Swell – Page 19 – Learn to Dive Today Blog

Newsletter: Spring has sprung, and another dive trip is in the making…

Hello diving people

Let’s skip the weather.

"Yes you can be my dive buddy, but only if Tony has a wetsuit in your size." — “Yes you can be my dive buddy, but only if Tony has a wetsuit in your size.”

Travel

We are long overdue for a dive trip. The last two trips we did as a group, to Sodwana, were extremely enjoyable but most of the regular trippers are looking for something new.

Mozambique

There are two options currently being investigated. We can go to Ponta Do Ouro, a little over 100 kilometres north of Sodwana, or to Inhambane, a little over 650 kilometres north of the border between South Africa and Mozambique. We’d fly to Johannesburg in both cases. To get to Ponta we’d rent cars and drive to the border, where we’d be picked up by the dive centre and driven the 7 kilometres over the dunes into Mozambique, to Ponta. If we went to Inhambane, we’d fly from Johannesburg to Inhambane with LAM, which costs about R3,500.

Sodwana worked out at around R3,500 per person all in all, but Mozambique is way more expensive. For Ponta we would probably get away with around R5,000-R7,000 all in and Inhambane will be around R7,000 – R10,000 per person, depending of course on how many dives we do, how long we stay (we’re thinking four to seven days), and what sort of accommodation we choose.

Any of these packages would include flights, cars, dives and accommodation. Before you fall over clutching your chest I can tell you that just dives alone are almost twice the price they are here at home or in Sodwana. Everything costs more there and it has a lot to do with the remoteness of the place. I worked in Ponto and there are no Game stores, Woolworths or even 24 hour fuel station shops. Everything is transported from SA on 4×4 trucks so that is the main reason for the higher costs. These remote locations are seldom ever cheaper than Sodwana as some of the operators charge R270 – R350 a dive. However I must say the diving and the reefs are stunning. There are a few videos on my YouTube page that show some of the diving you will experience.

We’re thinking of going during April or May, and we’d try to get low season prices, so it would be outside of school holidays and long weekends. We’d use Simply Scuba in Ponta do Ouro, or Jeff’s Palm Resort in Inhambane – go check out their websites. I’ve attached the list of dive sites close to Jeff’s Palm here, for you to peruse (and drool over).

To get decent prices we need to have some idea of numbers so text or email me if you think you might want to come along.

The MFV Orotava belonged to the I&J fishing fleet

Training

We are busy with Open Water and Advanced courses, and Deep and Nitrox Specialties. Most of these courses still have space so jump on if you want some more experience.

Courses may seem expensive at first but for example if you did five casual dives on your own (with a buddy of course) with rented equipment over three days doing two shore dives and three boat dives you would each spend around R2,000 – R3,000 depending on how many dives you did each day. The average price in Cape Town for gear rental and a boat dive is around R500. Thus by doing a course you also receive a qualification, something that most dive centres around the world will want to see before you can join some of their dives.

Weekend plans

There is a swell smacking the bay tomorrow which will cut diving out on Saturday. I will have a pool day with new students so if you want to play the fool in the pool, text me.

Sunday we are on the boat for both launches, the first being a deep dive to the Smitswinkel Bay wrecks and the second will be to the wreck of the SAS Pietermaritzburg.

Railings and other fittings abound on the deck of the MFV Orotava

Last week’s diving

Last weekend we had some good diving on the MFV Orotava, one of the five Smits wrecks, and the second dive to Roman Rock. The visibility was great and the surface conditions not too bad. Tuesday we dived on Photographer’s Reef and had just got out of the water and back to shore when the wind picked up. Diving was great – this is a magnificent site.

Justin and Cindy behind the reef at Roman Rock

Dumb diving

I have been asked what DUMB DIVING is… Well let me give you an example.

Dumb diving is rolling into the water, descending and finding the cover and batteries from your video light lying on the seafloor waiting for you when you get there… And watching another piece of your rig float slowly down in front of your eyes. The word dumb comes to mind! Note to self: tighten video light cover securely before entering the water!

Flagellar sea fan at Roman Rock (and very respectable visibility)

regards

Tony Lindeque
076 817 1099
www.learntodivetoday.co.za
www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog
Diving is addictive!

