Dive the Big 5

South Africa has become world renowned as a destination for diving withsharks. Initially it was only Great White cage diving but recently South Africa has become known for it's "Raggies" (Sand Tiger Sharks), Zambezi's (Bull Sharks), Hammerhead Sharks, Tiger Sharks, Copper Sharks, Blacktip Shark, Dusky Sharks and Spinner Sharks to name but a few. Not forgetting the Whale Shark which we all know is not a shark at all!! Divers have flocked to South Africa in their thousands in order to have the privilege to be able to dive with these magnificent creatures. Many have returned home with the feeling of being "skunked", not having seen a single shark and the main reason for this is due to the "season" and location. Shark diving is most definitely seasonal as well as regional.

Whale Sharks

Whale Sharks, the gentle giants, are found from Sodwana Bay north...... Our best sightings are off the coast of Inhambane in Mozambique. Being warm water, filter feeders they are found within the tropics all year round, so the best time to view these magnificent beasts are when we, humans, are the most comfortable. This, in the tropics, is most definitely when it's cooler and when there are less bugs around! During the southern hemisphere winter, from April through October. Refer to the Dive The Big 5 "Big 6" Shark Timetable.

Great Whites:

Great Whites prey predominately on the Cape Fur Seal. The Cape Fur Seal pups in November and from November through to March there is so much "natural" food around such as afterbirth, still born seals, baby seals who have drowned, plus the influx of sick, lame and lazy adult seals, all of whom fall prey to the Great White. With all this natural food in the water it is extremely difficult to attract the sharks to our boat with the small "offering" that we put out in order to attract and hold the Great White's attention.

Water temperature

Then there is the water temperature to take into consideration. Sharks are generally warm water creatures although Great Whites tend to favour the colder waters of the Cape, and most probably that's why they are found off the Cape in such great numbers, and of course the availability of food. But contrary to what you may think, the waters off Cape Town and Gansbaai are warmer in the winter months than in the summer months and that's why the Great White "season is April through October. The Great Whites are more hungry and the water temperature is warmer the combination of the two makes the Great White's more active April through to October. Refer to the Dive The Big 5 "Big 6" Shark Timetable.

Raggies

Raggies (Sand Tiger Sharks) are found in great numbers at a dive site called Aliwal Shoal, (refer to our "Dive Site" page on this website) 45 minutes south of Durban. The "Raggies" congregate at Aliwal from July through October and if the Raggie is the species that you wish to dive with, this is the place and the time. Refer to the Dive The Big 5 "Big 6" Shark Timetable. Tiger Sharks are also found in numbers off Aliwal and here we chum, bait and dive with Tiger Sharks much the same way as we chum, bait and dive with Great White's except - no cage!! The best time for free diving with Tigers is January through May. Refer to the Dive The Big 5 "Big 6" Shark Timetable.

SHARK DIVING: THE FACTS

"Elasmobranchii" have been classified as Selachii sharks, chimaera sharks and batoids. It was noted that they were in fact all sharks and should be called "sharks", "flat sharks" (all sand sharks, rays and skates ) and "silver sharks". Ragged Tooth Sharks (the Grey Nurse or Sand Tigers) come to Protea Banks in Kwazulu-Natal in Spring (August/September) as part of their breeding ritual. Placid and slow-moving, the "Raggies" accept the diver.

November brings the game fish (Raggies move away) and they are followed by the Zambezi (Bull) Sharks, classed as a dangerous species. Hammerheads do not follow any seasonal pattern. They are shy and keep their distance. Tiger Sharks are a rare sighting and approach just close enough for the diver to recognise their striped body. The sardine run in June/July brings the Copper Sharks (Bronze Whalers). They scan the surface for the sardine shoals. Quick but shy, they are the smallest of the 7 species of shark commonly found in this area.

DIVE PLAN

Dives are done from zodiacs (rubber ducks) and are drift dives led by a local dive master. Kwazulu-Natal has two prime shark diving areas - Protea Banks and Aliwal Shoal. Protea Banks in Kwazulu-Natal rates as one of the top shark dive sites in the world. Aliwal Shoal is renowned for its "Raggie" & Wreck diving.

PROTEA BANKS

8 km (5 miles) out to sea from Shelley Beach, near Margate on the KZN/Natal South Coast. Depth of the reef varies from 8m (25ft) to in excess of 40m (130ft). There is often a 4 or 5 knot current. Sharks, such as Ragged-Tooths, Great Whites, Zambezis and Hammerheads and a large variety of game fish can be sighted. Ragged Tooth sharks come here to mate in spring and can be observed at this time.

ALIWAL SHOAL

A rocky reef - 5km (3 miles) off the mouth of the Umkomaas River.

Depths vary from 6 to 27 meters (19ft to 88ft).

Ragged Tooth Sharks congregate from July to October/November. (up to 60 at one time).

