South Africa diving - overview?

[aquarat]

You'd be surprised; most Cape Town divers dive wetsuits , generally 7.5mm. But yes, I dived Aliwal in a drysuit but I was using a CCR haha . I've dived a drysuit in warmer conditions too... it's great .

Last summer there was a particular week where the weather in False Bay was really bad, but a Simons Town diving school had several anxious students doing courses, so they decided to give the Atlantic a go, in wetsuits (7.5mm suits, 2mm gloves). I joined them in a terrible bright red second-hand commercial-diving suit. The water was particularly cold that day. I felt very sorry for those students. They didn't last long.

 

[Umuntu]

You'd be surprised; most Cape Town divers dive wetsuits , generally 7.5mm. But yes, I dived Aliwal in a drysuit but I was using a CCR haha . I've dived a drysuit in warmer conditions too... it's great .

Cool. I was just concerned that @billt4sf would think the water at Aliwal was cold ...

And I take it that's it's quite a ways off the coast?

No, it's actually not that far off the coast. A short RIB journey to the dive sites.

 

[Coelacanthic]

Custom dive boats … what a luxury !

Even the places that do river or harbour launches use RIBs.

Maybe it's just technique …
(Judging by the accent, I could swear that lady is South African)

But seriously, it's not just South Africa. If you wanted to dive almost everywhere in Europe or Iceland, you would be in a rubber duckie.
.

Situ Lodge north of Pemba (Mocambique) uses a cat or Boston whaler as their dive platform. Easy exit and re entry with magnificent diving, food and small personal groups.

 

[Wingy]

Re African Airlines a few posts back - seems prudent to have a plan B. Air Madagascar refused to fly and my buddy was caught in a "sudden, yesterday" change to rules re US Citizens needing a Visa. She was luckily able to get a VOA which turned out great for us having flown Air Austral from Reunion. I gave up trying to book air Madagascar after months of trying and getting nowhere which was lucky as they had som dispute with the President so refused to fly anyone anywhere. We had two totally amazing resorts all to ourselves thanks to Air Madagascars tantrum. Not so much fun for the people stranded in Tana. A plan B and C seems worth having at the back of your mind just in case TIA

 

[Umuntu]

Situ Lodge north of Pemba (Mocambique) uses a cat or Boston whaler as their dive platform. Easy exit and re entry with magnificent diving, food and small personal groups.

Yes, I visited Situ a couple if years ago. A wonderful place !

My comment about dive boats was about diving in South Africa.