Planning to Dive South Africa

I THANK GOD my recent gig allows me to travel. I have been stuck here in Dallas way too long, and if me and my passport weren't given freedom soon, I might have just shriveled up and died. My next journey is to take me to South Africa...where? I really have no idea yet (part of the fun of freelance is staying in the dark). I am assuming Johannesburg, but it could be Cape Town...despite my lack of assignment location knowledge, I am setting forth to plan my South Africa dive experience. It looks like this guy might be joining me...so for the first time in three years I am planning a dive for two. Mr. Pokerati just finished his Open Water skills and with any luck he passes his exam tomorrow...but that's another story....sorry for the ADD digression. I am a DM candidate and with Mr. Pokerati being newly certified we will need the first few dives to be a little less challenging. So where to go is a concern.

Tim from Dive The Big 5 and I have been emailing back and forth. I think he's given me some good advice for location. I have a feeling we will choose Sodwana since we can tie in a little land safari, but Great White cage diving is tempting.
Here is an email he sent. Anyone out there with other South Africa dive advice or location suggestions?

Hi Jen,

Many thanks for your e-mail requesting advise on diving South Africa. I'm sure we will be able to put something together for you and your boy-friend.

If your assignment is in Johannesburg you will have to fly to Cape Town as that is where the Great White cage diving takes place. Jo'burg and Cape Town are about 1 600 km's apart, a 2 hour flight by Boeing. If seems hardly worth while going all that way for just one day!! If you are really set on diving with the Great Whites and you are going all that way then I suggest that you spend at least 3 days Great White cage diving. You should also bear in mind that November month is not the best month for Great White cage diving. Great White cage diving is to a certain extent "seasonal", but the sharks are there all year round. We say seasonal for two reasons.

Firstly the weather. The part of the world where Great White cage diving takes place is known as the "Cape of Storms" for very obvious reasons. The winters are normally wet and miserable whilst the summers, although sunny and hot, are known for the "Cape Doctor" or south easter which blows virtually daily. Our statistics are that you are able to get out to "Shark Alley" the narrow strip of water between Dyer Island and Geyser Rock, 12 days out of 30 in the winter months (April through October) and 20 days out of 30 during summer (November through March). The more time you are able to spend in the company of the Great whites, the better your chances are of seeing these magnificent creatures.

Then there are the actual seasons. There are definitely times of the year when the White Sharks are more active and these times are May through October. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly the water temperatures. Contrary to what you would normally expect, the temperature of the water is actually warmer during the winter months (approx. 16 degrees C) than it is during the summer months (approx. 9 degrees C). Sharks prefer the warmer waters and are therefore far more active during the winter than during the summer, and unfortunately that coincides with the time of year when the weather is at its worst. Also November is when the Cape Fur Seal pups. The Cape Fur Seal, being the Great Whites main source of food, congregate in their thousands on Geyser Rock, where up to 60 000 can be found during the pupping and mating season, November/December. With this great abundance of food around it is extremely difficult to attract the sharks to the boat, and if you do, they are just not interested in the bait you have put out to attract their attention, which is hopefully, long enough for the divers to get into the cage and view them in their natural surroundings.

The best reef diving in South Africa is at Sodwana Bay, and November is one of the best month to dive Sodwana. Sodwana is about an 8 hour drive from Johannesburg, or you could fly from Jo'burg to Durban and from Durban its an easy 4 hour drive to Sodwana. The reefs of Sodwana are one of the southern most coral reefs in the world and are even more south than Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef has 1 800 species of fish and Sodwana which is 1/10 the size of the Great Barrier Reef has 1 200 species of fish, 6 of which are endemic to the Sodwana area. Therefore your chances of seeing more species of fish are great at Sodwana than at the Great Barrier reef due to the concentration of the area that you are diving on! At Sodwana Bay the reefs are all unromantically named by the distance they are from the launch site, Jesser Point I.e. 2 Mile Reef, 5 Mile Reef, 7 Mile Reef and 9 Mile Reef. Most South Africans learn to dive at Sodwana so your boy friend will have no problem diving Sodwana, but he must be certified before he comes.

There is also a very nice game reserve 2 hours drive from Sodwana, Hluhluwe Game Reserve. Hluhluwe, the oldest game reserve in Africa was established in 1897, and prior to that is was the hunting preserve of the Zulu Kings. Its 23 000 ha in extent and 30 kilometre’s across and although it's not a very large reserve (by Kruger standards) it is home to "Africa's Big 5" lion, leopard, buffalo, rhino and elephant. Hluhluwe is especially know for it's conservation and breeding success of the highly endangered Black Rhino. At Hluhluwe you have the option of joining a KZN (KwaZulu/Natal) Parks Ranger on an escorted morning, afternoon or evening game drive in an open safari vehicle or you can drive yourself around the reserve should you elect to rent a car.

If you do decide to dive Sodwana, Hluhluwe would be ideal for the safari portion of your trip.

Jen, there you have it. I hope I have not confused you with all the options. I think the starting point would be to find our where you will be on assignment, and then decide if you want to go to Cape Town for the Great White's and if you want to do a combination of diving Sodwana with a safari in Hluhluwe. You should also think about if you want to rent a car and self-drive Sodwana and Hluhluwe or would you prefer us to organise transfers.

What ever you wish I'm sure we can put together a trip of a lifetime.

I look forward to hearing from you in this regard.

Best "Fishes"

Tim.