Just got back from diving Aliwal Shoal

[Beppe]

Hi there,
yes we do have a few nice spots here,and if love2godeep,well, you can go pretty deep 'round here.A nice place to dive(and stay)is Taormina which is 50km.up north from Catania.Walls,caves,and canyons,ranging from 15mt.to 60+;there's no need to go that deep to enjoy though,one of the best dives is "the canyons" between 20-26mt.Besides the resort is lovely(maybe not so in full summer:hot and crowded).Extremely good cave diving in Siracusa,60km.south of Catania,bigger town,lots of monuments and archeological sites(a bit of culture when one is not diving).Also a couple of interesting,and deep wrecks:a submarine and a big cargo,both 50mt.+ deep.Plenty to dive.Not to mention the rest of Sicily,but that's another story:sunny If you happen to come around feel free to contact me.
Cheers.:santasmil

 

[vjongene]

Amongst the regulars here, we generally agree that the best part about diving on the Shoal is the boat ride

It is wild and a whole lot of fun - particularly coming out the river mouth and punching through the surf! The side of the rubber duckie that you sit on can be a critical choice (dry versus sopping wet).

My son and I dove the Shoal a couple of times during Xmas holidays, but starting from Scottburgh instead of Umkomaas. Breaking through the surf is indeed a big adrenaline rush! Astoundingly, on our second dive the skipper managed to land the boat on the beach above the high tide line, "because it's easier to bring back from there". I still don't know how he did it. Half the people on the RIB were seasick by the time we got back

The diving itself was also rather wild, with a constant surge imposing a zig-zag pattern on any attempt to get from here to there. Saw lots of big critters too: raggies (last of the season, I guess), huge leopard rays, lots of sand sharks, turtles, enormous groupers... Definitely worth a try!

 

[scubaculture]

vjongene: how would you rate SA diving overall? In one of your other threads you mentioned you have travelled extensively, so how does SA compare?

 

[vjongene]

vjongene: how would you rate SA diving overall? In one of your other threads you mentioned you have travelled extensively, so how does SA compare?

In SA, I have dived in the Cape area, on Aliwal Shoal, and in Sodwana Bay. Overall, I would say that it falls into my list of "second favorite" areas for diving. Here is my current classification, based on places I have actually dived.

Exceptional diving:
- The Red Sea, and in particular the southern part of the Egyptian coast (Brothers, Elphinstone, St John's and down to the Sudanese border). I still hope to dive in the Sudan and Saudi Arabia some day...
- The Marshall Islands, i.e. Bikini for its wrecks and Rongelap for its unspoiled reefs.

Very good diving:
- SA at Sodwana and Aliwal
- Bonaire
- The islands around Phuket, Thailand
- The Great Barrier Reef

Nice diving:
- The Indian Ocean coast of the Arabian peninsula (Oman, Fujairah)
- The Mediterranean in general
- Fernando de Noronha in Brazil
- The Tanzanian coast around Dar es Salaam
- The Cape in SA
- California (I have dived in Monterey and San Diego)

So-so diving:
- The Brazilian coast between Rio and Santos
- The lake of Geneva, where unfortunately I do most of my diving...

There are of course many places I'd like to go to but have not had a chance yet. Top of my current list are Palau and Truk, and Cocos and Malpelo.

The strongest point of SA diving is the diversity and abundance of the marine life. Weaker points are the visibility and the underwater landscapes. I personally get a kick out of the rather rough conditions compared to other dive destinations, but this may not be everyone's cup of tea...

Victor J.

 

[clive francis]

Aliwal Shoal is one of South Africa's top dive sites.

Glad to hear you enjoyed it so much love2godeep, so when you coming back for more

he's from the desert, that's why he hasn't heard of it ;-)

i've seen flights from £199 to capetown at the moment, thats damn cheap!