Chiba
Tateyama, Chiba - Sharknado
The Site
The “Shark City” dive site is located in Chiba, near Tateyama. As the name suggests, the site is known for huge schools of Nurse sharks (Dochisame) and a variety of rays. There are also some large Bumphead Wrasse and Nassau Groupers. The site is a short, 5-10 minute boat ride out to the site. The site is at the bottom of a set of lines from buoys, and there is essentially no navigation required. There is a sandy bottom with a few rocky outcrops and cement blocks. Max depth is 20-23 meters.
The Sharks and Rays
Originally, the fishermen in the area began feeding the sharks and rays in an area that kept them out of their nets, thus protecting both the nets and the sharks/rays. Recently, the fishermen reached an agreement with our dive shop to take over feeding the sharks in return for exclusive dive rights to the feeding area. Though I’m not a personal fan of shark feeding, in this case it seems to protect the sharks from harm. The result can be a hundred or more sharks and rays.
Equipment
The dive site has some equipment (as do we), but a bit limited in wetsuit availability.
Lunch
There’s a great lunch spot right across the street, right on the water.
Notes
Dive boat begins going out at 9 am, though we’d also have the option of starting later depending on logistics. Two dives are easy on timing, three dives are possible, though divers can run into issues with NDL time.
