Scuba Diving in South Africa

CREDIT: Mirella Wognum

Start planning your next dive trip! Today you will learn about diving in South Africa.

PART 1: OVERVIEW OF SCUBA DIVING IN SOUTH AFRICA

Famous for its stunning landscapes and game viewing, South Africa also makes for a top diving destination. With over 3000 km of coastline, diving in South Africa is varied, to say the least. From the tropical reefs in Sodwana Bay, diving with sharks in Gansbaai, to the rugged coastline and wrecks of Cape Town, South Africa diving offers plenty of opportunities to discover the underwater beauty of the country for any level diver.

One of the southern-most coral reef structures in the world with an enormous biodiversity of fish and invertebrates known to the Indo-Pacific, diving in Sodwana Bay is world class. Almost as exciting as the diving itself, are the launches by powerful rubber inflatable boats (RIBs) through the surf and back after the dive. Water temperatures range from 20 degrees Celsius in September to 28 in April. Sodwana is easily reached by car from Durban (4 hrs), Johannesburg (7hrs) or with the Baz bus to Hluhluwe-Bushlands stop and further by transfer.

Shark diving in South Africa offers an amazing variety of opportunities. The Aliwal Shoal, a reef system of about 3 by 1 kilometer that offers several different dive sites and is a concentration site for the ragged-tooth shark. Other frequently sighted marine life include sea turtles, dolphins, manta rays, and several other shark species like the bull shark or hammer head. Gansbaai is the area best known for viewing the great white shark from a cage. Cage diving with the great white is a thrilling experience that will leave you with a new sense of awe and respect for this magnificent predator. Another spectacular option of South Africa shark diving is diving the sardine run. This natural yearly phenomenon happens in June and July. Dive boats go out every morning, locating the sardines, which form a bait ball, literally surrounded by predators like sharks, seals, dolphins, game fish, and birds.

Cape town is located in an area of abundant natural beauty, which extends underwater. Wrecks, kelp forests, temperate reefs and rare shark species are amongst Cape Town diving highlight. Both the Atlantic coast and the bay east of the Cape offer several excellent dive sites. There are year round diving opportunities in Cape Town, but dives are weather dependent and water temperatures are relatively cold, ranging from 10 degrees Celsius in winter (August) to 18 degrees in summer (January).

PART 2: DIVE SITES, MATINE LIFE & ENVIRONMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

Most dive sites in Sodwana Bay can be found on 2 Mile Reef. With a length of 1.8km and width of over 900 meters, this is the largest reef structure of Sodwana, boasting over 20 excellent dive sites. Simons Cave is a varied dive site with plenty of crevices and overhangs to explore and a swim through, where white-tip reef sharks are known to hang out. A good selection of anemones, hard, and soft coral makes this site an interesting and colorful site. Bikini, a site located just off 2 Mile Reef, is a macro photographer’s paradise. An important cleaning station with plenty of species of cleaning shrimp, ghost-pipefish, moray eels and juvenile fish; this site is for advanced divers only.

A reef structure off the east coast of South Africa, Aliwal Shoal is well known for attracting a high number of ragged tooth sharks between June and November. One of the most famous dive sites of the Aliwal Shoal is the Cathedral. Here divers find an arch at 27 meters deep that enters into a chimney-like sinkhole that reaches all the way to 17 meters. In shark season, up to 60 sharks can be seen swimming in the cathedral. But also outside of shark season this makes for a great dive, with sightings of the rare frogfish, potato bass, and sea turtles.

Castle Rock is a beautiful unspoiled dive site, situated in a marine reserve on the east coast of the Cape Point Peninsula near Cape Town, with quite an abundance of marine life. The site is covered in sponges, sea fans, kelp forest, sea urgins and anemones with plenty of fish life that call this place home. Search between the rocks and corals for octopus, nudibranchs, brittle stars and look out in the blue for the occasional shy shark. Dive site Pyramid rock, close to Castle Rock, is a popular kelp forest dive site. The main attraction here is the chance to see the spotted sevengill cow shark, gully shark, and shy shark. But even without a shark sighting, this is an excellent Cape Town dive site, with lots of rocks to explore, swim throughs and tons of soft corals.

PART 3: DIVE SHOPS, AIRPORTS & LOGISTICS OF DIVING IN SOUTH AFRICA

Coral divers, located in Sodwana Bay, is a one-stop dive facility for a complete South Africa diving vacation. A PADI 5 star Gold Palm IDC center, their dive center offers full dive training from absolute beginner level to instructor. On site accommodation is available in proper South African bush camp style in safari tents or cabins with catering options. They offer transfers from the nearest Baz Bus stop in Bushlands.

Oceanworkx Dive charters is a dive center in Umkomaas, ideally located to organize daily trips to the Aliwal Shoal and local ship wrecks. They share premises with Sea Fever Dive Lodge and Hidden Reef Restaurant, making it a great location for all your needs in diving South Africa’s east coast. They organize an array of trips from snorkeling to full-on dive packages with highlights as the Aliwal Shoal, shark bait diving and the sardine run. Umkomaas is closest to Durban airport and can also be reached by Baz Bus or rental car.

For shark cage diving in South Africa, head over to Gansbaai, the capital of diving, with the great white shark. Marine Dynamics Shark Tours is an award winning eco-tourism and conservation enterprise that organizes daily shark cage diving trips, with high standards of boat, equipment and staff. They run several conservation efforts to support populations of penguins, whales, and sharks and to discourage littering. From Cape Town daily trips leave to Gansbaai as well, organized by Apex Shark Expeditions. Transportation will take a bit longer, but this offers a good option if you’re limited on time or just staying in the city. Apex also organizes other shark diving trips in South Africa, including the sardine run.

