oira79
Registered
I was in South Africa on a combined business/holiday trip and took two days to visit Sodwana Bay, staying at and diving with Coral Divers. It wasn't a dedicated dive trip and I only had time for three dives, but I thought my observations were worth sharing, because I would have liked to have known this stuff before going.
The dives themselves were good: 3 1/2 stars on a scale of five. We didn't see any big pelagics or the famous ragged-tooth or great white sharks (we didn't see any sharks at all), but there's a good amount of fish life and some interesting moray eels. Our dive guide collected shark teeth in the sand and gave them to us, so I now have three shark teeth as souvenirs. The current was quite strong underwater with a lot of surge, because Coral Divers doesn't apparently pay much attention to the tides when planning dive times (though they do pay attention regarding which sites to visit). But the dive boat follows you and the guide uses a buoy. I enjoyed being underwater, as always.
On the surface though, I realized I have become a bit spoiled by liveaboards and resort diving. Coral Divers is a big operation run essentially for backpackers. The entries and exits are rough; it's worth knowing this.
Dives are done from an inflatable boat with two big engines. A truck pushes the boat into the water and then you jump in from alongside. The ride out through the incoming crashing waves is rough. On my first dive, on a windy day, the whole ride out to the site was a bumpy thrill ride I hadn't expected, as nobody explained this, and I was a little nauseous when we finally got in. You don't want to take anything with you on the boat that you won't use underwater, and even considering that, there's no easy place to store handhelds like cameras, etc., because you have to put your feet in footholds and hang onto ropes as the boat bounces and careens.
Entry is a backroll; a backroll is a backroll. But the exit requires physical fitness. There's no ladder or anything for your safety stop, so it's a good skill check to stay at 5 m in heavy surge. I didn't have a problem with that, but unfortunately I could not get back up in the boat without assistance. You're supposed to leap from the water back into the boat. I couldn't do it, and I had a bad image of what I must sound like to any nearby sharks: heart racing, fins beating the surface, trying to leap from the water. This wouldn't have been bad if they had, after my first 3 or 4 failed attempts to jump in the boat, just helped pull me up. But no, I had to ask for help. On every dive. And that just doesn't feel good. And in fact, I got pulled in by my fellow divers, not by the staff. The dive guides and master diver students are fine underwater, but they're not much help on the surface: you're supposed to carry your own weight at Coral Divers. Again, that's fine, but it's worth knowing ahead of time.
Also, black guys on the beach will help put your rig together without asking, which I initially thought was part of the service, but it turns out they expect a 15 rand tip. This is only about US $1.15 at current exchange and when I realized that was up, I was happy to pay it; it's good to spread a little money around the economy, and reward people for enterprising work. It's just that nobody told me that was the system, so I didn't bring money to the beach the first day.
You will want a little money at the beach, not only for the tips: there's a food stand, and you might have time between dives for a coffee or a greasy fried snack if so inclined. This is also where Coral Divers' shop is (I bought a t-shirt), whereas the bungalows where you stay are reached by driving on sand in a big truck.
As for the bungalows, they're basic but good value. I spent the extra money to have an ensuite and was happy with it. Wifi is poor at Coral Divers and the restaurant is mediocre. A lot of people self-cater but I made do from the restaurant, though if I were there more than a couple of days I would have wanted variety.
I rented almost all my equipment and their gear was decent. There was a broken strap on my BC and I heard someone else on my boat had a leaky reg, but I think this is from heavy use, not longterm use. The wetsuits didn't have the kind of holes in them that really old rental gear gets. I felt confident renting from them.
The system for booking dives is this: There's a meeting at 7 pm for the next day, and the planned dives are listed on a board. You say, "I want to go on the 9:30 to Seven Mile Reef," and if there's an opening, they write your name in. You don't want to miss this meeting: the inflatable boats seem to take 12 passengers total and the most interesting dives fill up. A lot of groups book the entire boat so you don't have that many choices, but it seems possible to do two dives every morning. The first is usually at 7:30, apparently, and you could do a second at 10 or noon. They did not do afternoon or night dives so I don't think it's possible to do more than two dives in a day.
Other dive operations do the same reefs and spots. If you have a full boat, it can feel a little crowded. Not Caribbean cattle-call crowded, but you might have 20 divers on one spot: we did at one time.
If you want Nitrox, ask repeatedly. They will limit your bottom time even if you have Nitrox, as everyone is waiting for you on that rubber boat bouncing in the current. I like Nitrox so I did it anyway.
On the whole, I'm glad I went, but don't think I'll go back. The diving is good, not world-class 4-star, but good. It's just a little rough getting in and out. If I lived in South Africa I would go a lot and accustom myself, and indeed they seem to have mostly frequent repeat clients who live in the country. This was my first time diving anywhere in Africa south of the Red Sea, so I can't compare it to its neighbors, but based on my experience I'd say it's not worth planning a dive trip just to go there. But it's a nice change of pace from safaris and visiting the Drakensberg, so Sodwana Bay can be a solid part of an overall South Africa nature trip.
