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ALIWAL SHOAL: About an hour’s drive south of Durban you will come to
the small town of Umkomaas, the base for diving Aliwal Shoal. The reef
becomes a temporary home to visiting Ragged-tooth sharks between June and November. Also look out for stingrays
and varieties of moray eels. In addition to the
reefs, Aliwal has a couple of wrecks, notably The Produce which sank in
1974 and is now a popular dive site at 30m. There are huge (and we mean
huge!) resident
Brindle bass as well as a variety of the tropical fish. Aliwal makes a good
'warm-up' site before moving on to dive Protea Banks: the reefs are similar
and have a proliferation of hard and soft corals as well as resident tropical
fish life and migratory sharks, which makes these sites both beautiful
and thrilling to dive.
PROTEA BANKS: 45
minutes drive south of Umkomaas is the small town of Shelley Beach and
approximately 7kms off-shore, Protea Banks lies at a depth of 27m – 40m. First dived in 1991, no one knew quite what to
expect when they hit the water (in fact they went in ‘armed’ with snooker
cues just in case!). Today Protea Banks is known as a top diving
destination for its unusually good shark sightings. Visiting shark species include Zambezi (Bull Shark),
Hammerhead, Black Tip, Ragged Tooth (Sand Tiger), Giant Guitar and Tiger
Shark. Inhabitants of the reef include Potato and
Brindle bass, skate and rays, morays as well as the occasional passing
turtle. Not forgetting the opportunity to hear and spot Dolphins and Whales
underwater and on the surface.
TIGER SHARKS: Aliwal
is becoming known for it's Tiger shark dives. Second only to the Great white, the Tiger is named for
the distinctive stripes decorating it’s back. As the shark matures those
stripes fade so you can easily tell a young animal from an old one. Without
a doubt, this is the most exciting shark dive you will ever experience:
no cages, just you and the sharks! Naturally inquisitive the sharks
come in close, cruising past divers before veering away at the last minute!
Blacktip sharks also abound on these dives, rocketing between the bait
box and the viewing divers which really adds to the excitement!
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