Individual shoals can reach 9 to 12 miles long and over 2 miles wide and nearly 130 feet deep! At times super-pods of up to 6,000 common dolphins may follow a shoal to feed. They work together to “corner” the sardines and bring them to the surface, forming giant bait-balls.

Gannets rain down while copper sharks, seals and even whales join the frenzy, swallowing as many sardines as they can. With such a vast school of fish migrating, this phenomenon builds over a period of many weeks and predators congregate expecting to fill their bellies.

Based in Port St John's on the Wild Coast your accommodation is tucked just inside the river mouth, which leads to the open ocean, allowing easy access to the open ocean for your five days of locating the bait-balls and chasing the shoals.

The sardine run is a natural phenomenon and as with all wildlife encounters, nothing can be guaranteed, we work with the most experienced operators to ensure that when the sardines run, you are there to join them.