Sodwana Lodging and Diving??

[mjh]

We are taking a trip to the Zulu Nyala area then we want to move to the coast and get a couple days of diving in.

Questions

1. To travel from Johannesburg to Kwazulu Natal then on to Sodwana do most people rent a car? Take buses?
2. Can anyone suggest a good dive operation with lodging in Sodwana? Plus we will only bring computers and masks, so they should have decent rental gear.
3. Deciding between Feb or June. Is one specifically better for Game viewing and same for diving?

At our age we are not looking so much for a "deal". Prefer smaller more personalized operations. Any and all advice welcome…

[vjongene]

FWIW, I was in Sodwana last January, as a tourist from Switzerland. Do not expect "native" advice...


1. To travel from Johannesburg to Kwazulu Natal then on to Sodwana do most people rent a car? Take buses? Sodwana is really far from everything. We had a rental car, and were glad we did.


2. Can anyone suggest a good dive operation with lodging in Sodwana? Plus we will only bring computers and masks, so they should have decent rental gear. We stayed and dived with Sodwana Bay Lodge. This is probably the fanciest resort in the area, but is still pretty basic. The rental gear was OK, except for the wet suits - we ended up diving in our T-shirts, which was fine in January.

3. Deciding between Feb or June. Is one specifically better for Game viewing and same for diving? January was very hot, and there was no A/C in the cottages. June should be much more bearable, but the water will be colder. Personally, I would choose June.


At our age we are not looking so much for a "deal". Prefer smaller more personalized operations. Any and all advice welcome… There are really no large operations in Sodwana. You want to stay away from SA summer vacations (Dec-Jan) when the place is a real zoo. June should be cool...

[mjh]

Thanks, there look to be a couple of operations with websites. How was the diving? Do you know if there is a whale shark "season"?

Thanks...

[AndyT]

Hi

1. Probably best to rent a vehicle

2. Sodwana Bay Lodge is probably your best bet for comfortable acommodation & gear rental .

3. April / May / June apparently has the best diving conditions .Not too sure on the Whale Sharks , e - mail the Lodge and ask . I will also try to confirm for you .

Ditto the comments on school vacation time - can't help you yet as I don't have next years diary yet (they publish them in the front section).

Safe Diving

Andrew

[caymaniac]

We are taking a trip to the Zulu Nyala area then we want to move to the coast and get a couple days of diving in.

Questions

1. To travel from Johannesburg to Kwazulu Natal then on to Sodwana do most people rent a car? Take buses?
2. Can anyone suggest a good dive operation with lodging in Sodwana? Plus we will only bring computers and masks, so they should have decent rental gear.
3. Deciding between Feb or June. Is one specifically better for Game viewing and same for diving?

At our age we are not looking so much for a "deal". Prefer smaller more personalized operations. Any and all advice welcome…

!. We rented a small 2wheel drive type SUV, some kind of Toyota after landing in Jo. burg, that they don't have in the U.S. A note here, take out the full insurance when renting. A truck passed us on the way to Sodwaana in Jozinni and a rock from the passing truck hit our windshield and cracked it. Upon return they told us since we had purchased full insurance, just park it and we'll take care of the rest.....whew!
2. We dove with Coral Divers and we were happy with their op. We stayed in cabins that overlook Sodwanna Bay which were rustic but nice, just make sure you lock up everything such as the cabin when you are leaving it, or your car when you are walking away from it. We took all our own gear, I'm not to keen with bar.
3. We were there in July, the water temp. was 76F, we were plenty good with a 3mm. Everyday was sunny and close to 80F. We did not see any Whalesharks, but we saw a Raggle tooth big enough that my wife and I thought it probably could swallow us whole, it had to be 14ft. We dove 2mile and 6 mile, plenty of tropicals and a very low profile reef since this is near where the end of the reef system lays off Africa.
4. Also, don't leave anything out on the deck or tables, not just because the natives might take it, but, because the Baboons will too.
5. Don't walk along the beach - away from the beach where there are people, stay near other families or beach goers, you might not come back.
6. We also went fishing for Marlin one day, 43(us) dollars per-day included lunch and a whole day fishing. We had a shark on and caught 23 bonito.
7. A good time to whale watch, we saw plenty of southern right fin whales, as they migrate at that time of year.
8. We had taken all our own food along, there aren't alot of restaurants, this is definitely not the USA.
9. Have a blast, we did.

[mjh]

Thanks for all the great info. We are spending 6 days at the Nyati Lodge doing wild life tours. Any other must see sites? Looks like due to schedules we are going to go in February.

