Points Saved Me Thousands
The best thing about cage diving with great white sharks, was seeing great white sharks up close and personal. Diving with sea lions on the way back from cage diving was also really cool. But one of the most underrated parts of my trip was the fact that I paid for so much of it with points. On my trip to Fiji and Australia, I used points for:
– First and Business class flights to Fiji
– Economy flights within Fiji
– Scuba diving on the pristine Namena Reserve
– Hotel stays in Fiji
– Business class flights to Australia
– Economy flights within Australia
– Hotels in Australia
– Great white shark cage diving
– Touring the Great Ocean Road in Australia
– Taxi rides, flight taxes, and other misc. fees
Using points for the great white shark cage diving alone saved me $3,000. The points that I used for the trip were Chase Ultimate Rewards, Alaska miles, Barclay Arrival, Club Carlson and Hyatt points. I used the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the 1.5 cpp redemption for my domestic flights in Fiji, otherwise my redemptions were straight forward. Factor in all of the flights and hotels, and I probably saved $15,000-$20,000. The only costs that I was really left with were food and souvenirs, but my beer expense Down Under was substantial!
Here’s a few more photos from the cage diving.
Australia is the only place in the world where you can cage diving 70 feet under the ocean’s surface. The downside: fish everywhere because they can smell the fish bait inside the cage.
Early on Day 2 – First sighting of a great white in the distance
He’s close
The shark hid behind the fish, started off below the cage on then swooped up in front of the cage and over the top of us
Not a small boy
Might be a female, notice the girth on this shark
The difference in color in this photo is because there was no filter used at 65 feet under water. Typically a pink or maroon filter is best for deeper water to give better color quality to the photos. I forgot the filter this dive
That’s why we’re in the cage
I’ve now cage dived with great white sharks in South Africa and Australia. I’m looking into the crystal clear waters of Mexico for some similar dives in the near future.