Protea Banks or Aliwal Shoal

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gbtech

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We are planning a trip to South Africa but have very limited time, and must choose between diving for 2 days either the Protea Banks or Aliwal Shoal. Does anyone have experience diving either or both? Which is better is terms of seeing a greater variety of big fish? We're both advanced open water divers. Any recommendation of decent dive operators would also be appreciated. Thank you.
 
It's too bad you don't have more time to try both as they're just one hour apart, but I'd say Protea Banks. Aliwal has more varied diving, but specifically for "big stuff" I think PB on a good day can rate up there with anywhere in the world for pelagics. What you might see is also seasonal... Welcome to African Dive Adventures Protea Banks , who I dove with and recommend has a chart on their website that gives you an idea for seasons for different kinds of sharks. Just be warned, PB can also be "hit or miss..." you might have the dive of your life one dive, but another not see much. If you opt for Aliwal, I had a great experience with www.oceanworx.co.za and some South African friends always recommend www.agulhashouse.com . I'm sure you'll have a great trip!
 
Thanks a lot for the info! Is there a reef on PB that you go down to or are you just hanging in the open waiting for the sharks to show up?
 
No problem. To answer your question, I'd actually say "both," just depending on what kind of dive is being done. For any baited dive, you're in essentially open ocean hanging out about 10m below the surface, for dives for guitar sharks or raggies (in season), you do go down to the reef, which tends to be deep (20+ meters).
 
I've only done a few dives on Aliwal Shoal and I've never dived at Protea Banks. As ocdiver1 has said, Protea Banks is more known for the 'big stuff' than Aliwal Shoal, it's known as all-or-nothing and it's known for some strong currents, which might be worth taking into consideration depending on your experience level.
 
difficult choice - I faced the same dilemma years ago and chose Protea. It turned out to be two "nothing" dives.
 
PB is great but its an underwater safari. I saw dolphins, bull sharks, hammers, and raggies but no reef to speak of. I didnt get to do Aliwoal but I read its suppose to have a nice reef but not the big sharks

---------- Post added October 22nd, 2013 at 03:45 PM ----------

If you can get well north, I'd also pluf Tofu, Mozambique. Terrific diving in my view and not well known
 
Thanks. Any recommendations on the dive operators there?
 
Tofo is fantastic... www.peri-peridivers.com who I dove and had a great time with...some of the best diving I've ever done outside of Asia. Getting back to the "hit or miss" issue with Protea Banks...while it's true in the general sense, don't get the idea that everything is that way there. For example, if you're going in Raggie season, there's an extremely high chance you'll see them, and in large numbers.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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