Freediving with sharks Part II – Tiger Beach, Bamahas

We flew from North Eleuthera to Fort Lauderdale and took a Taxi to West Palm Beach. After one week with an amazing group of freedivers, only 3 of us made it to Tiger Beach. We were welcomed aboard the MS Dolphin Dream by a fantastic crew.

After an almost sleepless first night on the boat we came back to the Bahamas. We had our first diving session after lunch. There were many Lemon- & Reef sharks around the boat. All of them were bigger than the Reef Sharks we had in our first week in Eleuthera.

There were 3 Tiger sharks down at the ground. Diving down and swimming next to a massive Tiger shark is very impressive. They look at you with their big eyes and gently passing by.

“Don’t worry about the ones you see. Worry about the ones you don’t see” they said.

After some good dives I felt pretty comfortable until suddenly a tiger came up to the surface straight to my face. I felt like I wasn’t able to move. My mind was empty and I was scared as hell at the same time. Hard to explain what I was feeling. Somehow I managed to push the shark away. But she turned her head around again. Once again I pushed her and she finally swam away.

Nothing happened, no bite, no aggressive behavior. She just wanted to check me out but still I was scared.

I have been thinking about this for three weeks now. What happened? Why did this encounter scare me so much? A few minutes before I had dived next to such a shark without this fear. It is probably related to my nightmares from the past.

Maybe this moment also reminded me of a similar situation with a dog that bit me. I can’t say exactly what it was. The important thing is that it was not a dangerous situation.

The following two days visibility really sucked and a strong current made it hard to hold on to the safety rope.

I couldn’t manage to relax, the scary moment from day 1 came back to my mind over and over again. Because of that I didn’t dive down.

After this session Rhett, one of the scuba divers, asked me if I would like to join him on the next scuba session. He wanted to help me and would support me. But I couldn’t accept the offer. I felt that it was too dangerous without proper scuba experience. I also didn’t want him to have to look after me and therefore not be able to concentrate on taking pictures.

So…I missed this chance. And yes, I do regret it.

“You only regret the chances you didn’t take”

Day four started with a déja-vu. After five minutes in the water a tiger came up straight to me. Thanks to my buddy Ingo who realized what was going on. He quickly went in front of me but he didn’t even have to push her away. When he straightened up vertically, she was already turning away. Once again, no aggressive behavior just curiosity.

Because of the really strong current it was hard work to grab the safety line and hold on to it.

During the second session of the day I finally felt comfortable again in the water. Unfortunately the current was still ripping, no diving for me. Same on the last day.

It was an amazing and intense week aboard the Dolphin Dream. So many impressive moments, great people, good food and beautiful creatures in the water. I was on the ship& sea for a week for the first time and it was magical. Falling asleep and waking up to the waves, 24/7 sea view. Wow! I already miss it, it was balm for my soul and I enjoyed every single moment.

A huge Thank You to everyone who joined me on this journey.

Crew @MS Dolphin Dream: Finch (Captain), Josh (Chef), Pat, David, Ryan

Scuba Divers: Erin, Rhett, Deano, Mark, Steve

Free Divers: Chris, Ingo, Colin, Petra

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