Diving with Hammerhead Sharks off Green Island, Taiwan
The diving thrill of a lifetime!
From January to March every year, schools of hammerhead sharks are found off
the southern tip of Taiwan's Green Island. It is by all accounts one of the most
exhilarating dives one can ever participate in, and this shark dive claims adventurous
diver lives nearly every year. Definitely an advanced dive, given the depth of
the dive (30-37m); the fact the hammers prefer strong current (hold onto your
face mask!); the waves on the surface push divers under the boat close to the
propellers; the waves cause the boat ladders to smash down onto divers upon exit
and the fact most divers who see so many large sharks at depth tend to use their
air less conservatively than normal, making safe ascents and decompression times
more challenging. The min qualification level is Advance + 50 Adavance logged dives . Read last paragraph below please of a first hand account of this dive.
The hammerheads are most likely smooth hammerheads, Sphyrna zygaena, with an
olive-grey upper body color and great bulging white bellies. They grow to 13 feet
and are 500 - 800 pounds, the females are larger specimens than the males by up
to 80cm. The hammers travel from the Philippines to Japan and hang out in and
around Green Island as a rest stop for these few precious months.
 You want the diving
thrill of your life? This is the one. The Hammerhead dive at Green Island.
For those 30 minutes underwater, the only thing you'll be thinking of is trying
not to gulp big mouthfuls of air (conserve it!) whilst looking at beasts that
have been around thousands of years longer than humans have.
The Hammerhead Shark Signal:
 The most
exhilarating part of the dive? When Tiger points into the distance and gives the
hammerhead signal (move your fists poised at each ear back and forth like you're
turning the throttle of a motorbike). All the divers go, "Huh, I don't see
no hammerheads!" And then voila! They come into view from the blue expanse,
one, two, ten, fifty, a hundred. Shocking when the big females break off from
swimming against the current and veer towards the dive group, stopping but 20
feet away - MAGNIFICENT animals, bulging white bellies reflecting light as they
dance against the current - so powerful, so effortless as they swim against the
current that threatens to sweep us divers off the coral bottom we are hooked on
to.
If you have any questions or need to know more information about our scuba
diving vacations, Green Island, accomodation, or anything else you need to plan
your trip, don't hesitate to contact us.
Here is an honest reply from one of our affiliated dive centers to a diver about the hammerhead dive:
" Hi Drew
I have no doubt that you are qualified to do this dive. however because of your schedule which is shortly after The Chinese New Year most dive shops will not be open during your scheduled time. The few that are open will not do this dive and the one that does it will only go if the conditions are right and there are enough divers on the boat. Its hard to get enough people during your scheduled time. I can say from experience for this dive, out of the 3000 or so dives I have done I have only did this dive 5 times, out the five times I only saw the sharks twice. I have planned another 5 or so dives for the hammerheads but they were cancelled due to bad conditions which happens alot. Its a rough boat ride, jumping in the water negative buoyancy, swim as fast as you can down to 30 meters, then crawling along the bottom to about 35 meters and looking up, now I don't know anybody who can last longer with air than I can and for me it's only a 15 minute dive from time in to time out. In my opion there are better places in the world to see hammerheads with better condtions
Of course this is all just my opion but I've been to Green Island alot and enjoy the other dive sites that It has to offer
Here is the name of one person that does alot of Green Island Tours you can contact him by going to this address His name is Eddie, I suggest that you look at his website first before you e-mail him
Hope everything works out for you and if I can help with any diving in the Kenting area, which by the way has some nice diving please feel free to contact me."
John
Please also note the following
conditions to ensure a safe diving trip for all our customers:
1.Asthma. Please be aware that we do not accept divers with asthma
if you have had an attack in the last 5 years. If you had an attack
between 5-10 years ago, we will ask to see the results of a Spirometric
test (lung function test) dated not older than 3 months.
2.Diabetes. Unfortunately we do not accept divers with this condition,
as our staff are not medically qualified to a level to deal with
any medical problems that may arise.
3.Thyroid Disease. Divers with thyroid disease or having no thyroid
gland should bring a medical statement dated within the past 3 months
proving that their cardiovascular system has been critically assessed.
4.We also can not accept divers with Hypertension (high blood pressure)
or divers using anti-depressants (e.g. Prozac).
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