Mysterious legends from the southern tip of Africa tell of undersea creatures who have the ability to evoke unimaginable reverence within man, and that only those who have seen them can do justice to the tales. Here, in the land where two oceans meet, it is said that pre-historic beasts guard the deep, while the maritime big five namely the sharks, whales, dolphins, penguins and turtles keep an eye on the rest.
The immense power that gathers in the oceans of the world, move and shift and flow to meet at the southern most tip of the African continent resulting in the best of both worlds from which to choose and an endless list of dive sites to accompany.
Fondly known as the Rainbow Nation, South Africa is famous for having come a long way, emerging a brave example to the rest of the world as long as the likes of Nelson Mandela appear to inspire the country to continue to remain true to itself.
The primitive Coelacanth, until recently thought to be extinct, was spotted deep off-shore from Sodwana Bay on the East coast in 2003. Adults can reach as much as 2m in length and until now not much is known about them. Unlike Darwin's vampire finches by which his theory of natural selection was inspired, this 'living fossil' does not seem to have evolved at all, which according to Darwin, would be the reason for its decline. 1200 species of fish in total are found along the east coast.
Popular Sodwana Bay forms part of the World Heritage classified Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park. Water temperatures never fall below 20° C due to the perennial summer and schools of pelagic fish, potato bass, turtles, southern right and humpback whales, whale sharks and dolphins abound.
Dive Sites in South Africa
Sodwana, two mile reef spawns numerous sites of its own. Nine mile reef with its drop offs, corals and a wide variety of marine life as well as Five Mile Reef and Seven Mile Reef with their Stone Fish , Scorpion and Lion fish come highly recommended. Loggerheads can even be seen at Quarter Mile reef.
At Protea Banks, 10 minutes from Shelley Beach near Durban, advanced divers are afforded the rare opportunity experience safe and secure 'cageless' shark diving with Carcharodon carcharias (Great Whites) in rather unique conditions. The sharks seen here are naturally present in the area and not lured in by bait. During the summer months, Protea Banks hosts the Bull Shark (Zambezi) as well as abundance of game fish and Hammerheads from the Sphyrnidae family. In winter the area becomes a mating ground for Ragged Tooth Sharks (Carcharias taurus)
An abundance of other sites on the east coast include Margate , Shelly Beach, Park Rynie, Rocky Bay, Umkomaas, Aliwal Shoal, Durban, Umhlanga, Ballito, all in closer proximity for a trip to nearby Mozambique.
Also near Durban is the widely acclaimed Aliwal Shoal. Here you can dive the upside down wreck of The Nebo as well as The Pinnacles, Manta Point and Tiger cove's ledges with its skates, sand sharks, ribbontail ray, lionfish and guitar fish. Raggie Cave is an awesome shark dive and Cathedral's memorable caverns are popular among the locals.
East London further SW has Three Sisters, a great site for exploration and swim throughs decorated with nudibranchs, invertebrates, sponges and lots of Ragged tooth sharks. Here the penetrable wreck of The SS King Cadwallon, Nahoon Bay and Reef with its caves and parrotfish as well as The pinnacles and ledges at Gonubie Point are not to be missed.
Jeffrey's Bay has an abundance of marine life around the broken reef at the Gamtoos River Mouth and Van Stadens River mouth.
The Cape Aquatic, Benguela Current.
Waters are colder on the Atlantic side with distinct and intriguing marine life variety. The west coast is known for its kelp gardens that mesmerize as they sway with the currents. A polular dive can be done at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront's Two Ocean Aquarium in the Shark tank with the large Ragged Tooth's. The less thrilling Kelp tank has gulley sharks, hottentot fish and red stumpnose among others.
Along the Peninsula there are some magnificent wreck dives such as The Antipolis, near Oudekraal. Here, at the launch point for the surface swim to the Antipolis, are both Justin's Caves and Strawberry Rock sporting vibrant coral, seals, starfish and octopus.
In Simonstown the water averages a good ten degrees warmer than its chilly Atlantic counterpart. The coastline here heads east where the warmer Indian begins to slowly make its presence known. A few spots out this side include a shore dive at Simonstown's beach as well as A Frame. Advanced candidates are often ferried out on boats to do their deep dive qualification further along at Millers Point. Clifton has some great rock dives as does Sandy Cove and Llandudno.
Dyer Island is the Western Cape's shark diving capital in the southern Cape near Hermanus.
Roughly one and a half hours outside Cape Town near Gansbaai, colonies of juicy seals entice Great Whites to feed. These giants keep the seal colonies in check, playing their key role in maintaining nature's delicate balance.
Along the Garden Route waters begin to warm in the Mossel Bay, Plettenberg Bay and Knysna areas. At Mossel Bay there's Stingray reef, Dolosse, named after the large cement structure that create the artificial harbour walls, and the great advanced boat dive out at Windvogel reef near Cape St.Blaize. The spot has plenty of caves with larger fish, sharks, and seals.
In Knysna The Paquita wreck is perfect for penetration and night dives. It is decorated with colorful healthy coral and hosts a variety of marine life including seahorses. The Drift Dive through Knysna's Heads is as breathtaking as the scenery in which it is set. A site along the drift is The Phantom Wreck, a dive site consisting of a mysterious wreck which has no recorded history.
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