Quick straw poll - Aliwal Shoal or Sodwana?

[cornep]

I'd like to throw a question out there.

When I talk to Jo'burg divers it seems everyone knows about Sodwana, but when you mention Aliwal Shoal not too many people seem interested?

What is it about the Aliwal Shoal that makes divers prefer Sodwana?

Interested to see your comments.

Good diving..

 

[Jan Kruger]

Sodwana has got Excellent reefs with Lots of sea life and Beautiful corals - whereas at Aliwal Schoal the reefs seem Barren compared to Sodwana.The visibility might be good but the sealife seems to have moved away somewhat - almost the only 'good ' time to dive the Aliwal is during end April - beginning May to experience the mating season with ragged tooth sharks when they hang around in schools .The Aliwal schoal is well known for its hectic currents and the launching is also not the best around.

Enjoy !

 

[Deefstes]

Hey Corne, I have only very recently started diving so I am no authority. I have heard very similar comments to Jan's before though (from a variety of sources) so I can only assume that there must be truth in it.

But I see you are with Ocean's Alive Diving. Why don't you debunk some of those arguments and explain to us what makes Aliwal Shoal so exciting

What are there to be seen at Aliwal Shoal that Sodwana does not have? What are the average depths of the reefs at Aliwal?

And when is the best time for the Sardine run? I might think of trying to go for that this year.

Cheers,
Dewald

 

[AndyT]

Maybe a perception that Aliwal is a longer drive and that diving and accommodation there is more expensive?

 

[Theunis]

I agree with all of you. Divers do prefer Sodwana and there are a lot of perceptions!

Some divers prefer the Natal North coast (Sodwana) due to the fact that it is less populated than the South coast (Aliwal Shoal). I think a lot of divers, especially those from the inland, prefer Sodwana due to the fact that they did their first open water sea dives at Sodwana and tend to go back there.

Dewald, I think the greatest attraction to Aliwal Shoal is the baited shark diving with sightings of Zambezi (Bull), Tiger, Blacktip sharks, etc. At Aliwal Shoal I have dived at depths between 15 to 27 meters.

But nobody should forget about Protea Banks at Shelly Beach!! At Protea Banks you have to be a AOW and the depth is up to 40 meters.

 

[cornep]

Hi Guys, thats what I thought...I think the reefs at Soddies are more 'vibrant', but I don't think people must try and compare the two places. It is two very different reefs alltogether, Soddies are coral reefs and Aliwal is a sandstone reef. Since the waves we had last year the reef has actually cleaned up quite a bit...all the sand deposits were washed off the reef and the marine life is definately returning. The Saiccor problem also doesnt seem to be as bad as it used to be. I can remember two days in December where the river came down quite heavily, but then the fish seem to come out even more. I'm not there permanently but the few times that I go down I can actually see the improvement.
We dived the Nebo over Easter weekend and I have never ever seen it so beautiful, you could actually see the entire wreck and it was packed with life. One overseas visitor once said to me Aliwal must be one of the few places in the world where you can see 6 different shark species on one dive, and it is true..he did...

The launches arent everybody's cup of tea, but we teach Openwaters and they do their qualifying dives on the Shoal and no one has complained yet...most people actually find it exciting...and it only lasts for 15 seconds if you are lucky. I must say I dont quite agree with the driving..from Jhb it takes me five and half hours and I'm there, with more than enough rest stops along the way and the road is good....

I dunno guys, maybe a few people had a bad experience at Aliwal and now everyone believes that to be the norm?

Thank you for your comments guys...Good diving wherever you are..

 

[AndyT]

Question - why does a dive in Natal cost R220-00 and in Cape Town only around R130-00? The trip to the dive site is the same distance.

 

[Zambezi]

For me, Sodwana's got beautiful reefs but Aliwal has the wrecks and decent shark diving. I also enjoy Aliwal and Protea Banks for more challenging diving.

AndyT, I've pondered your exact question, could it not be down to popularity of the dive sites. I dived the T Barge and Fontao wrecks off Umhlanga last year and we paid R150 a dive. I had two excellent dives but when chatting to other divers from Gauteng they'd never heard of either of the dive sites or the one and only dive operator in Umhlanga

 

[cornep]

I was down on business in Durbs on Wednesday and I had a few pints with some of the other dive operators in Umkomaas and I mentioned AndyT's question...All I got was screensaver expressions because no one believed that a dive can be that cheap at the moment. There are real costs involved, just take fuel as an example, plus you staff wages, maintenance on your boats, compressors, dive gear etc. and it just doesnt make sense...Capetown...share the secret please guys...lol

 

[AndyT]

Was just wondering ......... We have the same expenses down here, if I buy a "10 dive card" it costs me R1200-00. Given the increases in fuel I guess it will go up a little, but not that much.