Spectacular coral growth and tropical fish.

Dolphins, turtles, 2 wrecks (Produce and Nebo), tropical fish and coral.

Ragged Tooth Sharks congregate from July to October/November. (up to 60 at one time).

Wrecks:

The Nebo, which sank on its maiden voyage in 1884 - at 25 meters (82ft).

DIVE QUALIFICATIONS

Please note that dives on Protea Banks are restricted to advanced divers or open water one divers with more than 25 logged dives due to the depth of the dives - in excess of 30 meters - and the strong currents that are usually present on Protea. This is diving at its best and well worth the effort! Aliwal Shoal can be dived by all levels of divers. Shark dives on both Protea Banks and Aliwal Shoal could include a NAUI/PADI Shark Speciality Diver course.

WHEN TO DIVE

All year round.There are seasonal variations in shark species seen on the reefs.

Tiger Shark Diving

Tiger Sharks are seasonally resident on our coast. We say "seasonally resident" as there are distinct seasonal visitations. The big females (3.0m pcl and bigger) join us from January to June. Animals in the size range 3.0m pcl and smaller are best viewed in the period July to December.

HOW DO WE DIVE WITH THE TIGERS?

Option one, which is not our preferred option, is to set up baits on the seabed at 15/17m and then observe the sharks as they come to the baits to feed. As many as 8 tigers at once may be expected but typically two or three are the norm at any one time. The animals tend to arrive around 09h00 and stay until the divers leave the site. The group of no more than 8 divers conducts either one or two dives. The most number of passes (a pass is measured to within 1 metre of the diver) in a single dive is 68 by Betty (a 4.5m female) in 2000. The most number of continuous days without a tiger sighting whilst working on the bottom is five, although we had a White Shark, Hammerheads, Zambezi and Blacktips to take up the slack during this period.

This is the most recommended option is sub surface drifting.

Over the last two years (2002/3), we started the surface work a la' the Great White Shark cage diving, but without a cage, and it has been very successful, other than breaching we are getting all the other behavioural stuff that they get with the Great Whites.

Once we arrive at the dive site we start chumming so as to attract the Tigers and pot out a buoy with the bait. When the first Tigers appear the DM assesses the situation and if he is of the opinion that the Tigers are going to stay around awhile and that they are not aggressive the divers may enter the water. Either you can view the action from the "safety" of the boat, or for non-certified divers, on snorkel, and certified divers can drop down to about 5 meters and follow the action from below. This is a drift dive as the boat, chum and bait is drifting with the wind and surface current, as are the divers at 5 meters. Should the sharks disappear the snorkellers and divers climb back onto the boat and we move to another location and start all over again.

Typical visibility is from 5 to 40m and water temperature between 22 and 28 Celsius depending of the time of year. Daytime temperatures range from 20 to 38 Celsius.

This method has delivered 100% success over the past two years. 2003 offered the best animal interaction year so far. 17 sharks presented themselves. Made up of 3 males and 14 females. The biggest animal was a return female, Marion, at 4.0m (pcl). Barbara-Ann arrived back after a year's absence and was a major player. One of the animals tagged in the 2002 acoustic study (Ashleigh 3.5m pcl) returned and was one of the nine regulars. The longest surface wait at one site was 40 min and the shortest wait was 7 min.

2004 delivered 20 identifiable animals and of these two were males. Ashleigh was back with Ella. Barbara Ann was around for a month and then disappeared and a host of new animals made themselves famous in dive logbooks and on the film circuit.

So far 2005 has continued with a 100% sighting success per day per dive. We have identified 18 sharks and new ones are entering the area on a weekly basis. One animal has returned from the 2004 tagging study and many new faces have been documented this year.

Modus Operandi:

09h00-Meet on the beach to kit up.

09h30-Shark briefing

10h00-Boat Launches

14h00-Anchor up.

There is no toilet on the boat.

Light refreshments are included.

Cylinders and weight belts are provided per diver.

Please bring suntan lotion and hat.

DIVE AREAS AND PLAN

Kwa-Zulu Natal/Southern Mozambique:

When diving with Whale Sharks off the coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal and Southern Mozambique (Sodwana Bay and Ponta do Oroa), we enlist the use of a microlight aircraft that spots the animals and radios the co-ordinates to the dive boats. We then launch the boats and drop the divers in the on-coming course of the approaching Whale Shark and wait for the Whale Shark to approach the divers who are on snorkel. Please note that we do not use scuba as this tends to frighten the Whale Sharks away.

Mozambique:

This species is actively hunted in the Western Pacific Ocean.In Mozambique, at Guinjata Bay, we restrict the number of divers to 8 and charter a deep-sea fishing boat. We spend the whole day "cruising" the backline in search of these gentle giants. Once we have located them, we again drop the divers who are on snorkel in front of the on-coming animals and wait for them to approach the divers.