Hiya Squinty!!!
Welcome to Cape Town!!!!
Don't worry, sharks scare me too!!! Any spearo who says he's not afraid of sharks is a LIAR or extremely stupid!!!
False Bay is infested with GWS and diving in certain area's, you run a great risk of meeting one of them. The GWS of Struisbaai are far more placid, as opposed to False Bays GWS that simply want to chomp you!!
Shore diving in False Bay isn't generally advisable. The fish are small (less than 2kg's), unless you're hunting yellowtail at the Point, in which case you're looking at fish in the 4-10kg class (if you're lucky!!), but that entails you swimming at times more than a kilometer from shore!! Definitely NOT recommended.
Diving on the West Coast is FAR safer. Colder water too!!! Unfortunatly, once again, only small fish (under 2kg's).
For any decent spearfishing in the Cape Town area, a boat is a MUST. Before i speared off boats, we used to make weekly trips to places like Arniston, Quion Point (stay IN THE KELP!!!), Betty's BAy/Kleinmond area, etc. Here shore diving is easier, with bigger fish available and less a chance of bumping into a large GWS.
Bottom line is: sharks are everywhere, except maybe in bath-tubs!!
ALWAYS dive with a buddy. Never dive in dirty water. Never dive close to seal islands/colonies. Never use a body stringer. Maybe think of getting a shark shield. (selling mine at the moment!!
)
Hope that helps!!
Regards
miles
