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Durban > Activities > Shark Diving > Scuba Diving > African Dive Adventures

African Dive Adventures

African Dive Adventures

African Dive Adventures has pioneered Protea Banks since 1994 and our priorities are safety, conservation and sheer diving pleasure.

Our main purpose is to charter and lead dives at Protea Banks, a world renowned shark-diving reef which is situated 7.5 Km off Margate. We take small groups of well qualified divers to experience the thrill of a drift dive with wild sharks in their natural environment without the use of any protection at all. We also charter and lead dives to various inshore reefs if the conditions are favourable.

African Dive Adventures is not a scuba dive centre in the traditional way. We don't have a building offering board and lodging but we casually meet eachother every morning at 7:AM in the harbour, where we park our boats and have our open-air office. After we have finished paperwork, we will all start assembling our dive equipment, we'll give you a thorough briefing and we're off.

African Dive Adventures constantly strives to maintain the highest possible standard of safety and professionalism. Our boat always carries medical oxygen as well as all First Aid and Safety Equipment. Before each dive we do an extensive briefing with all people involved. It is our mission to fight for the conservation of Protea Banks, the inshore reefs and their inhabitants such as the sharks, the dolphins, the whales and all the other creatures down the line.

We believe in ECO-Tourism and ECO-Education of all our divers from near and far.

We do not touch the reef or any fish and do not allow any unqualified or inexperienced people to dive with us in the interest of safety and conservation.

We do not pollute the sea and if we find any pollution on our trips out at sea, we go all the way to remove it whenever possible.

We protest strongly against the unnecessary killing of sharks and dolphins by trophy-hunters, gillnets and ignorant fishermen.

Experience

Come and experience the thrill of diving with wild sharks in their natural environment. We pioneered diving on Protea Banks and remain the premier dive operation in our region. Our attention to safety and the protection of the reef are top priorities. Without the use of any cages, small groups of divers are taken on a drift dive with sharks.

Protea Banks The Northern Pinnacles

Depth: 33-40m

This is an ideal area for nitrox diving and has a magnificant topography. This part of the reef is only dived in winter during our Raggie season, and only very few divemasters know how to dive the Northern Pinnacles properly. Because most people don't even find this location, the reef is virtually untouched and undamaged. It has two large cave systems which are used by the Ragged Tooth Sharks as resting zones on their annual migration and congregation route. On a good day, the diver can encounter up to 200 sharks in an area smaller than half a rugby field. We start our dive at the large cave, looking in from the top and observing Raggies interacting peacefully with each other. Often we find the caves so full of sharks that we can hardly see the bottom. We respect their resting zone by merely observing and not disturbing them. We then pass the tunnel which we can swim through if it is not occupied by sharks, swim past the coral garden and get to the second cave. This cave is also open on top and features several chambers, each one with a wide opening at the top ceiling. If there are no Raggies in the caves, it is much fun to explore around in the chambers, looking for sharks' teeth which are generally plentiful. This is the only souvenir we allow the diver to remove from the reef. As spring goes into summer, large shoals of Hammerhead Sharks frequent this part of the reef. The best months to dive the Northern Pinnacles are June to November. It truly is the best dive on earth.

The Southern Pinnacles

Depth: 26-40m

This area is home to the Zambezi Shark (Bull Shark) which is what Protea Banks has initially become famous for. From Oct to May, some very large specimen can be encountered here. In the beginning of the Zambezi season, they tend to keep a safe distance from the divers which gets reduced as time goes by. Towards Easter, Zambies often get so inquisitive and used to encounter divers underwater, that they can come really close up, ideal to take this awardwinning photo. Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks are also seen shoaling at this time. They can come past in as many as several hundreds on a good dive. Hunting packs of Great Hammerheads check out who makes all that funny noise and Blacktips dart in and out of the diver's vision like a bunch of playful puppies. We start the dive at the Southern Cave which is a buzz of all sorts of game and reef fish, often so thick that it is hard to see one's buddy. Thereafter we reach Kingfish Gully, an overhanging rock which is home to large shoals of Kingfish, Yellowtail, Kaakap, Sea Pike Tunny, Potato Bass and many more species. The current then takes us to a large sandy patch we call Sand Shark Gully. It lies at exactly 40m depth and is home of the Giant Guitar Shark. At times we see them lined up like planes at an airport, 50 to 60 of these magnificent creatures is not uncommon.