[SA-Diver]

November - January is the best time for Whale Sharks.

SA School holidays should be from around 7 December - 15 January.

Winter is the best time to see sharks.
If you see a 14ft Ragged Tooth Shark please take photos as they only grow up to about 9ft :D

We usually stay and dive with Sodwana Bay Lodge. They are not close to the beach but about 10km away.
Coral Divers is closer to the beach with cabins and permanent tents.

If you want real luxury accomodation I would recommend one of the many game lodges in the area. You might be able to combine a big 5 game lodge with diving as well.
Most operations only dive on 2 mile reef unless you ask to dive the other reefs which also cost slightly more but is fully worth it.

Summer can be uncomfortably hot.
Make sure you have anti-malaria meds.
Winter (May - August) have the best all round weather and diving conditions.

I would fly to Johannesburg, then connect flight to Durban. Rent a car in Durban and drive up to Sodwana (three hour drive as opposed to a 7-8 hour drive from Johannesburg).

Winter is also best for game viewing in that area.

[mjh]

Thanks all for the help. Due to schedules we are leaning to mid-late February. SA-Diver, we where thinking we would spend a day or two in Johannesburg then drive to Nyati Lodge, then to Sodwana, is this practical? Time is an issue so after Sodwana is it worth driving to Durban then flying down to Cape Town? I'd feel guilty going all that way and not going to the Cape.

[caymaniac]

Thanks for all the great info. We are spending 6 days at the Nyati Lodge doing wild life tours. Any other must see sites? Looks like due to schedules we are going to go in February.

We spent one week at Satara in Krugar and one week in Bergendal before we went to Sodwanna. We saw the "big five" three or four days. We also spent some time in Whitriver where we visited the place where they prepare animal mounts and skins. We went to Pilgrim Rest in the Drakanberg mountains - gold mining area, lots of waterfalls, hiking by the Rondavals and we also went to Sodwalla cave.
The game parks are alot of fun, we went out on a night watch as well as to a bird hide. The game is so amazing, one thing that has happened because of that trip we no longer have a desire to ever go to a zoo, to see the animals in their enviroment was so fantastic that it is hard to explain. It's kind of like choosing to go to a small aquarium or go on a reef dive but on a much grander scale, the territory that we covered was huge - more like say - a liveaboard. We were chased off the road by elephants, we were five feet from a giraffe that had just been finished off by nine lions, we saw an elephant charge a pride of lions, we saw animals that we never knew existed like a caracau, bush baby,I could go on but you might get board. We also spent our last three days in Capetown, we saw tabletop mountain and Cape of Good Hope and a bunch of Jack***** Penquins that live near the tip of Africa. If we would have had more time, I would have loved to see a great white shark, as there were a number of ops that advertised they went out to see them.

[docmartin]

we have stayed at the sodwana bay lodge ia couple of years ago in march. rustic but not too bad. food is a bit of an issue. there is only the restaurant at the lodge and it ain't great although it's passable. diving is good. saw a whale shark. there are also big tiger sharks around but they are skittish around divers. chances are you won't see one. when we were there the boat driver saw one attack a turtle on the surface while we were diving. "the biggest shark he ever saw" - of course underwater we were totally oblivious. we flew to durban and drove from there. personally, i would not want to spend time in Johannesburg. not a great city for tourists. actually, down town is outright scary. if you have two days before sodwana it is much better to fly to durban and go diving at aliwal shoals or protea banks. as for cape town being worth it, well yeah it's nice. what were you thinking of doing if you decided not to go to cape town?

[SA-Diver]

I have to agree with docmartin. Spending two days in Johannesburg would be a waste of time.
I would rather fly from JHB to Durban and try and dive Aliwal Shoal or Protea Banks (Aliwal Shoal 30km South of Durban, Protea Banks 100km South of Durban).

The game lodge idea is great.
The food at Sodwana Bay Lodge has improved a lot over the last year or so.

Capetown would be a great end to the trip depending on what you are planning to do.
There is of course the GW cage dives around Capetown which I think would be a fantastic experience although it is a bit of a controversial issue with some.

[mjh]

Wow thanks for all the help! Ok so if you have 10-11 days on the ground and 6 are accounted for w/Op in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park what would be your schedule? Also for all of you that have been there what month were you there? Still trying to decide between Feb&June. Game viewing is primary factor.

[SA-Diver]

It is quite tough to make recommendations on the time.

