South Africa

Gansbaii is about 2 hours drive eastwards from Cape Town. This is one of the best places in the world to dive with great white sharks. Just 20 minute’s boat ride from Gansbaii is Dyer Island and Geyser Rock, where great whites cruise around the sea lion colonies looking for food. Spending a day out cage diving with these amazing animals is an absolute must.

When to go
Water temperatures are usually between 10°C and 20°C. The water is actually warmest during the winter months (May to September), than during the summer months (October to April), and this is due to the effect of the Agulhas Current.

Simon’s Town is also famous for its wonderful kelp forests and Broadnose Seven Gill Cow sharks. We highly recommend you take a full day 2-tank diving trip to experience this unique area.

A combination dive day will give you the chance of seeing a Broadnose Seven-gill Cow Shark, experience the beauty of the kelp forests, plus there are wonderful reefs and Cape Fur Seal dives.

When to go
Diving is good all year round and this is a wonderful add-on to any South Africa itinerary.

Probably South Africa’s biggest underwater attraction, this annual migration occurs between May and July and is an exhilarating experience not to be missed.  This natural phenomenon occurs when billions of sardines spawn in the temperate waters of the South coast and head North East into subtropical waters. It’s a waiting game for the predators who congregate until the shoals form (often in excess of 7km long and 30 metres deep) before the feeding frenzy ensues. Gannets form an aerial assault while dolphins separate the shoals into smaller, more densely populated bait balls which make easy pickings for themselves as well as sharks and large gulps for the Bryde’s whale.

When to go
The Sardine run occurs during the months of May, June and July. As the Sardine Run is an act of nature it can be unpredictable and so cannot be guaranteed or have a best time to see. To give you the best chance of seeing the action, we offer Sardine Run trips from three locations; Port St John’s, Kentani and East London, all of which are reached via a flight into Durban. 

Just a one hour drive north of Durban, is Umkomass. This is where you can dive the amazing Aliwal Shoal, a reef system created out of fossilised sandstone, some 80,000 years ago. About 2.5km long, the reefs have depths varying from 6 – 27m and offer superb diving and to all levels of scuba divers. The reefs are covered with both soft and hard corals and have an abundance of fish life that is normally associated with tropical coral reef diving.  Aliwal Shoal’s marine life includes Sand Tiger Sharks (June thru November), Tiger Sharks (December thru May), Oceanic Blacktip Sharks (all year round), Bottle Nose Dolphin (all year round), Turtles (all year round), Manta Rays (November thru March), Humpback Whales (June thru November)

In addition to the reef itself, there are also two good wrecks: The Produce is an 18,000 ton Norwegian tanker that hit the Shoal and sank in 1974, and lies at 32m. The Nebo, which struck the shoal in May 1884, sunk almost immediately with its cargo of railway material. It now lies at 27m.

Located on the East coast in KwaZulu-Natal near Mozambique, Sodwana Bay is located in the centre of a vast and wonderfully unspoilt marine reserve and is known as South Africa’s diving capital. The world’s most southerly hard corals can be found here along a stretch of 50km reef systems with a great diversity of seascapes and marine life. Being on the Indian Ocean side you can expect warmer waters with over 1200 species of tropical fish as well as large pelagics passing through.   

The best months for diving at Sodwana Bay are from April through to September, with the clearest visibility usually being May and June. The water temperature is usually between 24-28C, but with some cooler thermoclines down 21C. Sodwana Bay is reached via a 4.5hr road transfer from Durban airport.

Where else in the world can you spend 5-days diving with sharks, followed by a 3-night safari in the wilds of Africa looking for Africa’s “Big 5” (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo.) Only in South Africa!

Includes transfers, diving, meals as stated in itinerary (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner), entrance fees. The below itinerary is a brief desciption of the daily activities – please contact us for a fully detailed itinerary.
Excludes international flights.