Newsletter: Diving and surfing

Hello divers

What would a diving newsletter be without a weather rant. RANT. Big swells, rain and a fair bit of wind have hampered diving the last week or so. The surfers have had some amazing waves at Dungeons, huge is a better way of putting it. There has been a fair amount of northerly wind so the visibility at Long Beach yesterday was a good 10 metres and the water was 14 degrees. The weekend looks windy and a huge swell will again pass by but False Bay should be okay for a few dives. We are diving the Smits wrecks on Saturday deepish 35 meters and then going to Roman Rock. Sunday we hope to do shore entries providing the wind holds off.

Clare and I attended an interesting talk at the Save Our Seas Shark Centre last night on the bull shark research program being run in the Breede river. This was the third talk in the series and they all cover different topics, shark related. The The talks we have attended at Dive Action – about diving medicine and the sardine run, amongst other things, have also been very good so if you are keen to join us for any of them mail me and I will keep you on the list for future talks. If you have not visited their site do it now here

Sadly there have been a few fatalities around the world in recent weeks and the shark is once again taking the heat. The Russian and the Seychelles governments are on a “hunt them down” campaign. A marine biologist friend of mine in the Seychelles tells me people are behaving like lunatics. Closer to home, the Plett incident has thankfully not become a frenzy as yet and I think this is largely due to the fact there are several organisations, like Save Our Seas, doing a lot of work on awareness campaigns. I find it constantly amazing that every time there is a shark attack the media will say it was a great white without a shred of proof.

This weekend we are running Nitrox (Enriched Air) courses, Deep Specialty and Advanced diver while on the boat and will continue with Open Water diver courses on Sunday. We are starting new Open Water students next weekend and a new Advanced diver course. There is always space for you!!! I would also like to do some night diving soon as it has been a while since the last one. Come and test your navigational skills by moonlight and see what the ocean keeps hidden by day.

We are trying to decide where to go for our next trip, the options are Durban and Aliwal Shoal, Sodwana Bay or southern Mozambique. Text me your preference, it does not have to mean you are coming with, it will just give me an indication of what most of you on this mailing list would prefer.

A reminder that if you want to join us on 17 September cleaning up Hout Bay harbour (underwater, of course!) with OMSAC, visit the OMSAC home page to get registration details.

I have no idea of how many of you read the blog but many of you feature on the blog. Just type your first name into the search field in the top right hand corner and sit back and enjoy the fame!!! Should you not appear it means you have not done enough diving in the last year… And you all know who you are…

And, finally, just a reminder about your MPA permits. If you don’t have one, go and get one before you come diving. At the Post Office. Do it!

Be good, have fun, and get wet.

Tony Lindeque
076 817 1099
www.learntodivetoday.co.za
www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog
Diving is addictive!

Seli 1 update for 2011

The Seli 1 ran aground off Bloubergstrand in September 2009. Because we love shipwrecks, Tony and I visit her fairly regularly (and the Milky Lane across the road).

Here’s an update on her status, in pictorial form. As far as news goes, it’s thin on the ground. It was reported in March 2011 that the wreck would be strategically weakened through the detonation of explosives in order to expedite its demolition by winter storms. It’s expected that by the end of next year the wreck will be no more. Let’s wait and see!

When we visited the wreck last night, we could see holes all the way through the bow, where the sea washes through. The stern is now so low in the water that – in the massive swell we are experiencing this week – it is completely awash at times. There are still cranes on the wreck and the sandbanks around it are making surfers and kite surfers very happy indeed.

Seli 1 on 22 August 2011 (taken with iPhone, hence indifferent quality!)

Underwater Explorers has dived around the wreck already, this past summer. Looking forward to checking it out myself, as soon as the southeaster starts up again in earnest.

If you’re interested in visible shipwrecks, check out my ebook Cape Town’s Visible Shipwrecks: A Guide for Explorers!

Newsletter: Artificial reef, storms, and Coastal Cleanup

Hi divers

The weather has been kind this week and we had really good diving on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Cape water took a little getting used to again for me because the last dive I did in Malta was in 24 degree water…

Conditions this week were clean and clear

But when we dived on Wednesday we visited the artificial reef we are working on at Long Beach, and it showed a lot of happiness and life. It is amazing how quickly and thoroughly the items we placed in the water have been colonised.

