Cape Town, SA -- April 2012 -- dive suggestions

[calvin007]

Hi. I may be traveling to Cape Town, SA for work at the end of March 2012 and will be there anywhere from 2-5 weeks. I'm considering doing some local diving while I'm there during the weekends. I've got all of my own gear (I'll rent tanks and weights, of course), but I'm not certain I will be able to take it with me due to work restrictions, so I may have to rent. I'll be traveling without a dive buddy, so I'd be keen to join a dive shop on their trips. I found one dive shop in Cape Town through some searches on Scubaboard:

Pisces Divers

Some questions I have:

• Are there other dive operators to consider?
• It looks as if water temps are 13-18 C during the winter months, so I am considering bringing my drysuit; what are vis conditions like?
• During my travel times, where would people suggest diving? I'd also be interested in non-diving excursions to see air breaching by the great whites, if this is the right season
• Being completely unfamiliar with the dive sites and water conditions, do DMs generally join and lead the dive group?

Thanks for all the feedback.

 

[shortdivemedic]

Calvin
I went with Pisces divers out of Cape town and they were a good outfit. There captain and DM were both very good and qualified. YES YES on the dri suit for sure it gets cold quick.We dove in small groups out of a Zodiac and yes you can buddy up with the DM. Vis kinda sucked maybe 3-4 meters at best . Lots to do Table Mountain,Shark Cage diving (boring but cool) Lots of hiking etc type stuff ,you shouldn't have a problem with stuff to do

Cheers
Michael

 

[Trompie]

Calvin, I just came back from South Africa on a very similar trip as you are going on.

I had a very bad experience with Scuba Shack. I would not recommend them should they be on your list.

Feel free to send me a private message should you be interested in more detail around my recent experience with Scuba Shack (http://www.scubashack.co.za).

 

[AndyT]

If you haven't left already I second Pisces Divers. Certainly the best around here.

 

[panciab]

I am in Cape Town now on vacation and just did my AOW class with Pisces. They are awesome. Everyone is very friendly and professional. I highly recommend the cow shark dive with them. I honestly cannot say enough good things about Pisces. They are one of the best dive shops I have ever dived with. The water temp is not bad if you are diving on the False Bay side. A dry suit is not necessary. I also did cage diving with Apex, which is another great group. Apex is owned by Chris Fellows from Air Jaws. He actually went with us. Chris is a great guy and his crew was very friendly and knowledgeable. During the cage dive we saw 100s of dolphins and a couple whales. What an experience.

 

[calvin007]

I did my first session with Apex on 2012.04.15 and had a great time. Chris and Monique were there and yep, their crew is most helpful and knowledgeable. While we didn't see any breaching, we did see lots of dolphins and gannets dive bombing into the water after sardines. What a sight! We saw a few GWS both above and below the water, which was great. I couldn't resist signing up again! After Monique's recommendation, I'm considering doing the 7 gill cow shark dive they / Pisces offers.

I appreciate all the feedback!

Abhishek