JAPAN EXPEDITION
Join us on a once in a lifetime experience to discover the mysterious underwater world of Japan !
Where?
Japan
When?
The expedition will take place from the June 30th until July 7th 2025 for 8 days of underwater adventures.
What?
Dive with massive schools of Scalloped Hammerhead sharks, hundreds of Banded Houndsharks, Asian Sheepshead wrasse and discover the mysterious and rich underwater life surrounding Japan.
How many people?
For the best experience, we keep our group small with a maximum of 8 people.
JAPAN
Japan isn’t the first place you’d think of when searching for scuba diving locations but it actually offers absolutely amazing dive sites !
In recent years, Japan became the number one location to reliably encounter massive schools of Scalloped Hammerhead sharks !
During summer months, these sharks gather around a small remote island where we’ll dive for 4 days straight to look for these amazing and critically endangered sharks.
But before that, the expedition will start at another location where we’ll be diving for the first 2 days to witness hundreds of Banded Houndsharks. With a bit of extra luck, we might even encounter the very rare Japanese Bullhead shark !
Throughout the expedition, we’ll have opportunities to see lots of other marine life like sea turtles, stingrays, different species of moray eels or the very odd looking Asian Sheepshead wrasse.
One thing is for sure, you’ll never see Japan the same way after this expedition !
WHAT WILL WE ENCOUNTER ?
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Scalloped Hammerhead sharks
The main goal of the expedition is to witness schooling Scalloped Hammerheads. Hundreds of these sharks gather in the Japanese waters making it the most reliable location to witness this amazing sight nowadays.
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Banded Houndsharks
During the expedition, you’ll get to dive with hundreds of Banded Houndsharks.
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Asian Sheepshead wrasse
We’ll also look for the weird looking Asain Sheepshead wrasse. Native to the Western Pacific, these massive fish can grow up to 1m. long !
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And a lot more !
We’ll get the opportunity to meet lots of amazing species in these rich waters like Stingrays, Moray Eels, Turtles or even the very rare Japanese Bullhead shark !
BANDED HOUNDSHARK
The Banded Houndshark (Triakis scyllium) is a small, bottom-dwelling shark found in the coastal waters of the northwest Pacific. They are easily recognizable thanks to their striking pattern of dark vertical bands along a grayish-brown body. This shark thrives in sandy or rocky seabeds and kelp forests. They typically grow to about 1 meter (3.3 feet) in length and feeds on small fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. During this expedition, you’ll be surrounded by hundreds of them !
JAPANESE BULLHEAD SHARK
During the first 2 days of diving, we’ll keep an eye out for the amazing Japanese Bullhead shark. The Japanese bullhead shark (Heterodontus japonicus) is a small, distinctive shark found in the temperate waters of the northwest Pacific. This shark looks absolutely amazing with its blunt head, ridges above the eyes, and patterned body of brown and light bands. We aren’t guaranteed to see them but with a bit of luck and with our guide’s experience, we’ll hopefully get to meet this unique and mysterious shark.
PHOTO PACKAGE
During the week, our team Deep Sea Guardians will be here and will capture everything !
After the expedition, all the guests will be given a full photo package that will include all the images captured by our team.
That way, even if you don’t have any fancy camera or if you don’t feel like shooting and just want to enjoy the dives, you’ll still be able to go home with the best memories ever !
WORKSHOP
On this expedition the interesting things won’t stop once we get out of the water.
During this expedition, film director and photographer Zimy Da Kid will give a photography and videography workshop that will help you improve your skills.
Workshop will include:
Filmmaking and photography basics
Underwater filmmaking and photography
Understanding light and composition
Social media strategies
On-field help, tips and tricks
Beside the theory course, Zimy will be here on all of the dives to help you create amazing visuals in action !
Please note that this isn’t mandatory and only for participants that are interested in photography and videography.
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REQUIREMENTS
You will need to have your Advanced scuba diving certification (2nd level) and a minimum of 50 logged dives. Feel free to contact us for more infos.
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TEMPERATURE
Air temperature will be warm as it’ll be summer in Japan. In the water, it might get chilly. We usually recommend a 5mm or 3mm open cell depending on how cold you get. Feel free to reach out for help.
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INSURANCE
A dive Insurance is recommended for this trip. We recommend DAN (find more infos here).
