The Low Down on Cape Town Diving

The waters of Cape Town are rich in marine life and offer year round diving for scuba divers of every level and preference – from haunting wrecks steeped in cultural history to glittering kelp forests that play host to a myriad colourful creatures.

Cape Town diving takes place along the Western coast of the Cape Peninsula, referred to by the locals as “The Atlantic Side”; the Western side of False Bay (Simon’s Town area) and the Eastern side of False Bay (Gordon’s Bay to Rooi Els).

Although it is believed that the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet at Cape Point (they actually meet further East at Cape Aghulus), there is a distinct difference in temperature between the waters of the Western coast of the Peninsula and those of False Bay. This is due to the cold Benguela current which makes its way north from the Antarctic, up the West coast of Africa. The result is that the waters along the Western coast of the Peninsula have an average temperature of between 8 °C and 12 °C. False Bay is protected from the Benguela current and temperatures here range from 12 °C in winter to 19 °C in summer.

As the ocean temperatures influence the diving, so do the seasons and the winds that accompany them. In summer, the South Easterly winds bring clear waters to the Eastern side of False Bay and the Western coast of the Peninsula; and in winter it is typical for the North Easterly wind to blow, clearing up the waters on the Western side of False Bay.

Summer diving in the colder waters of the “Atlantic Side” is exhilarating and fascinating. There are a number of beautiful shore-entry dives as well as deeper reefs and historical wrecks that can be reached by dive boat leaving from Hout Bay harbour. The underwater topography is characterised by huge, rounded granite and sandstone boulders, often covered with kelp. These underwater wonderlands play host to prolific marine life, including colourful fields of purple, pink, orange and green sea urchins; brightly coloured sponges and soft corals. Fish such as Hottentot, Galjoen, Shy Sharks and Red Roman are plentiful on most dives, as is the opportunity to be accompanied by playful and inquisitive seals.

The Eastern side of False Bay offers fantastic boat and shore entry dives in summer. Dive sites along the craggy cliffs between Gordon’s Bay and Rooi Els reach a maximum depth of about 20 metres and a number are accessible from the shore. Deeper dives such as the magnificent Steenbras Deep, which reaches a depth of 30 metres, are located further from the shore and can be reached by boat. The reefs along this side of the bay are covered with kelp; red bait; colourful soft sponges; feather stars; orange, pink and purple noble coral; orange sea fans and many types of beautiful nudibranch. Fish life includes Twotone Fingerfin, Galjoen, Jutjaw, Puffadder Shy Shark and Klipvis. Gully Sharks and baby Ragged Tooth Sharks have also been spotted on dives at Rooi Els.

Winter diving in Cape Town takes place along the Western side of False Bay, from Glencairn, past Simon’s Town to the point of the Cape of Good Hope. Underwater topography comprises of huge rounded granite boulders and smaller sandstone boulders. Here we have the world-famous Smitswinkel Bay wrecks which lie at an average depth of 35 metres and are a collection of 5 ships that were scuttled by the Navy in the early 1970s to form an artificial reef. All wrecks can be reached by boat launching from Miller’s Point Slipway just South of Simon’s Town.

There are also a number of beautiful reefs which can be reached from the shore and boat. The reefs are adorned with colourful sponges; sea anemones; green, purple and orange short spine urchins; sea fans; fields of small orange sea cucumbers and brightly coloured nudibranch. Another dive site that is extremely exciting along this side of the coast is Pyramid Rock where divers have frequent sightings of Seven Gill cowsharks.

For comfortable diving, it is advisable to wear a 7mm wetsuit with a hoodie, booties and gloves.

The Cape Peninsula is a marine reserve and divers wishing to dive he Western Coast of the Cape Peninsula or the Western side of False Bay are required to obtain a diving permit before entering the water. Year-long permits can be purchased from local post offices and shorter-term permits are available from many of the dive operators.

Scuba Diving for Girls

When I decided to learn to scuba dive, my friends thought I was crazy. “Girls can’t scuba dive!” they said… “What about all that heavy stuff?”… “Only guys dive and they’ll just look at you as a burden”…. “It’s just not something girls do!”

Those comments were made by my non-scuba diving friends (male and female) many of whom, after seeing how much fun I was having, dived right in and are now fellow scuba divers.

When I started diving, I was the only girl on my Scuba Diver Course and one of two doing the Advanced Course. At that time there were less girls diving in our diving group than guys.

The girls that belonged to my dive club came from all age groups and levels of fitness. We had a 16 year old girl learning to dive with her 40 year old mother, a grandmother of 56, girls who participated in triathlons and girls whose only exercise was the walk from the car into the Wimpy. We all kept up with the boys, carried our own weights and cylinders and were often able to beat them at their joke telling (not that they would ever admit to that!).

Interestingly enough, we have recently seen that the boys taking scuba classes are being outnumbered by the girls. Quite a few or our students learn to dive so that they can join their partners on diving trips instead of sitting on the shore, jealously listening to how amazing the dive was and what they had seen. Some of the girls are adrenalin junkies wanting to try something different and others have “just always wanted to do it but never found the right person to teach them”. What ever the reason, after their first dives (if not their first!), they were all absolutely hooked and eager to do their next dive.

Although scuba diving does require a certain level of strength and fitness, it is not as strenuous as one expects and the bonus is, the more one dives, the fitter one becomes. I’ve also found that even if you are able to do it all yourself, there is always a gentleman somewhere wanting to help out. Swallow your pride girls, let them carry your weight belt or cylinder, just smile and say “thank you!”.

I won’t deny that there are a couple of minor drawbacks of being a girl diver. For example – for those girls with neatly manicured long nails - they won’t stay like this for long. Nails break easily, usually when pulling on wetsuits, picking up weights and climbing over rocks. The solution – keep your nails short. Long hair can also be a problem. If yours is anything like mine, whatever you do, you will always have a bird’s nest / dreadlock hairdo after taking off your hoodie. If you are lucky, plaiting your hair, putting it in a pony-tail and putting on some sort of hair wax, or simply saturating your hair with fresh water before a dive could help.

The other drawback is the need to go to the toilet (need I say more?). I’m not talking about going in your wetsuit whilst diving (or in your hired one which someone else has to wear…so please try not to!), but before or after a dive. The guys have it easy whereas for us girls, it is not always possible to find a toilet or a suitable bush in the middle of nowhere. This is awkward and you either have to drop all reservations and hide behind a car door or get yourself a “she pee” (say no more – I just can’t!).

Diving really is an amazing sport for girls. The places it can take you to, the people you meet (I met my husband scuba diving…), the sights you see, the experiences, the adventure and the feeling of total peace during a dive - and the feeling of being totally relaxed afterwards - makes this an unbeatable sport. Indigo Scuba is a great place to start your scuba diving adventure, or further your scuba diving qualifications and experience. Give us a call today to see how easy it is to become a scuba diving girl.