Shark Cage Diving & Stunning Dives in Rooi Els

We’ve just had an awesome weekend of diving.

With two absolutely amazing dives at Coral Gardens in Rooi Els and some shark cage diving on Saturday – what could be better?

On Friday and Sunday, we had some early morning dives at Coral Gardens in Rooi Els. On both days, the sea was calm and visibility ranged between 8 and 10 metres. Water temperature was a warm 15˚C. We enjoyed the beautiful underwater scenery at a relaxed pace and managed to take some really great photos.

On our way back to Gordon’s Bay on Friday morning, we watched a Southern Right Whale supporting its newly-born calf on the surface just metres from the shore. A rare and truly beautiful sight.

Coral Gardens involves a bit of clambering over a few tricky and sometimes slippery rocks. The entry and exit sites need to be chosen carefully too. We’ve been diving here for the past 10 years - if you’re keen to experience the very best of Coral Gardens for yourself, give us a call and we’ll take you there!

On Saturday, we drove through to Kleinbaai to do some great white shark cage diving.

Kleinbaai is our preferred place to view great whites as sightings are really frequent. We were fortunate enough to be joined by white shark legend Andre Hartmann, who shared quite a bit of background on the sharks in the area. The operator we use is the pioneer of shark cage diving in Kleinbaai and they run an extremely professional, eco-friendly business.

After arriving at 08h00, we met for breakfast, followed by a professional and in-depth briefing of what to expect and how things worked on the boat. After being split into three groups of four, we climbed up the steps onto the boat and launched down the slipway.

It took a quick 15 minutes to reach the site which, in the summer months is Shark Bay. During the winter, shark viewing is carried out at Dyer Island. It is believed that sharks visit the shallows and shoreline of Shark Bay during the summer months to socialise, breed, and give birth. Consequently, most sharks in this area are either juveniles of 1.5 metres or female sharks of an average length of 3.5 metres.

As soon as we were anchored, the staff dropped the cage and started chumming the water. No meat or big bits of fish was used to attract the sharks. A bucket is filled with sea water and minced tuna, sardines, fish blood and fish oil is poured onto the water.

This forms a slick on the surface of the sea which is then blown along by the wind, to attract the sharks. A couple of tuna heads were also tied to a buoy on the end of a rope and thrown into the water about 10 metres to the left of the cage. The fish heads are used as a visual point of reference for the sharks (and not to “catch” the sharks – this is not (!) fishing). The sharks are first attracted to the boat by the smell of the chum, they then see the fish heads and swim towards them to investigate.

The fish heads are pulled towards the boat and out of the water as the shark approaches. Being inquisitive, the shark then follows the fish heads, bringing it closer to the cage for a better view. The aim is not to allow the shark to bite the heads, although this can happen when the visibility is bad and the shark moves quickly upwards from the depths.

A cut-out shape in the form of a seal is made from foam and wood is also tied to a rope and floats to the right of the cage. This too is pulled towards the boat to attract inquisitive sharks.

After just over an hour of patient waiting and “shark talk”, a fin was spotted about 50 metres away from the boat and within 3 minutes, the first shark arrived.

For the next 3 hours, our groups took it in turns to drop into the cage, hold onto special handles and breathe through our snorkels, viewing the sharks through the narrow “window” between the bars in the sturdy cage. Whilst not in the water, watching the sharks swim towards the boat and sometimes spy-hopping (popping their heads out of the water to have a better look at us all) in such close proximity was also an amazing experience.

All too soon, it was time to return to shore for lunch. On the way back, we spotted a number of Southern Right Whales (named this as they used to be the “right” whales to catch…), including an albino calf with its mother.

This is an amazing experience, not to be missed – and you don’t have to be a scuba diver or have used a snorkel before to view the sharks. In fact, even if you aren’t tempted to go into the shark cage, viewing the sharks from the deck is absolutely fantastic.

To observe these sharks in their natural habitat enables us to appreciate their power and beauty and to realise that they are inquisitive, intelligent creatures and not the man-hunters that many believe them to be. This is something you really have to experience for yourself. Contact us today and we’ll make it happen!

Don't miss our Opening Special!

Our new scuba diving centre has just opened in Gordon’s Bay (Cape Town, South Africa).

Ok, so we haven’t had the “Grand Opening” yet, if you’re wondering why you haven’t received your invitation (check your mail box soon!).

To mark this momentous occasion, we are having an opening special… The first 20 customers to sign up and complete their Scuba Diver course with us before 30th November 2009 will pay a special price of R1 500 for the course (please note that an additional R200 will be charged for your NAUI registration fee).

Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to learn to scuba dive in a relaxed, friendly and safe environment. If you’re already a qualified diver, encourage your partner, your family, your friends and colleagues to contact us and within two weeks they could be joining you on all your dives and sharing your excitement. Far better than having to listen jealously about the amazing dives you’ve just had...

Scuba diving is a way of life and there is nothing better than sharing it with those you love (just ask us – we know!).

If you hadn’t already noticed, we are passionate about scuba diving. At Indigo Scuba, we want you to enjoy the entire diving experience - from the moment you first put on your mask, to when you dive some (or all!) of the most beautiful and exciting dive sites around the world. At Indigo Scuba, we make sure that happens.

Give Deon a call today (phone 083 268 1851 or email info@indigoscuba.com) - we look forward to having you on board!

First of this season's summer dives - Coral Gardens at Rooi Els!

With the South Easter having blown strongly this past week, we decided to dive Rooi Els this morning. The South Easterly wind blows during summer in the Cape, bringing clear water and great dives to the Eastern side of False Bay.

One of our favourite shore entry dives here is Coral Gardens. The entry is in a narrow channel which can sometimes cause a bit of a swell, so getting in and out of the water needs to be timed quite well.

After a short climb over the rocks, made easier by a special clip (new to our dive shop!) that enables you to attach your fins, mask and gloves to a D-ring on your BC (freeing up your hands to steady yourself on the rocks), we kitted up and entered the water.

We had a fantastic dive, exploring gullies and cracks in the reef running close to shore. Visibility was about 8 metres and water temperature was 15˚C.

This is the first time we’ve dived Rooi Els this season and it was great to see new corals and sea fans taking root on the sides of the gullies and many varied eggs waiting to hatch. There was so much to see – forests of feather stars with their waving arms adorning entire walls, pale orange lacy false corals delicately covering huge boulders; overhanging walls covered in sinuous and flagellate sea fans and stubby pink and purple noble corals growing in sheltered parts of the reef.

We were followed on our dive by smaller hottentot and, for quite a while, we were accompanied by a small shoal of yellow strepies. We came across a “baby’s toes” snail which is rarely seen, and spotted numerous orange and blue gas flame nudibranchs. There were also many crabs and crayfish of different sizes hiding in holes amongst the rocks. The marine and plant life here is colourful, diverse and prolific with colours ranging from bright blue, bright pink, purple, orange and red.

Hopefully this is the start of summer diving and many more visits to this top dive site!

PS - Don’t forget to subscribe to our mailing list so that you can be kept up to date with our forthcoming dives!