The dives themselves were good: 3 1/2 stars on a scale of five. We didn't see any big pelagics or the famous ragged-tooth or great white sharks (we didn't see any sharks at all), but there's a good amount of fish life and some interesting moray eels. Our dive guide collected shark teeth in the sand and gave them to us, so I now have three shark teeth as souvenirs. The current was quite strong underwater with a lot of surge, because Coral Divers doesn't apparently pay much attention to the tides when planning dive times (though they do pay attention regarding which sites to visit). But the dive boat follows you and the guide uses a buoy. I enjoyed being underwater, as always.
On the surface though, I realized I have become a bit spoiled by liveaboards and resort diving. Coral Divers is a big operation run essentially for backpackers. The entries and exits are rough; it's worth knowing this.
Dives are done from an inflatable boat with two big engines. A truck pushes the boat into the water and then you jump in from alongside. The ride out through the incoming crashing waves is rough. On my first dive, on a windy day, the whole ride out to the site was a bumpy thrill ride I hadn't expected, as nobody explained this, and I was a little nauseous when we finally got in. You don't want to take anything with you on the boat that you won't use underwater, and even considering that, there's no easy place to store handhelds like cameras, etc., because you have to put your feet in footholds and hang onto ropes as the boat bounces and careens.
Entry is a backroll; a backroll is a backroll. But the exit requires physical fitness. There's no ladder or anything for your safety stop, so it's a good skill check to stay at 5 m in heavy surge. I didn't have a problem with that, but unfortunately I could not get back up in the boat without assistance. You're supposed to leap from the water back into the boat. I couldn't do it, and I had a bad image of what I must sound like to any nearby sharks: heart racing, fins beating the surface, trying to leap from the water. This wouldn't have been bad if they had, after my first 3 or 4 failed attempts to jump in the boat, just helped pull me up. But no, I had to ask for help. On every dive. And that just doesn't feel good. And in fact, I got pulled in by my fellow divers, not by the staff. The dive guides and master diver students are fine underwater, but they're not much help on the surface: you're supposed to carry your own weight at Coral Divers. Again, that's fine, but it's worth knowing ahead of time.
Also, black guys on the beach will help put your rig together without asking, which I initially thought was part of the service, but it turns out they expect a 15 rand tip. This is only about US $1.15 at current exchange and when I realized that was up, I was happy to pay it; it's good to spread a little money around the economy, and reward people for enterprising work. It's just that nobody told me that was the system, so I didn't bring money to the beach the first day.
You will want a little money at the beach, not only for the tips: there's a food stand, and you might have time between dives for a coffee or a greasy fried snack if so inclined. This is also where Coral Divers' shop is (I bought a t-shirt), whereas the bungalows where you stay are reached by driving on sand in a big truck.
As for the bungalows, they're basic but good value. I spent the extra money to have an ensuite and was happy with it. Wifi is poor at Coral Divers and the restaurant is mediocre. A lot of people self-cater but I made do from the restaurant, though if I were there more than a couple of days I would have wanted variety.
I rented almost all my equipment and their gear was decent. There was a broken strap on my BC and I heard someone else on my boat had a leaky reg, but I think this is from heavy use, not longterm use. The wetsuits didn't have the kind of holes in them that really old rental gear gets. I felt confident renting from them.
The system for booking dives is this: There's a meeting at 7 pm for the next day, and the planned dives are listed on a board. You say, "I want to go on the 9:30 to Seven Mile Reef," and if there's an opening, they write your name in. You don't want to miss this meeting: the inflatable boats seem to take 12 passengers total and the most interesting dives fill up. A lot of groups book the entire boat so you don't have that many choices, but it seems possible to do two dives every morning. The first is usually at 7:30, apparently, and you could do a second at 10 or noon. They did not do afternoon or night dives so I don't think it's possible to do more than two dives in a day.
Other dive operations do the same reefs and spots. If you have a full boat, it can feel a little crowded. Not Caribbean cattle-call crowded, but you might have 20 divers on one spot: we did at one time.
If you want Nitrox, ask repeatedly. They will limit your bottom time even if you have Nitrox, as everyone is waiting for you on that rubber boat bouncing in the current. I like Nitrox so I did it anyway.
On the whole, I'm glad I went, but don't think I'll go back. The diving is good, not world-class 4-star, but good. It's just a little rough getting in and out. If I lived in South Africa I would go a lot and accustom myself, and indeed they seem to have mostly frequent repeat clients who live in the country. This was my first time diving anywhere in Africa south of the Red Sea, so I can't compare it to its neighbors, but based on my experience I'd say it's not worth planning a dive trip just to go there. But it's a nice change of pace from safaris and visiting the Drakensberg, so Sodwana Bay can be a solid part of an overall South Africa nature trip.
