A group of divers off the coast of Bali found themselves face-to-face with a five-meter-long great white shark in an encounter that left them in “complete shock.”
The rare sighting occurred near Penida Island, where the group, led by Scuba Junkie Penida, was exploring the deep blue waters known for marine life such as sunfish, manta rays, and turtles.
Video footage captured by divemaster Fabian Clinton shows the lone predator initially swimming passively before suddenly turning toward the camera, briefly locking eyes with the divers 22 meters below the surface.
(Watch the video on the second slide below)
Clinton, a 31-year-old Swede, was the first to spot the shark, initially mistaking its dark silhouette for another large marine creature. Realizing what it was, he signaled to the others.
“My first thought was oh f***, sorry mum, I shouldn’t be here,” he later told Yahoo News.
Dutch diver Amber Doornekamp, who was nearby, described the moment as terrifying.
“The size of the shark was like nothing I’d ever seen before. It reminds you of how small people are,” she said.
A Face-Off Beneath the Waves
As the shark swam toward Clinton, time seemed to slow, he said.
Maintaining eye contact, he backed away while keeping his upper body upright—a move straight from his dive training.
He prepared to place a fin against the shark’s nose if needed. But just before he had to act, the shark veered away, leaving the group in awe.
Dive leader Reynold Kaheming, who had never seen a great white in the wild before, described the encounter as surreal.
“I recognized that this was the shark from the movie. I was pretty nervous as it got closer, but then it turned toward Fabian.”
As the shark swam off, excited screams echoed through the water. Once back on the boat, the divers were beaming, still processing what they had just witnessed.
Kaheming called it the “perfect dive,” while Doornekamp described the moment as “exciting” and nearly impossible to top.
A Rare and Vulnerable Giant
The shark, believed to be a pregnant female, bore scars indicating a long life in the wild.
Clinton’s footage, posted to his @foffo4 Instagram account, has since drawn thousands of views and comments from stunned ocean enthusiasts.
Great white shark sightings in the region are extremely rare. Globally listed as vulnerable to extinction, their numbers have plummeted due to overfishing, with shark and ray populations declining by 71 percent in the past 50 years.
For Clinton, the experience remains overwhelming.
“I’m still shaking as we’re talking about it,” he admitted two days after the dive. “I’ve always had respect for sharks, but this has to be the craziest experience of my career.”