Artificial reef materials - before — Artificial reef materials – before

The vase looks quite different now, two months later

International Coastal Cleanup Day

Saturday 17 September is International Coastal Cleanup Day, and this year we will again be joining OMSAC as they clean up Hout Bay Harbour. Each diver is issued with a mesh bag, and collects garbage from the dive location. A bit of judgment is required, because sometimes a piece of junk has been so grown over and inhabited by marine life that you’d do worse removing it than if you just left it there! If you’ve driven through Hout Bay Harbour on the way to a dive site in the Atlantic, you’ll know it’s usually sheltered, calm, and visited by massive seals!

Coffee jar freshly situated in the water

The information sign, newly placed in the water

The sign has barnacles growing on it now

This is an opportunity to dive in a place you wouldn’t usually be able to, and to do something good for the environment. It’ll be easy, shallow diving and there will be food on sale and a nice crowd of people to meet. Clare and I participated in their clean-up of Robben Island Harbour last year, and it was an incredibly well organised and enjoyable day out.

A small shyshark has made one of the coffee jars his home

Registration is R25 and if you want to come along you must arrange this directly with OMSAC. There is more information about how to register on the OMSAC home page.

Weekend diving

Diving this weekend is difficult to predict because of the weather. A large storm is expected on Sunday/Monday which brings massive swell and strong winds. The boats are not going out, but anyone who wants to dive please let me know, and if conditions permit on Saturday we will find a sheltered shore entry or two to explore.

Courses

I am currently busy with Deep and Nitrox Specialty courses, and have Open Water courses on the go too. If you’d like to further your training, you know how to contact me!

regards

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

Diving is addictive!

Newsletter: Malta, wrecks, clear water & Cape weather

Hi everyone

Clare and I have just returned from an epic trip where we visited Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and Malta. In total we took close to 10 000 photos above and below the surface, and close to 10 hours of underwater video. We were fortunate with the weather and only had a few hours of rain whilst driving from Germany to Denmark.

Whilst in Malta, we had 30+ degrees celcius sunny weather with slight breeze every day and of the 10 dives we did, 9 were to between 30 and 40 metres with water temperatures around 23-25 degrees celcius, apart from a deeper dive where the temperature dropped to 18 degrees inside one of the wrecks. The visibility was on average 30 metres. We tried some cave diving and I now understand the allure of cave diving far better than before I had tried it. We saw amongst other things free swimming bluefin tuna, possibly escaped from the many tuna farms in the ocean just off the islands, and on the wrecks we saw barracuda.

Back to Cape Town diving… The weather for the weekend does not look at all good. There is a cold front coming tomorrow bringing with it a 7 metre swell that will ruin the weekend’s diving prospects. This drops off on Sunday and every day next week looks good at this point. I am busy with a few courses so I will dive most of the days next week.

The summer season is fast approaching and things get a lot busier so August is possibly the last chance this year for some ”special offers”.

As an Open Water diver you can take this option. Advanced, Deep and Nitrox special: you pay for the Advanced and the Deep Specialty and get the Nitrox free, you save R1050. Otherwise, as an Advanced diver, you can do Deep Specialty and get Nitrox for R450. You save R550.

Ship's captain, aka Clare — Ship’s captain, aka Clare

To have the right qualifications to dive on most of the best wrecks in Cape Town a Nitrox and Deep Specialty are good qualifications to have. A wreck specialty is required to penetrate wrecks and the best wreck in Cape town for this is the MV Aster in Hout Bay. If wreck penetration is on your bucket list mail me and we can get started. Don’t get me wrong here, Cape Town has many many stunning dives for the Open Water diver and a list can be found here, but if deep or wreck diving are your thing then make sure you have the right qualifications, they do improve your diving skills, make you a safe diver a safer buddy and give you a rush.

On board a traditional Maltese (dive) boat

Mail me for more info if you are interested.

regards

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

Diving is addictive!

Newsletter: Cage diving

Hello everyone

Cage diving has long been on my bucket list. Yesterday it moved from being something I want to do one day to something I must do again. There is huge debate as to whether or not it is an eco-friendly practice but the ethics of chumming and baiting sharks is an entire chapter on its own.