If you are staying on the East Coast for the entire time (i.e. Sodwana, Hluhluwe, Durban) I would recommend June as the weather, game viewing and dive conditions will be better all round.
If you intend going to Capetown, it depends on what you want to do there. June could be quite horrible in Capetown weather wise as it will be in the middle of the rainy season.
On the other hand, February could be bad on the East Coast w.r.t. weather and dive conditions.

If I had to plan the trip for myself, I would do it in June, spending the bulk of my time on the East Coast game viewing and diving at Aliwal Shoal, then Sodwana. I would end my trip by visiting Capetown for two days or so.
I wouldn't be able to dive in Capetown then (but that could be an excuse to come back again).

[mjh]

Well as we have had a chance to read up a little more I think SA-Diver you have the right idea. We are shifting to June, will minimize our time in Johannesburg and tour the East Coast more. Plus we have a few months to obsess about this...

Thanks again, still open to any must see sights!

[AndyT]

I wouldn't be able to dive in Capetown then (but that could be an excuse to come back again).

Why not - the viz in False Bay is at it's best at that time of year - we had up to 25m .

Safe Diving

Andrew

[caymaniac]

I have to agree with docmartin. Spending two days in Johannesburg would be a waste of time.
Capetown would be a great end to the trip depending on what you are planning to do.
There is of course the GW cage dives around Capetown which I think would be a fantastic experience although it is a bit of a controversial issue with some.

I too agree, do not waste your time in Joburg, Capetown is a great place to explore

[mjh]

First it is funny how I have gotten the best info about what most would think to be a Ultimate Dryland trip at a site about scubadiving. Second my wife is amazed how I am going to "drag" my housing, lenses, etc.. on Safari LOL!

[scubaculture]

Joburg isnt all that bad, there is some stuff to see and do, mjh give me a shout when you get here, maybe we can go fro a few drinks

[vjongene]

With a little bit of luck, your trip in June may coincide with the Sardine Run. Do check on this. I believe it is best seen from Umkomaas / Scottburgh, south of Durban.
If you have the time and like hiking, a visit to the Drakensberg is highly recommended. We stayed at Didima Lodge near Cathedral Peak. Spectacular!

[mjh]

More great info.

Scubaculture we will give you a call since we will be flying in and out of Johannesburg. Looks like the dates will be June 17th-July 1st. Vjongene the sardine run made my list after seeing some of the pictures taken by a group that went from Wetpixel, amazing.

[drew52]

I would also try June, Great diving every where. Cape Town diving is best in Winter although weather is not always great, Sardine Run is awesome and if you miss that at least all the sharks are around. I dived in Aliwal Shoal in June/July and we dived with Sharks on every dive, Sodwana also awesome that time of year and not as busy as it can be.

The only down side is the cooler water this time of year; 21-22degrees C which for me is not really an issue.

Cape Town is around 14-16 degrees C up from around 11 in Summer

[mjh]

Checked into the Sardine Run, just not enough time to fit that in. You really need to dedicate a week to it, so Sodwana it is!

[caymaniac]

Checked into the Sardine Run, just not enough time to fit that in. You really need to dedicate a week to it, so Sodwana it is!

Sardine run will be usaually at the full moon, you might check and see if you hit that phase while you are visiting.

[mjh]

Sardine run is tempting but the logistics of it are not going to work on this trip. Plus I would feel obligated to bring all the dive gear. This trip we are just going to bring masks and computers, rent everything else.

[drew52]

Not sure who you are diving with but I would definately use Colin from Amoray Divers. If you want contact details let me know. He is brilliant. Did I sAY THAT ALREADY? Well if I did I'll say it again. Use Colin you want regret it.

[mjh]

drew52 we have not picked a operation for Sodwana yet, still 6mths off. Found a listing on the web for Mseni Lodge/Amoray Divers, but no website. Do they have one? Side note: How did we survive with out the web? At my age I find it strange how important Websites have become.

[drew52]

They have a website I just can't remember the link but it wasn't a great one or maybe they had one that is no more.

Colin's email is: info@amoraydiving.com. I suggest contacting him early they usually take a couple of days to get back to you. Sodwana is one of those small types of places where certain technologies have not necessarily caught on yet.

Their operation is fantastic though, customer service great and Colin knows the reefs better than most. I wouldn't look anywhere else when it comes to diving. If you do contact him tell him Andrew & Zani say hi. Good Luck and enjoy. Sodwana is definately one of our highlight destinations. You definately want to dive 9 mile, 7 mile and 5 mile reefs.