Widely acknowledged as the mecca of scuba diving in South Africa, Sodwana Bay is located a few hours drive north of Durban, and is a part of the *Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park. Now listed as a World Heritage Site, the St Lucia Wetlands Park is one of the most visually stunning parts of South Africa's coastline, and Sodwana Bay offers some of the finest scuba diving in all of Africa. Located quite a way up the South African coastline, the coral reefs at Sodwana Bay are amongst the worlds most southern coral reefs, however are fed by the warm waters of the Agulhas Current.
There is a wide variety of marine life on offer to scuba divers visiting Sodwana Bay, which numerous attractions such as the Ragged Tooth sharks, dolphins and whale sharks acting as a magnet for divers, over and above the excellent offering and diversity of other fish and corals. Outside of these, the waters surrounding Sodwana Bay are also teeming with marine life, including different varieties of rays, sharks and turtles. Large potato bass, moray eels and a wide variety of fish can also be found here throughout the year.
Despite this wide diversity, it is the fans of sharks who are most drawn to the diving in Sodwana Bay, and it offers one of the greatest densities of these beautiful creatures to be found anywhere along the South African coast. Ragged Tooth sharks are undoubtedly what Sodwana is renowned for, however there are regular sightings of Bull sharks, Thresher sharks and Hammerheads in the waters here.
The diving at Sodwana tends to be done on the numerous reefs which are appropriately named after their distance from the launch area at Jesser Point. Across all the reefs, the diving conditions are exceptionally good, and although visibility can average around 20 metres, it can extend towards 40 metres on occasions. The climate in Sodwana Bay is sub-tropical, and the diving year is year round. The water temperature ranges from a warm 29 degrees Celsius in the Summer (December - January), down to around 20 degrees in the Winter period (June - July).
The most popular dive location at Sodwana Bay is 2 Mile Reef, which is in fact just over 1.7 kilometres in length, and over 900 metres wide. Its popularity with divers tends to come from its location, as it is the closest reef to the beach. The most popular dive site here is Antons; however there are other good dive sites such as The Caves, The Overhangs, Coral Gardens and The Pinnacles.
Five Mile Reef offers divers some of the finest examples of coral to be found anywhere in the region, and excellent examples of Staghorn, mushroom and plate corals can all be found here. Due to the proliferation of such fragile corals, this site does tend to be visited by more experienced divers. Is with throughout the area, a good amount of fish life can be found on Five Mile Reef including Scorpion Fish and Flounders as well as more regular varieties.
Seven Mile Reef is one of the more popular dive locations in Sodwana, predominantly due to the great variety of marine life that can be found here, particularly the different types of rays and turtles which are regularly sighted on the reef. The coral cover across Seven Mile Reef is also good, however the reef itself is characterised by the numerous mushroom shaped pinnacles and drop-offs that welcome the diver.
Nine Mile Reef is located approximately 40 minutes by boat from the beach, and is the furthest of all the dive locations at Sodwana Bay. The reef itself is best known for the large 'Green Tree,' a coral tree which stands nearly two metres high off the reef, and is regularly surrounded by large numbers of smaller fish. The underwater geography of Nine Mile Reef is a mixture of pinnacles, caves and overhangs, and the good amounts of marine life ensure that the diving here is always worthy of the extra time in the boat.
*The Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park has recently changed its name to the Isimangaliso Wetlands Park.
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