sharks in SA

[FarkasGabor]

Hi! I bought a flight ticket to SA for two weeks next february-march. 12 days we want to spend with diving.
Please help how to divide these days between Sodwana Bay, Aliwal Shoal and Protea Banks to see as many
sharks as we can, and the southernmost coral reefs at Sodwana Bay. Thanks!

 

[craigw]

Hi

Unfortunately you are not choosing the right time of the year for the best shark viewing. Most of your sharks follow th Sardine run and arrive around May and depart around end November. However with the right dive concession and guide sharks can still be found in and around Aliwal Shoal and Protea Banks.

I would book accommodation for around 6 days in Umkomaas and spend maybe a full days diving ( Maybe two at Protea Banks) which is a short drive from Umkomaas ( roughly 40 minutes). At Protea Banks your are quite likely to see Bull Shark and possibly Black Tips. If you are exptremely lucky you may be graced with Hammerheads but that will be a hit and miss. While at the Aliwal Shoal I would do at least one Tiger Shark dive ( baited dive but well worth the experience). Then on to Sodwana but you will most likely not get shark at that time of the year.

Your best bet would be to do 4 days Aliwal Shoal / Protea Banks, 4 days Sodwana and 4 days Ponto do Ouro Mozambique Roughly 80 Kmaway from Sodwana, where you will see a large variety of shark at a site called Pinnacles.

 

[Sharks at Aliwal]

If sharks are what you want to see then I would do 6/8 days diving at Aliwal and Protea. Here I would stat at Umkomaas and drive down to Protea for the days that are good down there. Between Aliwal and Protea you will definately see sharks and on the Baited dives you have about a 80% chance of seeing a Tiger.

Whilst I really love Sodwana the chance of seeing sharks here is going to be limited and so maybe only go to Ponto do Oura where again on the Pinnicles (very similar to Protea) you have a good chance of seeing sharks as well.

 

[scubajunky17]

Is May to November really the best season to see lots of sharks in SA ? I have been looking at a dive calendar which says July/August is peak for raggies at protea / Aiiwal wand most other sharks are at around 30% chance to see them. I can only visit August / July. Is it worth the trip to visit at that time of year ?
Many thanks.