Top 5 Favourite Dive Sites in South Africa

[xyrandomyx]

What are your top five favourite dive sites in South Africa? There's obviously no right answer and all the choices make it hard, but I thought it might be a fun thread anyway. Mine, in no particular order and somewhat biased towards Cape Town shore diving, are:

Castle Rocks (South), south of Simon's Town, Cape Town
My opinion of this site is possibly coloured by the first time I dived it -- conditions were perfect, flat with about 12 metres vis. It's a bit of a trek down the hill to the entry point (and back up again after the dive), but the fish there seem more varied and large than the other sites in the area.

Raggie's Cave, Aliwal Shoal, near Durban
The 'cave' is not really a cave, just a little overhang, but it did have Raggies in it when I dived there. I only got to dive it once when I visited Aliwal Shoal: we overshot the site on our first two attempts because of strong currents.

Photographer's Reef, south of Simon's Town, Cape Town
I like the topography, some pretty large boulders to swim over and around, as well as all the Feathery Hydroids.

A-Frame, south of Simon's Town, Cape Town
I like this site for the colours: sponges, anemones, etc.

Bikini/ Mellow Yellow, 2 Mile Reef, Sodwana Bay
Probably not so exciting for those of you who've done a fair bit of diving in Sodwana Bay, but I was amazed by all the snapper.

Of course, I've not yet dived nearly enough sites in South Africa, so this list is likely to change in the near future.

 

[widget]

Hmm interesting, some may like easy shallow dives in nice warm water, others may like deep cold tech dives, so its probably very subjective but I'll chime in with these 5,

Aliwal Shoal - anywhere really, Raggie cave and Cathedral is very good, the pinnacles can be great if there is no surge, actually in my opinion, on a good day theres nothing to beat it in SA.

The wreck of the Nebo - just off the shoal, not as frequently dived as the Produce but for me its a better dive, getting a bit sanded up and flattened out now, but visibility is usually better than on the Produce and there is usually a lot of fish life, often a good chance to see big predators as well.

Protea Banks - its a good dive, but conditions and the proximity of large predators may be a little daunting for inexperienced divers.

Sodwana Bay up the coast to Ponte Malongane - So many good dive sights here its hard to pick one, but if pushed I will say Deep sponge or 7 mile reef are my favorites, but again its subjective, theres so much to see on all the sites, any of them are good. Its also relatively easy warm water diving, ideal for the whole family.

Wondergat - Okay, Okay, nothing much to see but this is an exhilarating dive, you descend on the permanent line and hit the grid at around 30-33 m depending on the water table, and in front of you lies the entrance to the cave,... enter the cave over the lip, and then down the line to the task force board will get you around 45m, continue on to the back of the cave and around 52 m of crystal clear water is possible, turn, and start out, back up the line and in front of you is this beautiful entrance with light streaming in. This is an adrenaline dive of note.

However, one must stress, this is not a dive to take lightly, there have been a number of deaths in the cave and a lot more "near misses" you need the appropriate training before attempting this dive and it requires a lot of pre planning, but when you do it correctly, this is a really superb dive.

Cape Town..........Hmm, I have done quite a few of the usual popular ones, Castle Rock, The SS Clan Stuart, A frame and a few others but I am not that fond of the cold water so maybe I am a little biased - I did however one day do an excellent dive out of Hout Bay harbour and we dived on a ledge with just dozens of seals all around us, I forget the name of the spot now but that was a worthy dive indeed, even if it was cold and fairly short.

 

[xyrandomyx]

It's entirely subjective, yes. I just thought it'd be fun to hear what everyone likes and for some of us to possibly hear about sites we'd like to try. Your opinion is probably a little more balanced than mine: with 5,000+ dives, I'm sure you've dived much of what South Africa has to offer. My 'must dive' list is still very long.

Cape Town diving is definitely not for everyone, but I like it -- a good thing, since I live here. If the spot with the seals had just seals, seals more seals and some kelp, it was probably Duiker Island. I enjoy that dive, but I'm constantly frustrated that in spite of all the seals, I still haven't got one half-decent pic of one. They're just too quick.

I'd really like to go to Aliwal Shoal again. I went there the year before last. Planned seven dives, only did five and only one had really nice conditions. It was definitely tougher diving than Aliwal Shoal -- not so warm, a fair bit of current, etc. -- but I could see that it must be great when conditions are good. I'll never do Wondergat, although it does sound spectacular -- don't have the training or the inclination to get it. Protea Banks, maybe one day, but the distance from the shore and strong current makes me a bit nervous.

