Tiger Beach - undoubtedly the best underwater beach in the world.

Beach-bumming around where I feel completely relaxed...
Photograph: Paul Spielvogel
Click to enlarge

A suntan you won't get there. Instead, you can expect lots of incredible tiger shark action hardly matched anywhere else in the world.

The other destinations for tiger sharks are Aliwal Shoal in South Africa, and Beqa Lagoon in the Fiji Islands.

All these places have their celebrities: "Emma" (Tiger Beach), "Ella" (Aliwal Shoal), and spectacular "Scarface" (Beqa Lagoon), the largest of 'em all, measuring some 5,5 meters.

"Emma" - as you can see revered by all who meet her.
Photograph: Wolfgang Leander
Click to enlarge

These sharks are all dignified and very self-assured ladies - I was privileged to have met "Ella" and "Emma", and I hope to be able to get to know "Scarface" one day...

My friend Mike Neumann of Beqa Adventure Divers*) filming mamma "Scarface"
Photograph: Tim Rock
Click to enlarge

For now, I am looking forward to a well deserved Tiger Beach vacation from the rigors of retirement... :-)

Those who know me will understand that I can hardly wait to board Captain Scott Smith's Dolphin Dream on November 6 for three back-to-back trips to "my" underwater beach!!!


*) Beqa Adventure Divers - click here to see who they are; also more images of "Scarface".

I will be back - will she?......

She is "Ella"
Photo: Wolfgang Leander
Click on image

Nobody really knows how many tiger sharks have been netted in Scottburgh*) during the last two years or so; all I have heard is that the numbers of the Aliwal Shoal tigers have gone down considerably.

There were some fantastic characters among the tiger girls of Aliwal Shoal: "Karin", aka "Dartborad", and "Mathilda", both camera lovers, "Sabine", "Snowflake", not quite grown-up, and much to my and others' chagrin killed in the Scottburgh nets, and, my favorite, "Ella", quite large (4 + meters), elegant as befits an elderly lady, and most gentle. In fact, I have never encountered a more gentle tiger shark - and mind you, I was also able to closely befriend serene "Emma", the legendary Tiger Beach resident, so I guess I can tell.

I will be travelling to South Africa in less than a week, and am, as you can imagine, very excited about meeting good friends: Jifa (= Jean-Francois Avenier) and "Machin", his new husky, the Addisons, Fiona Ayerst, Hanli Prinsloo, Fred Buyle, William Winram, Julie Anderson, Olivia Jones, Lesley Rochat - not to mention the striped ladies, including "Ella", as I very much hope.


*) The shark nets have to be removed, in South Africa and the rest of the world. Read why.