Diving in South Africa

[jamespitt]

i havent seen much here in scubaboard about diving in south/southern africa.
i hereby take it upon myself to let you all know what is there.
firstly, the best dive site IMHO in south africa is Sodwana Bay. it has the second most species of fish to the GBR enclosed in an area of about 9 miles. it has varied depths up to over 100m. it has recreational and technical diving (CMAS) available. all the usual coral reef fish, turtles (green, loggerhead, leatherback), dolphins and sharks - i saw a Bull shark on my 2nd dive ever! they also get Mantas and Whale sharks. the water temp is btw 25 and 29 C and vis is consistantly good.
we also have the best place to cage dive with great white sharks in Gansbaai.
cousteu reckons Aliwal Shoal is in his top 10 dive sites in the world due to the opportunity to dive with hundreds of Ragged Tooth Sharks.
Then there is the cold water wreck diving in the most beautiful city in the world, Cape Town.
Add to this the incredible natural scenery and the excellent exchange rate, you have a great holiday destination. 1 US dollar will buy you 2 beers in a pub!
i didnt start this post to advertise anything, just to put south africa on the scubaboard map. i dont know if i can do this but if anyone wants to know more about my beautiful country, then please have a look at www.divesouth.co.za . its a dive safari company run by two of my friends and they can offer advice to those who may want it. Sorry, i dont know if i can "advertise" but its a great site to go to and get info.
thanks for listening.
James

 

[DavidNedved]

Although I hit different sites in South Africa, I have to admit I loved it, and will be back within a year!

I really recommend Peter and Vanessa at http://www.sharkravingmad.com
They do the Alejwal Shoal (please pardon spelling), but we dove the Protea Banks. Lots of sharks (zambezi, raggies, blacktip, guitar), rays, and we saw incredibly large schools of barracuda and bottlenose dolphin. All up VERY close and personal!

Also dove with Ray in Mosselbei (again please pardon spelling), and he does Great White cage dives. Much cheaper than the guys in Capetown (he charges 750 rand per day, only 200 if you don't drop the cage). Not exactly SCUBA, but a very unique dive nonetheless.

South Africa is a great vacation destination, especially right now for those bringing in USD or GBP because of extremely favorable exchange rates. I even stocked up on some locally made dive gear while I was there that I absolutely love.

 

[jamespitt]

thats great, i am glad you had a good time. we just need to get more positive views on scuba in SA and i am sure more divers will go there. i must rate as the cheapest semi-first world dive destination. i say semi-first world as i dont know quite how to describe it. not 1st and yet not 3rd world.
thanks for your compliments for the dive scene.
James
ps. and dont worry about the spelling....

 

[Jonathan]

interesting - I was thinking of going last year but was persuaded not to by a South African work colleague who told me to give it 5 years......

Jonathan

 

[DuckDive]

Originally posted by Jonathan
interesting - I was thinking of going last year but was persuaded not to by a South African work colleague who told me to give it 5 years......

Jonathan

If you are interested in going, you should get more than one opinion if possible, preferably from people you know directly or indirectly.

I'm not saying that your colleague isn't being accurate, just that comfort levels vary.

Cheers, Mark.

 

[Sue]

I'll have a two week's holiday in August and I'm considering South Africa as a possible destination (the other is Fernando Noronha in Brazil).
I'm just concerned about the temperatures. August is winter time in SA, and as i mainly dive in cold waters in portugal I'm very keen of travelling to warm waters diving destinations.

What is your advice?

Sue

 

[DuckDive]

Air temps are already on the way up in August. It can sometimes be quite windy and rainy though. Don't let that put you off - storms and rain in Africa are great fun .

On the north east coast, water temps mostly don't go below 20C at any time of year (as far as I remember - maybe someone with more recent experience could confirm this).

If you want tropical diving at that time of year, check out Mozambique! It's right next door to SA, and they speak Portuguese too! There are many operators in SA that do dive trips to locations not far from the border. Awesome diving!

If you want some recommendations, I'll ask around.

M.

 

[Sue]

Thanks for the info.

SA looks cool in what concerns diving, and I've seen the operator above which includes diving in Mozambique in their packages.

Besides the water temp, I'm also concerned about security. The feedback we have on TV about SA always refers to violent conflics.

What do you think?

Sue

 

[DuckDive]

Difficult question. Everybody has their own risk level that they are comfortable with. As a diver, you probably prefer some adventure (with calculated risks) to being as "safe" as possible. Otherwise you'd surely never get in the water? :shark:

TV news is a problem: we usually only see bad stuff, or nothing at all, and it's easy to remember images.
Travel agents are great: if you talk to a busy travel agent, chances are they know somebody who just got back from wherever it is that you want to go!

For a first trip to South Africa, or anyplace in Africa, I'd strongly advise a guided package tour. You won't get a much safer way than that. In my opinion, getting on a plane going anywhere is just as dangerous.

But... I won't say "go" or "don't go". Only you can find the right balance for yourself, between living life and hanging on to it :scratch:.

Good luck, and you're welcome to PM me if you want to talk about details.

 

[jamespitt]

hi guys,
its good to see some activity. if its warm diving you want then Sodwana Bay is the place to go. my mom is from mozambique and there was a time when lorenzo marques (now Maputo) was one of the hippest towns is southern africa. my friends at Dive South do arrange trips there to a place called Ponto D'Ouro (place of gold?) where you have only about 4 dive operators and so the sites are never crowded. its just that to go to Moz requires a bit more planning and effort.
with regards to the weather - because northern Kwazulu natal is sub-tropical the winter months are somethimes the better times to go. its not as oppressively humid and you dont get the tropical showers every day. i am not too sure but i think august time is whale shark time!!
safety is, of course, a major issue. no south african is EVER going to say it is 100% safe. a friend once said to me that we live like kings in south africa and that we have to pay a price for our lifestyle. you cant really say that in 5 years things will be better. i remember saying in 1992 that in 10 years things will be just great, and now 10 years later, they clearly are not. but to put off something with placing an arbitrary 5 years no-go is wrong. people still go to israel on holiday. i spent 4 months in Aceh, indonesia. as long as you keep your wits about you and dont venture out at night to the wrong places, you will be fine. i just got back from SA for a 4 week holiday and i 'survivied'. the people are friendly, the diving great, the food superb and the currency is sh*t = ideal dive destination.
i agree that going with a tour is a good option - there is a backpacker structure but its better to go as a tour if diving.
contact divesouth because they are great, very down-to-earth people and very experienced divers too. they can provide you with all the info you need.
james
ps. every person who i have met that has been to SA on holiday, rates it as one of the best places ever. and thats gospel...