Scuba Dive Blog » Favorite dive sites around Cape Town
We all have our favourite dive sites. There are many factors that can influence your affinity towards a specific dive site. Some of us like diving on shipwrecks. Some of us enjoy entering an underwater almost out-of-body experience as we descend into the peace that is a reef... or maybe, it is the magic of the sunlight filtering down through the leaves of a kelp forest that keeps drawing you back to your dive site.
Some scuba divers prefer sites that have an easy entry and exit, while others are willing to climb down a cliff side to reach their favourite dive spots.
I have three favourite dive sites.
The first would be the Aster shipwreck, lying just outside Houtbay. It has a maximum depth of 28 meters, and is a fishing vessel that was especially prepared for divers before she was shuttled. She sits upright, and can be penetrated. My favourite feature on this wreck is the fact that the mast is still intact - which means that you can do a large portion of your ascent along the mast.
My second favourite is Vulcan Rock, a bit further out of Houtbay. This site is a reef, and my favourite part of this site is the cave/swim-through, of which the entrance is at a depth of about 15 meters. Is has four entry point, and is probably about 20-30 meters long. While diving inside the cave, there is often a deep rumbling sound, as what sounds like a huge boulder that is being moved around by the ocean.
My third site is the wreck of the SAS Pietermaritzburg. Formerly known as the HMS Pelorus, she has been scuttled in 1994. The thing that attracts me most on this ship is her history - she was one of the leading ships in the D-day invasions, deployed as a mine sweeper. When I dive around her, I like to imagine that day... canons booming, sailors shouting and running around on her, the sky filled with planes and smoke... quite spooky!
What about you ? What are your favourite dive spots ? Why do you like them ?
I really enjoy Shark Alley and the Atlantic side of Cape Town, especially the Sandy Cove area (across the 12 Apostles Hotel), for me these two sites really put you in a different world, if you have time go I highly recommend them…
The feeling you get at Shark Alley is something special, there is an abundance of tiny sea life that you can admire and the topography is something out of this world, it's like you get lost in time and when you look up a 3m long Cow Shark comes cruising by like he has all the time in the world and you've got to stop and think, "Why are we in such a hurry?" life is relaxed and nature proves it...
At Sandy Cove the Kelp Forrest's with all the little caves and zigzag swims takes you to a world where you feel like you are floating in an underwater jungle, just remember to check your gauge to see how much bar you've got left, because you will want to stay down there the whole day... every diving spot has got their own magical feeling. But if I have to write down all of them I would have to publish a book…
So go check out these locations, I guarantee, you won’t be disappointed.
Posted by Darius , 18/07/2011 11:27am (10 months ago)
Having been injured for most of last of summer, I'm sorry to say that my most regular (and of necessity, favourite) dive site became my bath! Quiet, peaceful but reading the Divestyle through a prescription mask is never quite the same as the real thing! Joking aside, my favourite sites have to be:-
- The SAS Pietermaritzburg - not even self imposed technical difficulties took away from the excitement of my first wreck dive and the abundance of marine life is a marvel;
- Shark Alley, for the same reasons as Louis;
- Justin's Caves - those swim throughs - what more can one say?
- A-Frame for the abundance of marine life;
- Windmill for the ease of entry and the quality of the diving;
- The Antipilos..I always notice something new; and
- Strawberry Rock - the seals are always fun to watch.
Finally, it is just great to be in the ocean - there is always something new to see and it is always refreshing to enter the other worls..1
Posted by Nic, 16/07/2011 11:28am (10 months ago)
Like Theo said, there are so many factors to take into consideration.
I can start off by saying my favourite is a night dive. Doesn't matter where, as long as its at night. You can do a site day after day after day, but do it at night, its a complete different world.
To my favourite sites, I love Shark Alley, where our local cow sharks (7 gill shark) reside. Getting so close and personal with these majestic, primal "fish" is a feeling one cannot describe.
On one dive at that site I managed to see, 5 species of shark, a stingray, octopus and a few cuttlefish. Needless to say, I was in awe. Its a dive I will always remember.
Another site I love to dive must most definitely be A-Frame. The colours down there blow my mind every time I see it. The blues are bluer, the greens are greener, the bright purples and pinks. I can easily just stare for hours.
Here in the Cape I don't think people realise how lucky we are. We have such amazing sites on our doorstep. How you can look at the ocean and don't just wanna take a jump in is beyond me.
Posted by Louis Eerenstein, 12/07/2011 8:26am (10 months ago)
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