Everything ocean related, with a special focus on scuba diving the rich coastal waters of Cape Town, South Africa.
Places to dive – in Cape Town and elsewhere
As Sophie and I started our ascent I saw a huge ribbontail ray swimming away from us on the sand. It was surgy and there was lots of sand in the water (as can be seen from the photos), so he disappeared fast.
Dive date: 19 April 2011
Air temperature: 23 degrees
Water temperature: 24 degrees
Maximum depth: 13.8 metres
Visibility: 10 metres
Dive duration: 55 minutes
Stringer is made up of two separate, small outcrops separated by a sand strip about 20 metres wide. It’s a fish nursery, teeming with life, and we saw juveniles galore!
Dive date: 19 April 2011
Air temperature: 23 degrees
Water temperature: 24 degrees
Maximum depth: 13.8 metres
Visibility: 10 metres
Dive duration: 55 minutes
We’ve dived the SAS Good Hope several times – it’s one of the most popular wrecks of the five in Smitswinkel Bay. There are some photos here from Tami, Kate’s and my Wreck Specialty course, but it was only on election day (18 May) that I did a dive there that combined spectacular visibility with good light from above. My camera is small, but by trying to keep still I was able to take some longer wide-angle shots that capture the scale of the ship and the state of the wreckage.
The wreckage of the Good Hope is encrusted with rich invertebrate life, as are the other Smitswinkel Bay wrecks. There are also sometimes great schools of fish that hover above the wreck, illustrating what a rich habitat an artificial reef can be. We found a large smooth horsefish (photo here) and some sleeping pyjama catsharks on deck.
Next to the Good Hope, about 10 metres away with her stern pointing roughly at the middle of the Good Hope, is the MFV Princess Elizabeth, a much smaller fishing trawler. The visibility was so good that I was able to get a couple of pictures of her stern from my vantage point next to the Good Hope.
Dive date: 18 May 2011
Air temperature: 18 degrees
Water temperature: 12 degrees
Maximum depth: 31.7 metres
Visibility: 15 metres
Dive duration: 36 minutes
Dive date: 19 April 2011
Air temperature: 22 degrees
Water temperature: 24 degrees
Maximum depth: 15.9 metres
Visibility: 10 metres
Dive duration: 59 minutes
Chain is so named because there is a ship’s anchor chain lying across the reef (hard to spot – I didn’t see it). This was my favourite dive in Sodwana this time around.
Dive date: 19 April 2011
Air temperature: 22 degrees
Water temperature: 24 degrees
Maximum depth: 15.9 metres
Visibility: 10 metres
Dive duration: 59 minutes
Dive date: 18 April 2011
Air temperature: 22 degrees
Water temperature: 24 degrees
Maximum depth: 16.0 metres
Visibility: 10 metres
Dive duration: 59 minutes
Dive date: 18 April 2011
Air temperature: 22 degrees
Water temperature: 24 degrees
Maximum depth: 16.0 metres
Visibility: 10 metres
Dive duration: 59 minutes
Dive date: 18 April 2011
Air temperature: 22 degrees
Water temperature: 23 degrees
Maximum depth: 29.8 metres
Visibility: 20 metres
Dive duration: 33 minutes
This was a deep dive along the edge of the reef where large pelagic creatures are sometimes seen. Kate and Sophie saw lots of rays lying in the sand. I saw two devil firefish, but my flash isn’t strong enough to capture their red colour (so the one in this photo looks a bit grey).
Dive date: 18 April 2011
Air temperature: 22 degrees
Water temperature: 23 degrees
Maximum depth: 29.8 metres
Visibility: 20 metres
Dive duration: 33 minutes
Dive date: 17 April 2011
Air temperature: 24 degrees
Water temperature: 24 degrees
Maximum depth: 17.8 metres
Visibility: 20 metres
Dive duration: 60 minutes
