Despite the warmth, I was shaking like a leaf. I had just watched a Great White Shark rip a hundred pound tuna bait to pieces. Piet was now asking me to slide into a metal shark cage that floated just above the water and looked about as secure as a shopping trolley. I could even see the dark shadow of one shark slice through the water far below me. “To think I actually paid for this,” I thought, as I said a quick prayer and joined the sharks.

Ever since I’d seen the film Jaws, I’ve had a healthy fear of the Great White shark. In the days before my trip, I’d started to worry about what could go wrong with this latest adventure of mine. Nearly always I imagined I’d end up chewed in half, just like poor Quint in the film. I’d decided to go in search of the monster of the movie, and what better place to look than in South Africa.

The small fishing village of Gansbaai is only a two hour drive from Cape Town. Dyer and Geyser Islands, just off the coast, are home to a large colony of over fifty thousand seals and are thus a favourite feeding ground for the Great White shark. The deep channel between these two islands is known as Shark Alley and is acknowledged as one of the best places in the world to view the Great White. Boating companies run trips out to Shark Alley and shark cage diving has turned the small, sleepy village of Gansbaai into a mecca for thrill-seekers from all over the world.

Piet Smal of Shark Diving Tours has been running shark cage diving trips for years and has appeared in many documentaries featuring the Great White. For 1200 Rand (about 130 Euro), you can spend a day at sea with the sharks, both watching them tear tuna bait apart and also getting in a cage to see them up close in the water. No diving experience is necessary as you can simply use a snorkel and mask to view the sharks from within the cage.

Before setting out to sea that day, we all have an early breakfast of cereal, fruit and coffee in the Great White House restaurant. Afterwards, all passengers have to sign an unsettling legal waiver that read something to the effect of, "I will not press legal changes if I get an arm or leg bitten off..." Not what my nerves needed. We boarded the well-equipped cruiser with seagulls swirling above us and chugged out of the harbour in search of Jaws.

The boat sped over the choppy water until the crew found a good spot and dropped anchor. Piet cast fish and blood called chum into the water in order to attract the sharks. The Great White has an acute sense of smell and can detect blood in the water from over 5 kilometers away. It doesn't take long for the first of them to appear. A group of four started to circle the boat, the largest of them about 4 meters long and well over two tonnes in weight. Piet attached a rope to a large tuna head and threw it into the water. One shark circled the bait for about five minutes before it unleashed its attack. The Great White shark has several rows of over three thousand teeth and made good use of them all as it tore the tuna to pieces in seconds. We all swallowed hard as Piet pulled in what was left of the mangled fish. "Right,” Piet smiled, “time for you lot to get in the cage". It was my moment of truth.

With the flimsy-looking cage half floating in the water, Piet throws some chum around it, and beckons me to jump in. My knees weaken. “Don’t worry,” he shouts. “The shark may brush his nose against the cage but he’ll never attack it. They’re just curious.” Fear, bubbles and a thudding heart all jumped into the cage. My feet found the floor of the cage and I quickly pulled my toes carefully inside. My eyes adjusted just in time to see a Great White loom out of the shadows. The shark swam by me slowly, seeming to be completely oblivious of me. To see this mighty and ancient creature up close in the water was a truly amazing experience. It glided through the water with the absolute minimum of effort. It was magical, beautiful and about to become scary.

I headed to the surface to for air. Piet shouted at me to dive down again and look straight ahead. I dove down in time to see a huge shadow glide past me with the same effortless ease as before. It then turned slightly and headed straight for my cage. With jaws agape, a dead cold stare in its eyes and showing rows of its deadly teeth, its nose brushed against the cage. My face was about two feet from the mouth of a Great White. I think I nearly let my bladder go at that point. I burst to the surface like a cork with the rest of the boat gasping at what had just happened. By the time Piet had helped me back into the boat, I was smiling broadly. Despite my fear, I had been thrilled by my close encounter with the Great White and I wanted more. I got back in the cage twice more that day and continued to marvel at those amazing creatures of the deep.

As the tour was coming to an end and as we sped towards shore, I felt delighted to have finally met the Great White. It wasn’t the man-eater Jaws that had greeted me but one of the oldest creatures on earth and one of nature’s finest and most perfect creations. My fear of this shark was gone, replaced with respect. Still, I don’t think I’ll be swimming near Shark Alley in the near future. Just out of respect, you know.

John Dwyer is a freelance travel writer and is currently working on a book about his trip from Beijing to Delhi. Visit www.bearaman.com for more travelogues and photos. © John Dwyer, 2004 - Photos appear with permission courtesy of The White Shark Diving Company.