Diving South Africa
South Africa offers shark diving, wreck diving on rugged wild coasts, diving with whales and dolphins, or diving on pristine coral reefs with abundant wildlife. You can dive the cold waters of the Cape Province, the warmer waters of KwaZulu Natal, or the tropical waters of Mozambique. The Cape Province has good wreck diving, white sharks, kelp, and colorful sponges. KwaZulu Natal has a little bit of everything with mantas, rays, sharks, wrecks, whales, dolphins, turtles, reef and pelagic fish, and hard and soft coral reefs. Mozambique has whale sharks, mantas, turtles, dugongs, and tropical hard coral reefs. Most of the diving is done from semi-rigid boats, or from a few hard boats, and shore diving. The only “liveaboards” are found in Mozambique and are not of international standard and size.
Best time to dive
Year-round the diving is great depending on what type of diving or sea creatures you want to see.
Visibility
Visibility averages 15 to 130 feet depending on where you’re diving.
Water temperatures
Water temperature ranges from 80 to 95 F.
Weather and climate
South Africa is a large country with diverse climactic regions. In general, the weather is sunny and hot in the summer months (December to April) and mild during winter (May to November). Winters in the Cape and Natal are cold and wet, and snow falls on the mountain ranges. Gauteng and the northern areas experience thunderstorms regularly during evenings in the summer months, and winters are usually warm during the day and cold at night.
Language
Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, English, and Tswana
Passport/Visa requirements
U.S., UK, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand passport holders need a valid passport, but no visa is needed for stays of up to 90 days. Passports must be valid for at least 30 days beyond the period of intended stay. An onward or return ticket is required, as well as sufficient funds and documents needed for further travel. Note that visitors to South Africa must have at least one free page in their passport for endorsements. Other countries should check the requirements before traveling.
Currency
Rand – Get exchange rates at http://www.xe.com/ucc/
Electrical current
220 volts AC, 50 Hz. Converters or transformers are required for U.S. electronics.
Capital
Pretoria (official); Bloemfontein (judicial) and Cape Town (legislative)
General information
South Africa is one of the most diverse and interesting countries in the world. South Africa extends 1,240 miles from the Limpopo River in the north to Cape Agulhas in the south and 930 miles from Port Nolloth in the west to Durban in the east. Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Swaziland run west to east along South Africa’s northern border and Lesotho is in the southeast. The country can be divided into three major parts: the vast interior plateau, the Kalahari Basin, and a narrow coastal plain.
South Africa offers a variety of adventures from wildlife safaris, where you’ll see elephants, giraffes, lions, etc. to whitewater rafting, hiking, climbing, and horseback riding. South Africa has something for everyone and is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Map
Get a map of South Africa from WorldAtlas.com.