This practice is once again in the limelight as a diver was bitten by a dusky shark in Natal yesterday whilst on a baited dive. For those that don’t know what this is, it is basically a group of divers hanging in mid water around a washing machine drum filled with shark bait. The idea is this draws the sharks for viewing and photographing.

It would appear from the press release that the shark took a bite at the divers fins in a ”mistaken Identity” incident. The diver sustained bites but survived. A huge debate will now ensue. Irrespective of whether you are for or against the practice, it is true to say that seeing these majestic creatures underwater does give them more of a chance at survival as more and more people come to understand them as huge predators entitled to use the ocean and not as man-eating killing machines as they have for so long been portrayed.

But back to cage diving, Clare took me to Gaansbaai for my birthday and we did a trip with Marine Dynamics. We had booked with Apex in Simon’s Town but the weather in False Bay on Wednesday precluded the chance of getting in the cage so we felt it would be a waste.

The boat was solid, (built entirely from aluminium) and the trip out to Dyer Island took around 25 minutes.

Add some chum (chopped up fish bits) and a constant trickle of blood and fish oils…

Add a cage (seven people at a time)…

Add a decoy and a bait lump of fish heads and wait…

It was slow according to the operator and it took two hours before the first shark appeared. The shark did a drive by of the decoy and the bait block and then did a few passing lunges. The bait handler was quick and made sure the shark never ”got the food”.

However the chum slick of fish blood and oils is constantly trickled out of a drum on the boat and the sharks hang around whilst all the passengers have 20 minute stints in the cage. Clare and I had two rounds in the cage with a video and a still camera. We will put the video and photo’s up on the blog in a few days.

This weekend

The bay has been pummeled by big swells lately so diving has been limited. Saturday and Sunday look good providing we have an early start on Sunday as the wind picks up around midday. Saturday, Grant will launch the boat for a deep dive to Smits wrecks and then a shallow dive on the wreck of the Pietermaritzburg. Launching from Millers point.

best regards

Tony Lindeque
076 817 1099
www.learntodivetoday.co.za
www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog
Diving is addictive!

Surf launching

The vast majority of the best diving in the world lies beneath the ocean. I know there are many wonderful and exciting cave and quarry sites as well as inland lakes, but in South Africa we dive mostly in the ocean. Some of the launches are from sheltered harbour jetties and some are from sheltered launch sites in a cove or a bay. Many are however straight off the beach through the surf (such as in Sodwana, where these pictures were taken). On a calm flat sea this is very easy and safe but in rough conditions with huge swells it has a few risks.

The tractor pushes the boat into the water

The best operators and boat skippers will know the local conditions well and will rarely if ever launch if there are huge swells. So if the skipper is confident you should be safe.

The ladies climb in after pushing the boat out a bit

A semi-ridgid inflatable dive boat is an extremely robust piece of equipment. They are well put together and can withstand a huge amount of punishment from the skipper and the ocean. They are also most often raced up the beach at high speed after every dive so they need to be tough. Most if not all will float despite being swamped with water, and many will stay afloat with more than 50% loss of air in the pontoons. There is most often a stainless steel keel strip under the boat and this takes most of the load as the boat is beached and trailored.

The risks

A dive boat filled with divers and their gear is stable and sits low in the water. The skipper will move people around to get the boat balanced and level and if all the divers have their feet in the foot straps on the deck it is then safe to race through the waves. Wave after wave can be punched with a boat and with the correct and well timed throttle control each wave can be crested gently without too much bone jarring. An inflatable boat can become almost vertical without capsizing but what it cannot do, nor can any other vessel for that matter, is handle waves from the side. A wave must be approached at as close to 90 degrees as possible. A huge swell can be approached at any angle, but a breaking or foamy wave must not.

Almost any boat will be rolled over by the motion of the wave. Unless you are on a keel boat (like a yacht), once over you are staying like that. A capsizing dive boat fills the air then the water with potentially lethal objects. Airborne weight belts, cylinders and cameras all have the potential for injury. Sandbanks are the most common cause of dive boats being rolled over as a sandbank stops the boat in its tracks allowing a wave to swing the boat on the anchored point (the motors) and the next wave will roll the boat over. The other cause of dive boat rollovers is a motor stalling in the middle of the launch. The sudden loss of power will render the boat poorly powered for wave hopping.