 

[widget]

It's entirely subjective, yes. I just thought it'd be fun to hear what everyone likes and for some of us to possibly hear about sites we'd like to try. Your opinion is probably a little more balanced than mine: with 5,000+ dives, I'm sure you've dived much of what South Africa has to offer. My 'must dive' list is still very long.

Cape Town diving is definitely not for everyone, but I like it -- a good thing, since I live here. If the spot with the seals had just seals, seals more seals and some kelp, it was probably Duiker Island. I enjoy that dive, but I'm constantly frustrated that in spite of all the seals, I still haven't got one half-decent pic of one. They're just too quick.

I'd really like to go to Aliwal Shoal again. I went there the year before last. Planned seven dives, only did five and only one had really nice conditions. It was definitely tougher diving than Aliwal Shoal -- not so warm, a fair bit of current, etc. -- but I could see that it must be great when conditions are good. I'll never do Wondergat, although it does sound spectacular -- don't have the training or the inclination to get it. Protea Banks, maybe one day, but the distance from the shore and strong current makes me a bit nervous.

Indeedy, local dives are usually the ones we do the most so they tend to become our favorites, but dang....getting in that cold water......takes a lot of getting used to.

Yes, just seals and seals and a few more seals, most likely Duiker Island as you suggest, I cant remember, but a fun dive none the less, I could do it a few more times quite easily. Unfortunately I also didnt take a camera with on the day, but I agree, very nippy fella's so a video is probably better?

There are so many good sites around SA though, I had a fantastic few dives off the Beacon Island hotel in Plett one year, every one said dont bother, murky water, long swim etc, etc, but we went anyway and it was tremendous. You can never tell.!

Yes, unfortunately Aliwal is often hit and miss conditions wise and in a roaring current and low vis its just crazy, not worth the effort, but on a good day............that just makes up for everything.

 

[drbill]

It's on my bucket list so thanks for this thread.

 

[widget]

It's on my bucket list so thanks for this thread.

Great to hear, coming from California you will be very familiar with Cape Town diving, very similar type of marine environment. I dived off Catalina Island some years back, it was fun, lots of kelp and lots of seals, very similar to some spots in Cape Town, but I cant remember the site's name.

 

[xyrandomyx]

It's on my bucket list so thanks for this thread.

Great. I'm hoping some of the other South Africans will weigh in eventually. They're around somewhere, but a lot of us only pop our heads in here at SB every now and again.

I'll second widget's comment about California being very similar to marine environment to Cape Town. I've not had the opportunity to dive in California, but the videos I've seen all look almost like an eery parallel-universe version of Cape Town -- the dive sites seem familiar, but the species all look slightly different.

But we're very lucky, there's a lot of variety to diving in South Africa. Aliwal Shoal is entirely different to Cape Town and then Sodwana Bay, which is not much further north, is completely different again. And of course the inland caves and sinkholes are another completely different environment.

 

[widget]

Great. I'm hoping some of the other South Africans will weigh in eventually. They're around somewhere, but a lot of us only pop our heads in here at SB every now and again.

.

- Yeah, I have been a lot more active than I usually am as well, just because I am loafing in the mountains of Mpumalanga at the Crystal Springs resort for two weeks - so I got some free time sitting on the veranda with a beer and my laptop.

Just springing to mind is the wreck of the Maori in Cape Town, I last dived it a few years back but it was a fairly interesting dive, so it would no doubt have deteriorated a bit more but probably worth a visit or two for any diver in the area.

 

[xyrandomyx]

- Yeah, I have been a lot more active than I usually am as well, just because I am loafing in the mountains of Mpumalanga at the Crystal Springs resort for two weeks - so I got some free time sitting on the veranda with a beer and my laptop.

Just springing to mind is the wreck of the Maori in Cape Town, I last dived it a few years back but it was a fairly interesting dive, so it would no doubt have deteriorated a bit more but probably worth a visit or two for any diver in the area.

I first dived the SS Maori about a year ago. I can't say what it was like before then, but it still looked pretty good to me for a 100+ year old wreck. I was expecting just strewn about wreckage (something like the SS Clan Stuart, which is a similar age), but it still looks very much ship-like, with all sorts of interesting mechanical odds and ends to look at.

 

[PsyWulf]

My quick list:
Fontao,Bat Cave,Birthday ledges and TBarge in Durban
Protea Banks for sharkies
Sodwana 2 Mile,8 Mile