Pisces Diving is located in Simon’s Town, on the east coast of the Cape Peninsula, with easy access to some splendid dive sites like Castle Rock, or diving with the pre-historic looking cow sharks. They offer a full palette of services, including PADI dive courses, boat charters, tank fills, equipment repair and maintenance.

Written by Mirella Wognum

WHY DO DIVERS JOIN DAN?

DAN members have a passion for the water, a quest for knowledge and love of community. They love being part of something bigger. You can join nearly 500,000 divers worldwide and experience valuable benefits to make you a safer, smarter diver.

Divers Alert Network (DAN) is the world’s most recognised and respected dive safety organisation comprised of dive professionals and medical experts dedicated to supporting divers. Through research, medical services, educational programs and global response initiatives

For over 20-years, DAN has created an extensive network capable of providing divers around the world with vital services. Everyday divers rely upon DAN for dive safety information and health guidance. They know that in event of emergency, we’ll be there for them - no matter where adventure takes them.

For over 20-years DAN has been helping divers and we will continue to cultivate a culture of dive safety! Join DAN today and be part of the largest dive safety community.

THREE REASONS WHY PEOPLE JOIN DAN?

CALL & ASSIST

Most divers realise that diving is an adventure sport that may result in injuries as such they want the peace of mind that, in case of a diving emergency, there is a 24-hour hotline to call with membership benefits for the medical services they will need.

COST SAVING

DAN membership is not expensive by most standards. Diving medical advice is offered free of charge and is available 24/7/365. Membership benefits are secondary to any primary medical insurance and include diving medical and travel related cover that are also extremely affordable and very competitive. DAN members also have access to discounts on safety and educational materials.

CULTURE OF CARE

Many divers like being part of an organisation that is so obviously committed towards their safety. Apart from being available as a diving emergency and diving-medical-information line, DAN is always actively campaigning for safety, initiating and supporting safety initiatives, and finding practical ways to make diving safer and more enjoyable.

DAN is a very personal organisation. Callers quickly learn that DAN is not an “institution”; it is a living and vibrant organisation. In many ways, DAN members feel that they are becoming part of a “family” who look out for one another “divers helping divers” as we always like to say.

So, many divers just seem to like the idea of being part of something worthwhile and they are willing to give up some of their discretionary income to be a part of it.

That being said, it is also common knowledge that DAN offers top-rated services and has an exceptional network of experienced diving medical professionals. One call to the DAN hotline and divers find themselves talking to a professional diving doctor who “speaks their language”. This is truly something special. With access to so many likeminded people, DAN is able to arrange evacuation by land, sea or sky if required and help injured divers gain access to specialised medical treatment facilities such as recompression chambers.

In a nutshell! DAN members help support a 24-hour hotline. This hotline offers access to specialists trained in diving medicine and is freely available to members with a diving-related query. The DAN hotline can be called 24/7/365 by a member worldwide in the event of a dive emergency. DAN membership subscription contributes towards the 24-hour emergency and information line. The emergency and diving-medical-information line is freely available to DAN members. So members can call for medical advice on any topic to do with diving or ask to be referred to a health professional knowledgeable in diving medicine.

SO WHY JOIN DAN?

When you support DAN, you support the organisation’s ongoing efforts to reduce dive injuries and improve first response and medical treatment. One hundred percent of DAN’s profits are reinvested in research, medical services and programs that make diving safer for all divers. As a diver, you need DAN and DAN needs you.

DAN offers comprehensive plans that provide protection and peace-of-mind in the event of a dive accident for far less than the cost of an unplanned event.

DAN’s dive accident cover plans are recognised worldwide providing secondary coverage of up to R800,000 and paying 100% of eligible expenses.

DAN DIVE COVER VS. MEDICAL INSURANCE

It is true that some medical insurance include cover for diving injuries. However, divers who have tried to go this route soon discover that it is not easy to work with a medical insurance when trying to organise an emergency evacuation for a diving injury. That is simply not the time to discover that your medical insurance is not able to assist you in getting the most appropriate treatment or advice. Their convenient 0800 toll-free number doesn’t work in Zanzibar and even in South Africa, working your way through a multi-prompt menu from a cell phone is not what you need in a crisis. Also, getting documented authorisations takes time and nearly all private emergency service providers now insist on a written Guarantee of Payment (GOP) before responding. That is not surprising given that most aeromedical evacuations in Africa come in at R200 000 or more and even evacuations by ambulance approach R20 000 plus when advanced life support services are involved. Evacuations are costly. Recompression, on the other hand, is not that expensive in Africa. In the rest of the World, it may set you back about R100 000, but in South Africa the cost is usually under R20 000 unless multiple treatments are needed. However, if evacuation and hospitalisation are called for, the costs can be very high.

As a DAN member, all these concerns disappear. One number and you have all the help and cover you need for a diving emergency. The travel and medical benefits are an added bonus, but don’t tear up your medical insurance card just yet. So, should a diver have a medical insurance or be a DAN member? A diver should have both!

WHAT DO YOU RECEIVE WHEN YOU JOIN DAN?

• Medical Dive Accident - Up to R800,000
• Cover Evacuation - Real Expenses
• Assistance International Non-Diving - Up to R800,000
• Cover Personal Liability - Up to R2,000,000
• Depth Limit - 40 meters
• Cover for freedivers & spearfishermen