Dive Holiday Highlights of South Africa

All the itineraries that we feature in our website are suggestions and ideas to whet your appetite. Below is some general information about highlights of South Africa, and with these in mind, please contact us to help design your tailor made holiday.

Cape Town

Two mighty oceans, the Atlantic and the Indian, meet at the Cape and the resultant differences in sea temperature promotes a huge diversity of marine-life. Just minutes outside the city of Cape Town, you will be 'flying' through forests of kelp, rising twelve metres to the surface and providing a protective mantle for many species of fish, and exploring abundant reef walls and caves - home to species such as corals, sea anemones, sponges, seafans and nudibranches. Late winter sees the whale migration, including Southern Right Whales and Brydes Whales. Most days you will also see dolphins, seals and penguins. The Cape Peninsula is also known as the 'Cape of Storms' and the local wreck dive sites offer a diversity of wrecks, from very old to quite modern, from challenging deep wrecks to less technical shallow wrecks.

With an excellent chance of seeing Great White Sharks, you are in for the dive of a lifetime. Although tours run all year round, the best time of the year is April through September when the sharks are particularly active in their feeding patterns.

Aliwal Shoal

The Shoal is a must for divers offering varied, spectacular and thrilling diving - being home to over 1,200 species of fish, an abundance of corals and sponges as well as turtles, rays - including Devil and Manta, schools of pelagic fish and the occasional Humpback Whale and Whale Shark. From June through to November Raggedtooth Sharks congregate on the Shoal to mate, and it's possible to see up to 150 of these ferocious looking, but docile, creatures on a single dive. Later in the year you have the chance of seeing huge Tiger Sharks and Hammerheads. Should you tire of the sharks, you can always dive the area's wrecks or go looking for the huge (and we mean huge) Brindle Bass! The depths vary between 6 to 18 metres with 30 metre sites for the suitably qualified.

Protea Banks

Often described as the best shark diving site in the world, Protea offers exciting drift dives with (depending upon season) Ragged-toothed Sharks, three species of Hammerheads, Zambezi, Tiger, Thresher, Copper, Dusky, Mako, and the occasional Great White to name a few. Here divers have the opportunity to see large schools of pelagic fish and many rays, including the Spotted Eagle and Manta Rays. Depending upon time of year you may also see dolphins and whales. Depths vary between 30 and 40 metres and one must be an experienced diver for these are often 4-knot mid-water drift dives. This is adventure diving at its best.

Sodwana Bay

Found within the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands National Park (a World Heritage Site) Sodwana Bay has its own unique character, both above and below the water. Surrounded by high sand dunes and dense subtropical forest with the wetlands forming a series of lakes, each unique in character and ecology, the bay is home to a variety of animal and bird life. Fish from many oceans and seas converge on this coast, giving an unrivalled diversity of species. Home to at least 25 species of sharks and rays, and five species of sea turtle, Sodwana is also a nesting site for Loggerhead and Leatherback turtles. Expect to see an abundance of tropical fish, hard and soft coral, sponges, Moray Eels, large schools of pelagic fish, Potato Bass and depending on the time of year, whales (Southern Right, Humpback), Whale Sharks and dolphins.

The depths vary between 12 to 18 metres with 30 and 50 metre sites for the suitably qualified. The dives are all done from semi-rigid boats, with exciting launches through the surf!

Garden Route Diving

This beautiful stretch of coastline, from Mossel Bay to Cape Town, encompasses magnificent beaches and spectacular scenery. The water temperature lies between that of the warmer KwaZulu-Natal coast and the colder southern Cape, hence much of the underwater fauna here is found nowhere else in the world. The lack of tropical fish is more than compensated for by the wealth of colourful reef life and the chance of seeing Great White Sharks and the migratory whales that are found along this coast. The most reliable time to dive this area is during the winter months of May to September, while December and January can also offer excellent diving conditions. Please enquire for a tailor-made itinerary along this wonderful coastline.

Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve

Hluhluwe-Umfolozi covers some 96,000 hectares with a wide range of plant life, supporting an exciting diversity of fauna. The Big Five (Lion, Elephant, Leopard, Buffalo and Rhino) are all to be seen, as are zebra and giraffe. The park also carries out world-renowned White Rhino conservation work with hides that overlook pans and waterholes to enable visitors to see animals at close range. Hluhluwe-Umfolozi is one of South Africa's most popular game parks, affording visitors fascinating wildlife encounters.

Kruger National Park

The world famous Kruger National Park is best known for the 'Big Five' and is truly the flagship of Africa and South Africa's game reserves.

Sardine Run

Each year, around May and June, one of the most amazing spectacles in the animal kingdom takes place off the KwaZulu Natal coastline, when millions of sardines begin to congregate. This gigantic smorgasbord attracts thousands of marine predators - dolphins, sharks and game fish, even occasional Orcas and whales. The resultant feeding frenzy drives the shoals to the surface where they fall prey to dive bombing avian predators.

Like many things in nature, the exact timing of this spectacle is unpredictable and cannot be guaranteed. However, if the sardines are late, or do not appear, the 'marine-diners' will still be waiting affording exhilarating diving! Depending upon your budget and dive experience, Dive Worldwide can offer a variety of options and accommodation along the Wild Coast. Please call for a tailor-made 'Sardine Run' itinerary.

Squid Run

October to November brings thousands of mating squid to the Eastern Cape. In a fascinating event that defies imagination, hundreds of predators follow, to gorge on the squid and their eggs. This feeding frenzy is attended by seals, Copper, and Ragged-tooth Sharks, Common, and Bottlenose Dolphins, all manner of small sharks, huge rays, predatory fish and octopus top the list a breathtaking experience!

Go back to our - suggested South Africa Diving Itineraries