The best months to see Tiger Sharks are April and May, although we see Tiger Sharks right through the year. Click here to find out more about our Tiger Shark Diving, Snorkelling and Boat Trips. The really lucky diver may even encounter the odd Great White which is an absolute privilege. Roland Mauz: "It took me over 500 dives to get that lucky and despite everybody's totally unfounded fear, the Great White behaves just like any other shark, swims past, looks what's going on and carries on his mission. The feeling is indescribable!!" Protea Banks has been rated by many divers from around the world as the best shark dive. Many divers are scared of sharks due to horror stories and myths created by the movie world, but their fears are totally unfounded. Sharks are intelligent animals, do not recognise us as a food source and generally tend to be shy and respectful towards the divers. Roland: "I have done over 1250 dives at Protea Banks and never have once felt threatened by any shark or groups of sharks."

Tiger Shark Diving

For true Galeocerdo cuvier fanatics, photographers, adrenalin junkies and thrill seekers we've got something very special: cageless baited Tiger Shark Diving, Snorkelling and Boat Trips. South Africa is one of only three countries in the world offering this kind of diving. Using a baiting technique that closely resembles the shark's natural feeding habit, African Dive Adventures lets divers as well as snorkellers and non-divers share in the experience. "It is our aim to bring the Tiger Shark experience closer to as many people as possible. We believe that the more people can be educated about sharks and their behaviour, the better the shark's chances of survival will be."

We also offer:

Sardine Run

The annual great Sardine Run is a natural phenomenon which usually occurs during the months of June and July, when massive schools of sardines migrate from the colder waters around the Cape to the warmer waters of Kwa-zulu Natal to give birth to their offspring. Once they've layed their eggs, they return to the Cape, closely followed by thousands of dolphins, birds, fish of prey, whales and sharks. The ocean awakes and the thrill is simply indescribable.

In the olden days it was said that as soon as the Aloes bloom on the South Coast, the Sardines will start running. Funny enough, nobody gave the Sardine Run much notice. The ocean is buzzing with life, yet only the locals used to get drawn into this unbelievable spectacle of Mother Nature. There are hundreds, sometimes thousands of Common Dolphins along the coast hunting the sardines and there are whales everywhere. Cape Gannets (Toelpel auf deutsch) cruise in flocks of several hundreds above the sardines and dive from 20m into the water to catch as many of the silver fish as they can. At the end of a good day, the Gannets are so full that they just sit on the water unable to take off.

From underneath the sharks and dolphins round up a large number of sardines and form what is known as a bait ball. Once the bait ball is formed, the sharks and dolphins swim through and through and through that ball until not one sardine is left. As divers, we first approach the situation carefully and watch from the boat what is going on. Then we slide into the water just on ABC and when a bait ball is formed or a large shoal of sardines approaches, we don equipment and watch the incredible scene from a depth of approximately 5-7m. Then it's back on the boat and off to the next group of sardines. This can go on for hours or even the whole day with a short lunch break in between.

When the Sardine Run starts, it starts just north of Port Elizabeth and moves up the coast pretty quickly. Many operators book up all accommodation along the Wild Coast and sell packages to experience the Sardine Run. As nobody can foresee the exact time of the run, the risk lies with the diving public. They have to book their package which is very expensive due to the remoteness of the area. If there are no sardine activities during the booked time, there is no refund. If and when the Sardine Run happens, it will definitely come past Margate and Shelly Beach and usually go as far as Hibberdene with a few pockets reaching Durban. We've decided that we don't want to join the crowd but stay right where we know the area best.

Our customers do not have to take any risk at all. Our prices stay the same all year round and if there are no sardines, we keep on diving Protea Banks as usual. If however, the sardines run, we do exactly the same as everybody else and are in the midst of the activity. Only then do our Sardine Run rates apply and our customers still have the choice on a day to day basis if they want to participate in the Sardine Run or rather dive the Sandtigers on the Caves of Protea North.

WHERE: Along the Durban coastline, Margate, Kwazulu Natal

Tiger Shark Diving
R1000
Prices are per person. Two drifts, 3 to 4 hours, including equipment. Rates are subject to change without notice.
Tiger Shark Diving
R400
Prices are per person. Rates are subject to change without notice.
Tiger Shark Diving
R600
Prices are per person. Including equipment. Rates are subject to change without notice.
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