November, December: Good time for vacation in South East Africa?

[J-man]

Hi all,

We're two freshly baked divers which suddenly found ourselves with a serious amount of vacation days that have to be used this year. The plan: spend six weeks in Africa for diving, hiking, safari and other adventures from November to mid December. Location: Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, and maybe Botswana. Nothing planned yet, hence the numerous countries...

When googling the climate, it seems that maybe the timing isn’t ideal. In Tanzania and Mozambique for example, there’s supposed to be ‚short rains’ in this period. Africa is a vast continent, and the above mentioned countries are rather big themselves, so it’s difficult to know whether the rain period really is a rain period everywhere or only in some parts of these countries. Want to avoid the experience my girlfriend made once on the Maldives, when it rained seriously for 10 out of 14 days....

So my fellow ScubaBoarders with experience from being there during this time of the year, and maybe particularly AndyT and Deefstes, as you live in South Africa and also seem to have experience from Moz judging from the forum, should one be worried about the weather? i.e.:

- Would the ‚short rains’ really mean a wet experience on land?
- Would the time of the year have a serious impact on the sightings in the water?
(Jolo has oft posted a link to a regional sightings table, but input from others very much welcome)
- Animal sightings on land?

Had the following possible spots in my head: Pemba, Mafia, Mesali, Tofo, Aliwal Shoal, Protea banks, Cape Town (white shark cage diving), Krüger Park.... Any other nice suggestions obviously welcome.

All the best and kind regards,

J-Man

 

[AndyT]

Hi

I have been to Moz (Tofo) twice in November, the rain was mostly in the evenings in the form of thundershowers.
The viz was good, we saw plenty of Mantas and Whalesharks.
Not too sure on the land animal sightings - the war there took it's toll, some of the parks are being re stocked, but it is not something that I have looked at. On both occasions I drove up we saw no wildlife as such, but then we were travelling on a main road. Tanzania may have more to offer in that regard.

Cape Town should have good weather at that time of year, consider doing a few dives with our local charter operators - there is more to see than just the Great Whites.

Hopefully someone elase will chime in with hekp on Kruger etc...

Hope this helps a bit

 

[J-man]

Thanks for the input!
So rain should for sure be expected then? Well, well, guess it will be fine.

Alright, then the trip maybe will look like:
- Tofo for Mantas, whale sharks, dolphins?, humpbacks? turtles?
- Protea Banks for tigers, bulls, hammer heads etc or
- Aliwal shoal for the same
- Cape Town for the obligatory great whites (Or is more reliable to go to Gansbaai to see them?) and... I need to inform myself more about cape town.. but hoping for seals as well as other interesting sights.

Did I miss any interesting places or are there overlaps one could avoid?

Cheers,

J-man

 

[Karel26]

Hey there J-man
Our rain season in South Africa start any where from middel October to November, but I doubt that you will get as much rain as you had in Maldives. .

The diving done on Aliwal Shoal starts from 6a.m ( the boats launch between 6:30 to 7 o'clock a.m ) in the moring and then next dive is any thing from 9:30 to 10 o'clock a.m. . I dived almost 30 dives on Aliwal and did my open water and advance in Aliwal, its excelent dive site with. . There are various sites on the reef and the deapth rating is any thing from 6 meters ( 20 feet ) to 28 meters ( 94 feet ). . There are also a wreck called The Nebo, but one have to be atleast advance to do it. .

The best dive time is early in the moring the first dive, because the wind can blow some times hectic later during the day. .

You may look at the following diving charters in Umkomaas (as there are quite alot there, because diving is the income of the town) The Shoal, Oceanworx Dive charters and Aliwal Dive center. . I used all of these one's before and they are excellent. .

AndyT mentioned Protea Banks, I didn't dive there yet, but if you love sharks then you have to dive there. . There are over 6 species of sharks. . The only thing is one have to be advance with atleast 30 dives, because of the deapth 28 meters (94 feet ) average and strong currents ( the dive site is quite out far in the ocean ) wich make it atleast a nice drift dive. .

You may also want to consider Sodwana (South Africa) , its next to the Mozambique border. .

Hope you enjoy Aliwal Shoal and safe diving. .

Let me know how you found Aliwal Shoal. . I'll be waiting to here from you. .

Live to dive and Dive to live. . . . :burnout:

 

[J-man]

Hi Karel,

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm seriously looking forward to go there! And I promise to provide some reviews as well as some photos. The latter dependent on my yet to be developed underwater photography skills that is.... Aliwal shoal is about to be booked already now. Will wait with Protea Banks until getting there.

Sodwana seems really nice, but will probably have to postpone it until next time. There's only so much things one can do at a time.

Cheers!

 

[Jan Kruger]

Ponta Du Ouro is also very nice that time of the year- lots of fish-beautiful reefs-the rain should not affect you too much as it mostly will consist of thunder storms late afternoon or at night- maybe once a week...Remember your trip falls within the start of our peak holiday season so book in advance especially if you want to visit the Kruger national park.Enjoy your stay here and dive safely !