Cape Town around October

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xyrandomyx

Contributor
Messages
433
Reaction score
122
Location
Cape Town, South Africa
# of dives
100 - 199
I started this thread to answer PsyWulf's question from over here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/south-african-divers/467481-who-where.html#post6915132

It was slightly off the topic and it seemed it'd be neater to put it somewhere else, especially if others want to chip in.

OK, so first off -- ops. I've personally dived with Down South Scuba and Pisces Divers. I can recommend both. Blue Flash is highly recommended (even by their competitors, maybe a little grudgingly), so they're an option too -- but they do cater more to the experienced local divers than the tourists and newbies. I believe you need to organise with them in advance if you want an in-water DM (and pay extra?).

Pisces Divers is probably your best bet for mid-week launches. For guided shore dives, Down South would be good during the week two. There are a bunch of other ops, many of them good, I'm sure -- I just don't know enough to vouch for them. If you have a buddy to go with for a shore dive, Down South and Pisces can provide rental gear.

Next, where to dive? Erm, well. It depends a lot on what you want to see. There are plenty of options. The weather's in between seasons. As a general rule, summer diving's better over on the (cold) Atlantic side of the Peninsula and winter diving's better on the (slightly warmer) False Bay side. At this time of year, it's a bit half and half, so you really just have to check weather reports.

My personal recommendations? Long Beach if you need to do a check-out dive (might be a good idea if you're renting a bunch of cold-water gear you're not used to). If you haven't dived with seals before, Duiker Island or Partridge Point would be good. The Broadnose Sevengill sharks at Pyramid are another thing worth seeing. If wrecks are your thing, there are lots (Dive Bug Bit Me's recommendations are probably best here). My choices would be one of the wrecks in Smitswinkel Bay or the Maori over on the Atlantic side. For general shore dives, A-Frame and Castle Rocks are my two favourite sites.

This website has pretty thorough guide to the sites and a lot of useful info on diving here in general: Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay ? Travel guides at Wikivoyage
 
Thanks,me and my wife will be diving likely,bringing our own gear down so just cylinders needed :)

I've got the dive sites of sa book,but a personal recommendation for sites from the locals helps to guide choices,any dives with nice photo and video opportunities are ideal. I am however hoping to hit a few wrecks myself ;-)

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I'm not diving this weekend, but let us know when you are down. Its always nice to meet / dive with a SB'er.

If you want wrecks, give Pisces a call and see what they can organise. I have found that if you call in advance, they will incorporate it into the weekend schedule.
 
I'm not diving this weekend, but let us know when you are down. Its always nice to meet / dive with a SB'er.

If you want wrecks, give Pisces a call and see what they can organise. I have found that if you call in advance, they will incorporate it into the weekend schedule.

Indeed! I have mailed them to get the current schedule,just this weather dependant thing is a pain haha. We'll probably hit the water in the week and saturday morning (flying back that sunday evening)

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Indeed! I have mailed them to get the current schedule,just this weather dependant thing is a pain haha. We'll probably hit the water in the week and saturday morning (flying back that sunday evening)

Sent from my GT-P7500 using Tapatalk HD

Sadly, 'weather dependent' is just a fact of diving, particularly diving in Cape Town. On the other hand, we wouldn't have nearly so many wrecks if it wasn't for our sometimes-foul weather. I get to frustrate my family and friends by telling them I can't commit to any weekend plans until I've seen Thursday's forecast and launch schedule.
 
Indeed! I have mailed them to get the current schedule,just this weather dependant thing is a pain haha. We'll probably hit the water in the week and saturday morning (flying back that sunday evening)

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Here's hoping you are diving tomorrow. Pisces is doing the Rockeater at 9:00.
Arguably the best of the five wrecks in the bay.
I hit 34m depth last time I was there.
Crowd on the boat tomorrow is also really nice.
It was enough for me to cancel my other plans and go diving!
 
Here's hoping you are diving tomorrow. Pisces is doing the Rockeater at 9:00.
Arguably the best of the five wrecks in the bay.
I hit 34m depth last time I was there.
Crowd on the boat tomorrow is also really nice.
It was enough for me to cancel my other plans and go diving!

Im jealous...wont be there on time

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Here's hoping you are diving tomorrow. Pisces is doing the Rockeater at 9:00.
Arguably the best of the five wrecks in the bay.
I hit 34m depth last time I was there.
Crowd on the boat tomorrow is also really nice.
It was enough for me to cancel my other plans and go diving!

I must've just missed you this morning. I was on Down South's 10:00 AM launch; Pisces were just about to head off for their second when I got to Miller's Point. I see from your post in another thread that your dive was a little bit too much on the exciting side. Ours was uneventul, thankfully, and with good vis (but miserable surface conditions).
 
I must've just missed you this morning. I was on Down South's 10:00 AM launch; Pisces were just about to head off for their second when I got to Miller's Point. I see from your post in another thread that your dive was a little bit too much on the exciting side. Ours was uneventul, thankfully, and with good vis (but miserable surface conditions).

I probably left 15 mins before you got there. Actually the dive was pretty calm. Finally saw the bow of the Rockeater. I got about 20 mins bottom time before a valve drill abruptly ended my dive. Conditions were pretty good. Plenty of lobster and crab. Some fish.
 
I probably left 15 mins before you got there. Actually the dive was pretty calm. Finally saw the bow of the Rockeater. I got about 20 mins bottom time before a valve drill abruptly ended my dive. Conditions were pretty good. Plenty of lobster and crab. Some fish.

I just realised I was tired enough last night to get the days mixed up. I actually dived on Saturday, not Sunday. So we missed each other by a bit more than 15 minutes. But anyway, sounds like a good 20 minutes before the valve 'drill' (which thankfully went smoothly).
 
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