The skipper guides the boat through the breakers

There are to my knowledge no practiced suggestions on how to stay safe. If the boat is going to go over the skipper will most likely shout “Jump!” and then do so quickly and try to get as far away from the boat as possible.

The most important rules:

Make sure you know that the skipper is experienced and aware of the local conditions.
Make sure the boat is in a well maintained state.
Make sure you are opposite your gear, it is secured correctly and add a little air to you BCD. This way it will float if tossed into the sea.

Don’t listen to the loud mouths on the boat that tell you to look at the land to avoid nausea. You won’t get sick while the boat is moving. WATCH the skipper, watch the sea and see what is coming at you. This way you can brace yourself for a wave, or any other unlikely event .

Despite the seemingly ease at which a boat rolls over I have done over a thousand dives from a rubber duck, launched through surf myself as a skipper and have never seen a dive boat go over. Many fishing boats, yes, but not dive boats. I think the industry and skippers in southern Africa and Mozambique are all well aware of the risks, loss of income and potential lawsuits so boats are generally well maintained and the skippers are experienced and capable. A skipper that gives divers scary launches does not last long in a dive resort. So sit back, hold on, feet in the straps and enjoy the ride.

Seasickness: The final word on ginger

I never thought I was the type to get seasick, but after taking up diving and spending a lot more time on boats than I did previously, I discovered that I can be pushed to a particular (unpleasant) limit. This next paragraph or two is going to sound as though I’m enumerating my chundering capabilities, but it provides context. Sorry in advance!

I am quite intolerant of surge, and have been ill on or after one or two particularly surgy dives such as a recent at Shark Alley. I’ve gotten sick once or twice on boat dives in Cape Town but had really bad experiences when I went to Sodwana for the first time.

Tony and Grant - these two clowns never get seasick — Tony and Grant – these two clowns never get seasick

The boat dives in Sodwana are surf launches, which I find scary but manageable. When the boat is moving and wind is in my face I feel perfectly fine. I did struggle with nausea and vomiting while putting on our kit on the boat before the dive, and quite a lot while underwater. The surge in Sodwana is often quite severe, and after a while my brain and body rebel against the back and forth motion – often at the safety stop. Fortunately I’m well practised at vomiting through a regulator – it can be done!

I wasn’t taking any preventative measures for sea- or motion sickness last time we visited Sodwana (in October 2010), but on this last trip (April 2011) I decided to conclude my trial of ginger as an anti-nausea medication. You may recall that I located some ginger capsules at my local pharmacy – two per day is the dosage, and while they smell like fresh gingerbread they seem to have a fairly irritant effect on my throat and stomach. I never took them with food because eating before a bumpy boat ride doesn’t appeal to me, but this might help!

The bad news is that, despite regular ginger dosings, I got sick on every single one of the six dives I did in Sodwana this time round. Only once or twice on the boat, but at every safety stop and on most of the repetitive dives after as little as ten minutes. The feeling of nausea persisted for an hour or two after the last dive, as well, which made me poor company until I’d had a nap! It’s physically draining and also a bit scary, even though I know I won’t drown if I keep my head and don’t panic.

So, ginger, thanks, it was fun, but I have to move on.

Future avenues of research include green apples (really?) and Stugeron – the hard stuff. I’m reluctant to go this route, but Tony and I are going shark cage diving at the end of June and there’s NO WAY I will be adding my own chum to the water instead of watching the whites breaching at Seal Island!

To dive, or not to dive?

Becoming a qualified scuba diver is for some people a dream, a huge achievement, for some just another minor achievement and for others a piece of cake. Irrespective of your comfort level when trying something new, the level of enjoyment is largely dependent on the rate of progress you make and the diligence of the trainer.

I tried skydiving once and had my first jump cancelled several times, not by the instructor, but by the pilot who refused to take-off in poor conditions. I tried microlights too and had the same problem. Diving is no different. The Instructor or Divemaster should cancel the day’s diving if the conditions are less than optimal.

