SAS Transvaal Wreck, Smitswinkel Bay, Simon's Town

A bit late in writing this post I'm afraid. It's been really hectic at Indigo Scuba this week. But sorry, that's no excuse...

Last weekend we had a great dive on the SAS Transvaal. Sean and Jenny joined us from Gauteng and this was their first Cape dive. They'd just come back from diving the Red Sea, so from one wreck (Thistlegorm) to another...

OK, so SAS Transvaal doesn't have the motorbikes and trucks, wellington boots and old tyres. She does, however, have some great marine life and we spotted a number of pyjama sharks, orange gas flame nudibranchs, hottentot and many different sea fans, soft corals and sponges.

Lying at 36 metres on the sand and with her deck at 24m, we had a 30 minute dive, followed by an entertaining saftey stop as we were joined by a Cape fur seal who kept us amused with its antics.

The SAS Transvaal was built in Glasgow, Scotland in 1944 for the Royal Navy and was originally named HMS Loch Aird. She was later bought by the South African navy, renamed HMSAS Transvaal and later SAS Transvaal. She was scuttled by the South African Navy in Smitswinkel Bay in the early 1970s to form an artificial reef.