lies five nautical miles off the coast.
Named, somewhat intriguingly, for an American guano collector named Samson Dyer, this spattered lump of rock is separated from its smaller twin, Geyser Island, by Shark Alley. And the intrepid come in search of adrenaline. Diving gear is provided, as is a hearty on-board breakfast and, once appetites have been aroused, lunch. Copyright 1999 Laurianne Claase. All rights reserved.