Newsletter: Sodwana, out of air & boat dives

Hi everyone

I hope you are all well and happy to see January coming to a close. It seems like yesterday we were thinking of Christmas, yet here we are planning Easter.

Recent stuff

We have had odd weather patterns all over the world, somewhere somehow they are connected and we could say we are fortunate not to have floods and other major disasters but the southeaster has stirred our waters up a lot and diving has not been business as usual. We have had a few exceptional days but far fewer than we need.

This past weekend we managed only one launch and cancelled the second. The plan to dive a new pinnacle off North Paw did not pan out as the water was green there, we then moved the dive to the recently discovered Cape Matapan wreck in Table Bay. The current was quite strong, the water was 6 degrees at 26 metres and the visibility was 10-12 metres. An out of air diver at 26 metres shortened the dive somewhat but we all had a good dive.

False Bay has flattened nicely and I had two good dives at Long Beach yesterday (15 degrees celcius) and today looks as good.

Sodwana

The Sodwana trip is set and we have 9 confirmed so far. There is room for 20 divers and as many non diving partners as you like so think about it and start deciding. With 20 people we will have two boats and one will do deep sites for the Advanced and deep junkies and the other will cover Open Water divers. We managed to book flights today, Cape Town to Durban return for about R1200 per person, car rental at around R400 a day so sharing of cars as we did on the last trip makes it much cheaper.

Being so close to Easter means that as the Easter bookings start filling up the airlines will bump the next or previous days prices so book flights as soon as possible if you are planning on coming. I have made a provisional booking for accommodation in Sodwana but will need details from everyone as to the type of accommodation you require. I have attached details again in case you have queries, we need only pay a 10% deposit this month and the balance at the end of March so it is affordable. The critical issue is flights, booking early is a sure fire way to a good deal, but the last minute prices will be 4 times higher.

You need to arrive in Durban by 2pm at the very latest on the 16th April, and to leave Durban not before 3pm on the 20th, otherwise we will be too rushed getting back to the airport.

This weekend

I have booked two launches for Saturday, the first being a deep dive as the Deep specialty students need to go to 35 – 40 metres. The second boat load will be for Open Water divers with a maximum depth of 18 metres. At this point the weather is favorable for False Bay but we could end up in the Atlantic if the abovementioned odd weather patterns step in…

Sunday will be a pool day as I have three students for the pool, if you want to join us and play with your gear and buoyancy (in a far corner) just shout.

Some of you are on this newsletter only and I don’t have cell numbers, please send me your number if you want to be on the sms list as that is the only way to reach everyone on a busy dive day.

Lastly, the same old MPA permit rant… Pleeeeeeeeezzzzze get yours at a post office near you.

Regards

Tony Lindeque
076 817 1099
www.learntodivetoday.co.za
www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog
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