I have spent a lot of time in the water growing up surfing and swimming in the ocean. No matter where there is always that slight thought in the back of my mind that there is a man in a gray suit swimming around somewhere near by. It is just a reality as a surfer you face and know is there, but need to set it aside to enjoy your time out in the water. I haven’t had many close encounters or sights until I went cage diving with Great White Sharks in South Africa. That gave me a whole new appreciation and respect for sharks. While in Hawaii on a work trip I had some family here at the same time on vacation and my uncle and cousin asked if I wanted to go swim uncaged with some sharks. I didn’t hesitate at all in accepting the invite and before I knew it I was in the water 5ft away from sharks with nothing in between us but a camera. The whole experience was a lot less frightening then one would imagine. It is very quite underwater and everything seemed to be moving slow and calm. These creatures didn’t have the intention of harming us and were just curious to what we were doing in their yard. This experience was incredible and I am very stoked to have done it. Still…every time I am go surfing, I am sure I will get a little jumpy being the only one floating around…Here is a little video I put together from the swim.