Saffadiver
Registered
I’m originally from South Africa but now live in the UK. My partner and I typically travel for over a month, so our trip reports tend to cover multiple locations. This one is from February/March (towards the end of South Africa's summer).
TRAVEL
South Africa is easy to travel through, but the sheer size can be a challenge. If you're flying from Johannesburg (most flights pass through here) to Durban or Cape Town, a flight is your best bet unless you're keen on a long road trip.
From St Lucia (known for great snorkeling and wildlife at Cape Vidal) to Sodwana, it took about 3 hours, largely due to cattle on the roads, speed bumps, and trucks. Despite that, the roads were generally smooth with few potholes. Just make sure to fill up the tank!
After returning to Durban for scuba at Aliwal Shoal, we made our way to Namibia and then to Cape Town. Renting and driving a car in Cape Town was a breeze.
ACCOMMODATION
South Africa is generally safe, but here are a few tips:
THINGS TO KNOW FOR NEXT TIME
TRAVEL
South Africa is easy to travel through, but the sheer size can be a challenge. If you're flying from Johannesburg (most flights pass through here) to Durban or Cape Town, a flight is your best bet unless you're keen on a long road trip.
- Johannesburg to Durban is an 8-9 hour drive.
- Johannesburg to Cape Town is a 13+ hour drive, so it's best to break it up into two days.
From St Lucia (known for great snorkeling and wildlife at Cape Vidal) to Sodwana, it took about 3 hours, largely due to cattle on the roads, speed bumps, and trucks. Despite that, the roads were generally smooth with few potholes. Just make sure to fill up the tank!
After returning to Durban for scuba at Aliwal Shoal, we made our way to Namibia and then to Cape Town. Renting and driving a car in Cape Town was a breeze.
ACCOMMODATION
- Sodwana
We stayed at Coral Divers, located within Sodwana Bay. This choice was mainly due to convenience—no need to buy a park permit every day. Coral Divers offers basic, affordable rooms with or without air conditioning, and each room comes with an attached bathroom. Some rooms have an external bathroom entrance, which seemed concerning at first, but it wasn’t an issue. The airflow in the bathroom is fantastic, helping wet items dry quickly.
Coral Divers has a lot to offer: a BBQ area, a full kitchen, fridges/freezers, and even a cinema room with a pool. If you prefer not to cook, their cafe serves delicious food and drinks (try the Gummiberry juice!). - Scottburg, Durban (Aliwal Shoal)
We stayed at Cutty Sark Hotel, and it was fantastic. Clean, affordable, and with amazing staff, this hotel even has an on-site dive center. Highly recommend! - Cape Town
We love staying in non-tourist areas like Kalk Bay, Noordhoek, and Constantia. Areas like Sea Point or Camps Bay are overpriced and crowded with tourists.
- Sodwana Bay
Sodwana offers great diving with a bottom temperature of 24°C and depths of 15+ meters. The dive trips involve booking a boat with Coral Divers (usually 5-8 boats). The journey to the reefs is an adventure, with tractor rides to the beach, where boats are launched through sometimes rough surf. If you're not used to RIB (rigid inflatable boat) rides, I recommend sticking to the 2- or 5-mile reefs.
Diving here is spectacular, with a chance to drift over multiple reef locations in one dive. The visibility was great for seeing colorful Nudibranchs, and we spotted nurse sharks, groupers, zebra eels, firefish, turtles, and more. The coral is some of the healthiest I've seen, with little to no bleaching. We could have easily spent two weeks here diving. - Aliwal Shoal (Durban)
Unfortunately, visibility was under 1 meter during our dive here, so we had to cancel. The dive center (ScubaXcursion) was fantastic, and I’d love to dive here during the Sardine Run or Shark Migration seasons. You could easily dive here for 3-4 days, or more during the right seasons. - Cape Town
Diving in Cape Town (16-18°C surface temp) was an entirely different experience. We dove with Alpha Divers from Gordons Bay, and the waters were much colder than the east coast. We rented suits that didn’t quite fit, and we didn’t have enough weight to stay down properly during low tides. The dive spots near Simonstown had baby sharks everywhere and plenty of octopuses in the kelp forests. Despite the colder water and surging coastal currents, we’re definitely going back for more. A lot of these spots can be snorkeled as well, where you can see sharks and octopus.
South Africa is generally safe, but here are a few tips:
- Avoid driving at night.
- Keep your doors locked.
- Know where you’re booking your accommodations.
- Cape Town is lovely, but stay out of townships like Khayelitsha and the Cape Flats.
- Don’t flash your wallet or phone.
- Don't drive at night!
THINGS TO KNOW FOR NEXT TIME
- We’ll be diving Sodwana again at the end of 2025 with Adventure Mania or Triton, as we felt Coral’s internship program supplied us Dive Masters who didnt exactly do as I would expect them to do.
- I’ll also dive Aliwal Shoal and Cathedral with ScubaXcursion again-excellent professionals with great local knowledge.
- We’ve contacted the False Bay Underwater Club in Cape Town and will be joining them as members. They dive every weekend, offering a much cheaper alternative to the tourist-focused dive operators, like Pisces Divers.
- If you want a big dive trip, you could easily hit Aliwal Shoal, Sodwana, and Ponta Du Ouro in Mozambique-just a straight road to all three!