Unpleasant surface conditions at the Clan Stuart

It is true to say that once below the surface the conditions above don’t always have too much bearing on the dive. Choppy surface conditions can soon be forgotten once at depth. For a seasoned diver the surface conditions are seldom a big issue but new divers and for students slowly coming to terms with a host of new skills, equipment, and the recent dive briefing are very susceptible to panic on the surface.

A stressed diver on the surface, being battered by choppy seas is often encouraged to descend: “Descend quickly and then you will feel better.” This is far from the truth. Descending a near-panicked diver or even a highly stressed diver is the wrong choice. Put them back on the boat or take them back to shore.

The same is true for poor visibility, which can often increase stress and lead to panic. Diving in bad visibility is a skill that will be learned at a more advanced level – an Open Water diver should not have to contend with pea-soup on their first sea dives.

Chocolate-coloured visibility in False Bay

A new diver has many new things to think about and to ensure they get the pleasure from diving they should it is important to move at a pace that maintains their sense of achievement and that they are ready for the next step before you proceed. All too often time and money influence the decisions to dive or cancel, and new divers end up going into the ocean when they honestly should not, and if they were given a choice they would not dive. A Divemaster or Instructor insisting that “the water will be fine when we are in” is doing the dive industry a disservice as most new divers never dive again if their qualifying dives were a nightmare.

Sodwana 2011 trip report

We have recently returned from another successful dive trip to Sodwana Bay. For those that have not been there, it is a sheltered bay just south of the Mozambique border and is home to one of the top dive sites in the world. The coastline consists of approx. 12-15 kilometres of pristine reef with much of it at a depth of between 12 and 20 metres. There are deeper sites there too but for the vast majority of recreational divers, Two Mile, Five Mile and Nine Mile reef are diving destinations unparalleled in South Africa.

Swimming pool and dining area (on the right) at Coral Divers

Sodwana Bay has a selection of 10-15 dive operators and they all have something special to offer. We chose Coral Divers on both the trips we have done for a host of reasons. The camp runs perfectly, the food is excellent, the dive planning and beach control is exceptional and they are very accommodating when it comes to divers chopping and changing sites and dives. The boats are in good condition and we had not a single reason to complain about anything. They transport you to and from the beach by means of a covered trailer with benches towed slowly by a tractor, they have gear crates, showers and baths for gear rinsing and adequate place to hang your gear to dry. Their camp is the closest to the beach of all the dive operators which makes things very quick and easy when you head out for your day’s dives.

The tractor (left) and gear rinsing and drying area

They run a tight ship and everything runs on schedule. There seems to be adequate staff to ensure all this happens. The skipper we had (JERRY!) and the Divemaster (Darryl) allocated to our boat were superb, experienced and flexible. The group was a mixture of qualified divers and Open Water students and they ensured we dived safe sites that were suitable for all levels. You may find better service elsewhere in Sodwana but Coral Divers have ensured that both our trips were exceptional events so I can’t imagine trying someone else.

Naughty monkeys outside one of the cabins

Accommodation options range from safari tents erected on wooden decking with corrugated roofing overhead (on special at the moment for R50 per person per night) to wooden cabins with no bathroom (you use the communal ablutions, which are spotless), a bathroom attached to the cabin but that must be accessed from outside, or a full en suite arrangement. Bedding and mosquito nets are provided in the cabins and everything is in good repair.

There is a large kitchen with self-catering facilities and tons of secure fridge space, or you can order from the restaurant. The food is hearty and there’s something to please everyone. A buffet is also available at breakfast and dinner. If you want a cheap holiday you can do it very comfortably here, but it’s also possible to have a fully luxurious stay where all your requirements are met.

The shady dive camp is home to large troupes of monkeys, mongooses, some cats and their kittens, squirrels, and even some small deer. Further away from the main building are camping and caravan sites. We’ve gone out of season both times we’ve visited because we prefer not to have to queue to get to the beach! It can get very busy over public holidays and at peak times.

As far as the dives went, Clare will write some posts about them. Suffice it to say that while it was slightly surgy, the visibility ranged from 10 to 25 metres, water temperatures were never lower than 23 degrees, and we saw fish, coral, turtles, rays, dolphins, and tropical marine life in abundance!