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GEAR
If you have your own scuba diving equipment, bring it with you. If needed, gear will be available at the diving center for extra fees.
PROGRAM
DAY 1 - June 30th 2025
We’ll all meet at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. From there, we’ll drive to our first diving location which is a couple hours away. We’ll settle down and get to rest a bit.
DAY 2 - July 1st 2025
It’ll be our first diving day. We’ll do 3 dives at the Banded Houndsharks location. We’ll get to see hundreds of these sharks but we’ll also look for the amazing Japanese Bullhead sharks, stingrays, moray eels, schools of fish and more.
DAY 3 - July 2nd 2025
On our 3rd day, we’ll do 2 more dives at this same location. Once done, we’ll start making our way to our second location of the expedition which will take a few hours of driving.
Day 4 to 7 - July 3rd to July 6th 2025
We’ll do 4 days of diving in this new location to mainly look for schools of Scalloped Hammerhead sharks. Beside that, we can also encounter other species like Oceanic Blacktip sharks, Silky sharks, Turtles and more.
On the first 2 days, we’ll do 3 dives a day and on the last 2 days we’ll do 2 dives a day.
DAY 8 - July 7th 2025
On our last day, we’ll drive back to Tokyo.
ACCOMODATION
WHY SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO GO ON AN EXPEDITION ?
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It might sound obvious since it’s the goal of the whole expedition but you’ll get to experience unique wildlife encounters !
It is very important to keep in mind that none of it must be taken for granted and that being able to see, dive and interact with such animals is something truly unique because most of the animals we’ll encounter are highly endangered of extinction because of the constant pressure of overfishing.
Some of the shark species we’ll encounter are even Critically Endangered so it is very important for us to always remain thankful to be able to witness such unique animals.
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By joining our expeditions, you’ll get to learn more about filmmaking and photography with our founder Zimy (@zimydakid) who’s been working for many years in the film industry !
He’ll share valuable insights on how to properly shoot both photos and videos for above and underwater including best settings, camera movements, etc…
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At the end of the week, we’ll give everyone a photo package that includes all the best images of the expedition ! That way, if you’re used to being behind the camera, you’ll also have beautiful pictures of yourself and if you don’t even have a camera, you’ll still head back home with tons of images to share !
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By joining us, you’re making sure you’ll spend the week with shark experts which not only means that you’ll be 100% safe but it also means that you’ll be able to learn more about human-shark interactions and how to safely dive and coexist with them !
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During the week, we’ll make a presentation to teach everyone more about sharks: the issues they’re facing, what makes them so important for the health of our oceans and our planet and what can be done to help protect them !
We’ll share an exclusive insight into our on-going shark conservation projects and the different people we work with !
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When you join our expeditions, you don’t just go on a diving trip, you directly support our efforts to help protect these endangered animals !
100% of the proceeds of all our expeditions is entirely used to fund our on-going shark conservation projects !
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Our expeditions aren’t only about the wildlife we’ll get to encounter, it’s also about the people we’ll share it with.
After a week of expedition, we can assure you that we’ll all feel like a little family with hundreds of stories to say and it’ll be hard to say good bye !
PRICES
What’s included ?
• DIVING
15 dives
• ACCOMMODATION
Shared room with single beds.
• WORKSHOP
Photography & videography lessons provided by Zimy Da Kid
• PHOTO PACKAGE
All photos and videos captured during the week by our team will be shared with everyone so everyone can go home with the best memories !
• TRANSPORTATION
Daily dive pick up / drop off between accommodation and dive center
Transfer from Tokyo Haneda Airport and back to Tokyo Haneda Airport
What’s not included ?
Diving equipment rental
First diving location = 4’400yen per person per day (BCD + regulator)
Second diving location = 5’500yen per person per day (BCD + regulator)
Food
International flights
Personal expenses
Tips
Total price – 3’650chf (swiss francs)
Conditions
A deposit of 1’500chf needs to be paid in order to book your spot.
The rest of the expedition price must be paid by April 30th 2025.
The expedition will happen with a minimum of 6 persons.
We want things to be fair for everyone. This is why in case of cancellation, we’ll fully refund the client if we have enough time to find someone else to take the spot.
If we don’t reach the minimum of 6 people, you will be fully refunded.