Simon Enderby/ScubazooA great white shark in False Bay breaches clear from the water's surface as it makes a meal of an unsuspecting seal
Jason Isley/ScubazooHout Bay's kelp hides many surprises for divers
Jason Isley/ScubazooA puffadder shyshark swims over the rocks at dive site Pyramid Rock in False Bay
Jason Isley/ScubazooA group of Cape fur seals play in the surf crashing over the rocks at Duiker Island in Hout Bay
Jason Isley/ScubazooSide profile of the sevengill cowshark at Pyramid Rock in False Bay
Jason Isley/ScubazooA dark shyshark amongst the kelp at Pyramid Rock in False Bay
Jason Isley/ScubazooA sevengill cowshark gets close to the photographer as it appears from the kelp at Pyramid Rock, False Bay
Jason Isley/ScubazooTwo young Cape fur seals playing amongst the kelp at Duiker Island in Hout Bay
Jason Isley/ScubazooA sevengill cowshark swims above the photographer at Pyramid Rock in False Bay
Jason Isley/ScubazooCape fur seals slip into the water at Duiker Island in Hout Bay
South Africa is home to some of the world’s wildest diving, from great white sharks to the sardine run. Beautiful Cape Town lies on the southern tip of the country, and just below the city is False Bay, made famous by the breaching great whites. Simon’s Town overlooks False Bay and makes a great spot from where to explore the area’s diving. It’s a wild sea most of the year around Cape Point, and even False Bay can be affected by large waves and surge, so expect some non-diving days when visiting.
The area’s main draw, of course, is the sharks: it’s the only place in the world where you can regularly see great whites breaching the surface when hunting seals. It’s also a great spot for diving with other species of sharks, such as sevengill cowsharks, puffadder shysharks, pyjama sharks and sharptooth houndsharks, which are found year-round amongst the kelp in the bay. For the more adventurous, a 30-mile boat trip offshore can provide close encounters with mako and blue sharks.
False Bay isn’t just about sharks; in fact, the sharks are in the area because of the abundance of Cape fur seals, which can be seen year-round. Diving with these charismatic creatures can be lots of fun, as they enjoy playing underwater — when I was trying to photograph them, they would constantly bite my strobes and also my dive hood. Keep in mind that diving in and around False Bay means cold water, and the viz can be quite poor.
If you’d like to see the great whites, cage diving is from February to the end of September; if you want to see them breaching, June to August are the best months to be there.
You can see sevengill cowsharks, puffadder shysharks and pyjama sharks year-round. Pyramid Rock, one of the best shark-spotting sites, is extremely close to the shore.
Come between October and July for offshore adventures with mako and blue sharks. I was there in October 2014 at start of the season, and unfortunately the water was still too cold so we didn’t encounter any sharks.
Cape fur seals are found year-round. Some of the best spots are Partridge Point in False Bay from May to September and Duiker Island in Hout Bay from October to April.
