Shark Cage Diving

Located in Port Lincoln, South Australia.  

Port Lincoln is the only place you can cage dive with Great White Sharks in Australia.

More people choose to cage dive with us than any other Shark Cage Diving operator in Australia!

Calypso Star Charters is fully licensed by the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. 

We are privileged to be the only one-day shark cage diving operator who is permitted to use natural fish berley to attract the Great White Sharks to our boat at the Neptune Islands Marine Park. Being permitted to berley provides you with the best possible chance of a shark sightings and productive interaction close to our vessel and cage resulting in a memorable encounter and wonderful photographic opportunities. 

Along with this license, we are proud to be Advanced Eco Certified and our Captains’ are Eco Certified Guides, Carbon Neutral and a Climate Action Leader.  Receiving this certification provides us with the recognition that we conduct our operations in a way that are environmentally conscious and sustainable whilst also providing an educational component.

NO diver qualification or previous experience required!

• Awarded South Australia’s Best Adventure Tour & Tourist Attraction in 2016
• Ranked Number 1 on Trip Advisor 
• NO minimum passenger numbers
• Highest shark sighting success rate amongst the one day operators in Port Lincoln

Click HERE for a pdf version of our brochure

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Shark Sightings

We are the only operator in Australia that publicises current and historic sightings!

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR HISTORICAL DAY BY DAY SIGHTINGS SINCE JANUARY 1st 2011. 

Use this to help you decide on the best time to come. As we are dealing with a nomadic creature in its natural environment, we cannot suggest when would be the best time.  We provide this information to be open and honest with all our guests to help you make an informed decision!

Our average daily success rate since January 1st 2011 is 85%

Recent Great White Shark Sightings

NON ACTIVITY DAYS - Non Activity Days were imposed by the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources in 2013 as a recommendation by the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation). They are a strategy to minimise any potential impact on shark behaviour, site visitation pattern and changes to temporary residency period of sharks to Neptune Islands. 4 days per fortnight are designated as Non Activity Days and all one day operators adhere to the same schedule.

Swim with Sea Lions

One of the most interactive wildlife tours you can do! 

Come on board our Advanced Eco Certified tour and see why the Australian Sealions are nick named the ‘puppies of the sea’

A half-day tour to either the pristine Hopkins, Blythe, Langton or Grindal Islands meet the endangered Australian Sealions.  We are very privileged to have the opportunity to swim with these gorgeous animals in their natural environment.

During the months of September to May we operate limited weekly departures so we minimise the impact to their colonies. Learn More >

Click here for a pdf version of our brochure

Shark & Sea Lion Combo

Started in November 2016!

The first tour in Australia where you can now Swim with the Australian Sealions at either Hopkins or Grindal Island and then shark cage dive with the magnificent Great White Sharks at Neptune Island Marine Park all in the same day saving you both time and money! 

This tour has limited departures throughout the year.  Please check our calendar for available dates.

Departing Port Lincoln enjoy a scenic cruise to a remote island for a lunch stop before making your way to either Hopkins or Grindal Islands.  Enjoy swimming with the adorable endangered Australian Sealions.  From here we make our way to Neptune Island Marine Park to continue the aquatic adventure and cage dive with Great White Sharks! Shark cage diving time is the same as that of our day tour.

11.00am tour includes a fully cooked hot dinner at sea!  After diving is completed the bar opens for a sunset/twilight cruise back to Port Lincoln!

During some months this tour also boards at 6.30am.  On this trip the tour maybe run in reverse and breakfast is served instead of dinner.  Length of the tour is approximately 10-12 hours.

Click here for a pdf version of our brochure

Environment & Sustainability -

Advanced Eco Tourism, Shark Research & Carbon Neutral

• In 2011 we achieved accreditation through Eco Tourism Australia for our Shark Cage Diving and Swim with the Sealions tours accreditation keeping us at the forefront of sustainable tourism in Australia.
• We are the largest and only employers of Eco Certified Guides in the Shark Cage Diving industry in Australia with our Skippers being Eco Certified Guides. 
• Advanced Eco Certification demonstrates our commitment to tourism excellence with strong interpretation values and commitment to nature conservation while helping local communities. This coupled with our long association with the CSIRO display our commitment to shark preservation and research. Our commitment to the CSIRO research and SSEG has seen us making financial contributions and also ‘on the ground’ support.
• Calypso Star Charters has undertaken to become Carbon Neutral operation. We have engaged the Services of Canopy (Greening Australia) to audit our fossil fuel usage and CO2 emissions and offset 100% of our CO2 emissions.
• Climate Action Leader - We incorporate strategic climate change responses across all relevant levels of business planning and operations. We measure and audit our carbon footprint via a creditable system and have undertaken an advanced level of adaptation, emissions reduction and offsetting.
• Flinders University's Southern Shark Ecology Group (SSEG) was awarded a Monitoring and Research contract by DEWNR for 3 years from July 2016. This research monitors the visitation patterns and temporary residency period of the sharks that we see. Information is used in the dynamic management of the Shark Cage Diving Industry to guide decisions regarding Non Activity Days. In addition to the contracted research, Flinders University excels in White Shark research and collaborates with research institutions around the world. Calypso Star Charters is a proud supporter of Dr Charlie Huveneers and his team. Charlie is a frequent guest on board our charters, tagging sharks and deploying or retrieving monitoring equipment. We provide shark images that are used in a growing ID catalogue. The high frequency of our charters assists in gaining a better understanding of the visitation patterns as some sharks only visit for a day or two each year. We are proud to pass on your donations to Flinders University to assist funding White Shark research outside of the monitoring program. READ MORE 

About Calypso Star Charters

Calypso Star Charters was founded in 1990 by Rolf Czabayski, an avid game fisherman who operated fishing charters for Great White Sharks prior to their protection in 1997. Over time the emphasis of his charters changed to live aboard Shark Cage Diving. 

During the late 1990s, the popularity of his 3-4 day cage diving tours led to the launch of MV Calypso Star, a purpose built vessel for Shark Cage Diving allowing him to bring people face to face with the sharks in their natural habitat.

Andrew Wright joined Calypso Star Charters in November 2002 as Rolf’s only employee.  Andrew began as a deck hand and over the next 4 years achieved engineering and skipper qualifications allowing him to Captain MV Calypso Star.

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Why book direct with Calypso Star Charters?

• We are available 24 hours a day & bookings can be me made direct online or phone +61 8 8682 3939
• Live availability & instant confirmation. Secure your booking immediately
• Best price available -  Nowhere else online you will find a better price
• Flexibility - Booking direct allows you to reschedule or postpone up to 48 hours before with no extra cost
• Lowest cancellation fee -  If for any unforeseen circumstances you do need to cancel, our cancellation fee will be the lowest
• Secure and safe transition - We use the industry best standard, your details are safe with us.  The option to direct debit is also available

We are Shark Cage Diving & Swimming with the Sea lion experts we do not sell any other tours and have expert knowledge of the area, and the wildlife.  You can ask us any question!

Whilst we are happy for you to use your preferred travel arranger to book with us, but please if you do make sure you ask for us directly and check your paperwork to make sure you have been booked on with us to avoid any disappointment.
 

Travel, stay and play

We are located in Port Lincoln, South Australia on Southern Eyre Peninsula. Port Lincoln is set on the shores of Boston Bay and is a 640km drive or 40 minute flight from Adelaide and is one of only 5 locations worldwide and the only place in Australia where cage diving with Great White Sharks is available.

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