The Ins and Outs of Diving in Cape Town
29 May 2020
By Danel Wentzel
When you think about scuba diving, usually the first image that comes to mind is diving in warm tropical waters, hovering over coral reefs. But have you considered there might be an even more colourful dive site out there, teaming with life?
Along Cape Town’s shores there lives a world beneath the waves. From the surface, kelp forests just look like floating, slimy plants, but once you submerge underneath, you will see an alien landscape come to life. In these kelp forests live over 14 000 documented species of marine animals (Bolton et al., 2011).
Cape Town is one of the largest cities in South Africa and among the most multicultural in the world. Cape Town is uniquely situated on the tip of Southern Africa, surrounded by the Atlantic and Indian Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean brings cold water upwards from the icy poles where the Indian ocean brings down warm water from the Mozambique channel. The meeting of these warm and cold-water masses has resulted in a huge diversity of life underwater.
Kelp (Ecklonia maxima), also known as sea bamboo, form underwater forests which can extend up to 15m (Living shores of Southern Africa, 1993). They create a unique habitat to explore, acting as a refuge for smaller species of reef fish and shysharks.
What you will see
Cape Town's underwater world is teaming with life. On a single dive you can spot a great diversity of species including octopi, crustaceans, sea fans, sponges, feather stars, brittle stars and interesting fish, like the klipfish (34 species have been described in Cape Town, most of them endemic). The Kelp forest is also home to several small sharks including catshark and shyshark species, which use the kelp as a refugia from larger predators.
Puffader shyshark
Cape Fur seals
Common octopus
Cuttlefish
Klipfish
Red Roman
Cape Rock crab
Brittle stars
Over 80 species of nudibranchia have been described in Cape Town (Zsilavecz, 2017).
The Gas Flame
Twin Crown
Tricoloured
Cape Dorid
Cape Town 101
Usually the first response I get when telling people that I dive in Cape Town is “but don’t you get cold?" The answer to that is simple – Yes.
Cape Town’s water is much colder than tropical coral reefs, but you won’t go diving in a shorty. I usually compare diving in cold water to skiing in the snow, you won’t go skiing in a bikini, so why would you go diving in the cold without the proper exposure protection? The most important thing when planning to dive in Cape Town is having the correct wetsuit (We usually dive with 7mm, gloves and a hood), and when the temperature gets to single digits (like the Atlantic side in winter) you might want to consider a dry-suit.
Cape Town has dive sites for all diver levels', from shallow shore dives to deeper wreck dives and swim throughs. So if you are a beginner, a guided shore dive would be recommended, where you will walk straight from the beach into the ocean to go explore the kelp forests. If you are feeling a bit more adventurous Cape Town's shoreline hosts numerous shipwrecks and large rocky reefs you can explore by boat.
When to dive
Despite the cold water Cape Town has a Mediteranean climate with hot summers and rainy winters. Diving is possible all year round, but you can expect colder temperatures during winter months (May-July).
Summer Diving - Atlantic Seaboard (October to February)
an average water temperature of about 13°C
average visibility of about 10m
beautiful reefs, kelp forests and shipwreck dives, both shore and boat-based
When the south-easterly wind has been blowing the visibility can reach up to 20m, but then the temperatures tend to drop to about 10°C.
Winter Diving - False Bay (March to September)
average water temperatures - between 12°C and 18°C
average visibility of about 6m
excellent shore dive sites, deeper reefs and wreck dives accessed by boat
As with surfing in False Bay, scuba diving is best in the winter when the northwester blows, which improves the visibility (up to 15m).
In a seashell
You can dive in Cape Town without losing any fingers or toes - as long as you wear the appropriate exposure protection.
You don’t have to be a pro to dive in the kelp forest – although if you are a beginner or new to diving in Cape Town, having a local guide would be advised.
Diving is all year around. The Atlantic seaboard is dived mainly in summer months where False Bay is dived during winter.
You likely won't encounter jaws - so you can keep calm and enjoy your diving experience.
References
Bolton, J., Anderson, R., Smit, A. and Rothman, M., 2012. South African kelp moving eastwards: the discovery ofEcklonia maxima(Osbeck) Papenfuss at De Hoop Nature Reserve on the south coast of South Africa. African Journal of Marine Science, 34(1), pp.147-151.
Branch, G., Branch, M. and Bannister, A., 1993. The Living Shores Of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik.
Zsilavecz, G., 2007. Nudibranchs Of The Cape Peninsula And False Bay. Cape Town: Southern Underwater Research Group.