Hollywood’s Halle Berry in Simon’s Town

Halle Berry and co-star Olivier Martinez are filming their new movie “Dark Tide” in Simon’s Town on the Cape Point Route. It’s not everyday that Hollywood hangs out in the naval town and residents have been trying to catch glimpses of the stars between shooting scenes for the movie.

‘Dark Tide’ is directed by John Stockwell and is an action thriller that is due to be released in 2011. In the film, the many-time-voted-sexiest star Halle Berry plays the role of a diving instructor called Sara, who survives a near-fatal shark attack and faces the difficult decision of getting back into the water. Halle Berry will be getting into a shark cage near Seal Island in False Bay.

This is a perfect shooting spot for the movie as Seal Island is well renowned for the breaching great white sharks that concentrate near Seal Island during the South African winter which is also breeding season for the great white sharks. Visitors to Cape Town can go great white shark cage viewing and/or diving from Simon’s Town.

‘Dark Tide’ movie synopsis:
Sara (Halle Berry) is a modern-day adventurer, deeply drawn to close encounters with the magnificent White Sharks who rule the primal predator shore of isolated Guadalupe island. When her husband chooses ambition over his wife's safety in a split second encounter with the jaws of death, her marriage nearly breaks apart. A year later, a monsoon season voyage back to the same island becomes an escalating series of terrifying underwater confrontations and gut-wrenching emotional challenges. Testing her courage in the face of nature's ultimate terror, she shows herself as tough as the men she is attracted to; and perhaps bravest of all Sara endures and changes the terms of the contest with mankind's most feared underwater predator.

The movie has caused some controversy however and Alison Kock, a shark conservationist from Save our Seas Foundation in Kalk Bay is reported to have said, “The first script that we got sounded very much like it had a thriller aspect to it and a personal kind of aspect to it as well. But fighting off a shark, or surviving a shark attack - we couldn't see the positive side of that, as much as we tried to. After reading the script we decided it was not something we would like to put our names to. Obviously our mandate is to try to change people's perceptions of sharks, and the situation in Cape Town is quite sensitive.”

The Filmmakers do have a permit from Marine and Coastal Management and scenes are being shot in Simon’s Town harbour and a local team of marine professionals have been hired to provide support during filming. Local stunt co-ordinators have also been contracted.
For the movie, a tent town of caravans and marquees has been set up in the parking lot of Simon’s Town’s Seaforth Beach. The area is popular for its natural bays which are ideal for swimming. It is also situated next to Boulders Beach - one of the only places where people can swim alongside African penguins and a major tourist attraction on the Cape Point Route.
For shark cage diving bookings please contact Cape Point Route on 021 782 9356 or email: info@capepointroute.co.za

Cape Point Route offers a wide range of Accommodation, Activities,
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CAPE PENINSULA, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

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