Interactions with marine megafauna, including shark-based tourism, has experienced exponential growth since the 1990’s bringing with it intense management and academic scrutiny. To date, much of the research into wildlife tourism has focused on potential negative biophysical impacts to species and habitat. However, the proponents of wildlife tourism suggest that conservation benefits, resulting from education and interpretation, may mitigate potential impacts. Despite these discussions, the social dimensions of marine-based tourism remain largely unexplored. Based on this gap, the current research applied a mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) approach to investigate the human dimensions of shark-based tourism using a case study of white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) cage-diving at the Neptune Islands, South Australia. This study investigated a number of features of the tourism activity including, participant’s beliefs and attitudes towards sharks, and on-tour education. Surveys gathered responses from a sample (n=86) of participants with responses revealing the decision to cage-dive with white sharks is driven by factors including education and the perceived naturalness of the experience. A second survey (n=655) was conducted to investigate participant satisfaction with on-board education content and to determine what (if any) specific information they hope to receive. While the majority of participants agreed the cage-dive tour was an educational experience, the results support the demand for additional information about the biology, habits and threats to white sharks. The potential for shark cage-dive tourism to facilitate and support shark conservation issues via education and interpretation initiatives are further discussed.