knysna diving, paquita wreck?

[snowwhite]

Hi everyone,

we are coming to sa in november and will be travelling the garden route and diving on the way.
really wanted to dive the paquita wreck in knysna, but finding a dive operator to take us there seems to be impossible :shocked2: prodive doesnt have it scheduled and can't find anyone else..
i was hoping to find any local divers on here that could help us out? or someone who fancies diving it with us?
we would be quite happy to dive it from shore too, we have own equipment, just need to rent tank and weights. we are instructor and rescue and promise not to give you any hassle
will be in knysna from the 9th to the 12th of november!
many thanx

 

[JazzeD]

Will be far away from there at that time but can just give you some info about the site.

It is only dived from shore entry as far as i know.

It must be dived 20-30 min before high tide and you must be out or returning to the shore entry from the slip on the north-east 20 min after high tide, this is due to high swell created by the tide switch. Entering from the slip as you start going around the rock a fastened rope can be found on the sand which leeds you to the wreck and can be used to assist in pulling yourself back if swell to strong and it does get very strong. Can put up a pic later of the layout possibly when home.

The one operator in Knysna closed down i believe "Hippo Divers"

Plettenberg Bay is 40 KM or so away and kit can be rented from Pro Dive.

 

[ladypenelope]

Hi everyone,

we are coming to sa in november and will be travelling the garden route and diving on the way.
really wanted to dive the paquita wreck in knysna, but finding a dive operator to take us there seems to be impossible :shocked2: prodive doesnt have it scheduled and can't find anyone else..
i was hoping to find any local divers on here that could help us out? or someone who fancies diving it with us?
we would be quite happy to dive it from shore too, we have own equipment, just need to rent tank and weights. we are instructor and rescue and promise not to give you any hassle
will be in knysna from the 9th to the 12th of november!
many thanx

We have a new dive operator here in Knysna: http://www.facebook.com/diveadventuresknysna

I

 

[snowwhite]

thanx guys!!a layout would be great if you could post it

 

[jagter]

I live in Plettenberg Bay, about 30km from Knysna.

The currents are strong, and the vis normally quite bad at the paquita, so just keep that in mind. I've done it at night a couple of times as well, which was interesting to say the least. Something that is a lot of fun is to do a drift dive from the paquita. Basically wait for the tide to turn, and then just drift over the wreck and keep on drifting. Preferably with a boat following you to pick you up when you are done. If you are lucky you'll see a seahorse. But mostly you'll see old tires and bottles.

Like another poster has said, be sure to time the tide correctly. If you get it wrong, there is no way you'll fight the current and you'll end up in the open ocean.

As a whole the garden route isn't exactly a diving destination, the main issue being that you need to be lucky with the conditions. On a good day the diving can be awesome, but mostly it's less than perfect. Personally I do most of my diving elsewhere.

For me the best dive in the area is Grootbank. Grootbank almost guaranteed to spot some large predators.