south africa

[gurselen]

Hi there,
we are planning to dive in KwaZulu area near Durban in South Africa in this february. Does any body who gives me some info about visibility, dive spots and how is underwater? Rich? Attractive? Excited?

 

[TechBlue]

I haven't been back to home SA since I left 27 years ago, and there have been some changes. But you are on the Indian ocean side which has much to offer especially a lot of sharks but fortunately they are classified as friendlys-as opposed to the Great Whites around the Cape. You definitely will have an extremely memorable trip, February is a very muggy month weather wise, but in answer to your questions, rich yes, attractive absolutely we used to snorkel for lobster they were so abundant and excited, without a doubt.

 

[docmartin]

we were there last year in march and dived protea banks. this is not the time for the sand tigers which show up in massive numbers later in the year. however, it is prime time for zambezis (bulls). we also saw hammerheads. therea re also tigers, sand bar and the odd great white. we did not encounter any of that. current is strong and there is no pretty reef. i recommend African Odyssea with trevor krull.
aliwal shoals is the more popular spot. we did not go there as protea is better for sharks but the shoals may be prettier in terms of reef and fishies.

 

[eyescuba]

Hi !
I just got back from South Africa
I went to Gaansbai for Great White Shark Diving
The sharks were not so friendly but maybe they were having a bad day
The water was 55 degrees f in October
I was fortunate to have seen many whales which was great.
I then went on to Mahe in the Seychelle Islands
This I would definatly recommend
Let me know if you have any more questions
Steph

 

[docmartin]

gaansbai is a long way from durban.

 

[caymaniac]

Actually we were there five years ago, not such a long time. We have friends who live in the north of South Africa, in two towns. One friend at White River and another in Parys.
We were a bit farther north than you and went diving at Sodwanna. We enjoyed the reefs quite abit. One Raggle Tooth Shark that we saw was larger than my wife and I put togather, I believe he could have swallowed us both whole! Octopus, eels, alot of tropicals, Regal Angels, Clown Triggers. We were there in our summer - their winter, June 16 to July 14. The game parks like Krugar were really worth while and the animals were awesome to see. We saw a elephant break through the middle of a pride of lions, we saw lions eating a giraffe, we were chased off the road by elephants. We fed Hyenas and Civets. My son through an apple at a Baboon one day who was waiting to see if he could break into our cabin, the apple hit him in the head but it never phased the Baboon. We watch a Lepord drag a wart hog up into a tree, we saw Rhinos. We saw herds of Wildebeast, and we almost hit a Kudu with our rental car.
I hope you have a blast, we did.

Caymaniac

 

[gurselen]

thanks you all. Very usefull info.
hope to touch you again.
Bye,

 

[Andre]

Hi there,
we are planning to dive in KwaZulu area near Durban in South Africa in this february. Does any body who gives me some info about visibility, dive spots and how is underwater? Rich? Attractive? Excited?

Hi

Try this site: www.scubadiving.co.za/reefcomb.htm they should be able to help you with info & bookings

 

[ShoalDiverSA]

If it's not too late, you can read my reply at:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?p=493875#post493875

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[DocVikingo]

I have taken the liberty of moving this thread in the hopes that it may get additional response.

Best regards.

DocVikingo