Sodwanna Bay, 1998
Author: Donna Hamberg

Eastern Africa ( South Africa ) @ Sodwanna Bay. This area is in the north eastern corner of South Africa at the Indian Ocean. My trip was in July of 1998.

The area is quite lush with allot of jungle growth up to sand dunes. There have been problems with robbery in the last few years but this seems to have been stabilized in the last year or so. There are some armed guards that are patrolling the area. The cabins were quite rustic but comfortable. The South Africans were very friendly and helpful with our questions. The road access is a bit primitive, we had a good hour of driving on two track and sand roads to get to the Park and there were a few times when we had to slam on the brakes for cows in the road. The sand dunes at the ocean reminded me of the way the dunes are in western Michigan.

There are no docks and there is quite a large surf that rolls into shore. The dive boats are pulled along the beach into the surf and from there the divers help unload the boat and help push it into the surf while the engine warms up the DMdriver weaves his way through 6ft. surf.

Once on the other side of the waves everyone does a back roll together at the dive sites which are at 2mile reef or 6mile reef or 9 mile reef. The visibility is in the 30 to 50 foot range. At this area you may encounter whale sharks and baskin sharks which we did not see. We did see however a 12 foot raggle tooth shark that could have swallowed both my wife and I. There were a number of fish species that I haven't seen before like the Potato Cod and Clown Triggers. There were anemones and clown fish that were prevalent there were also species of soft coral.

The water temp was in the mid to high 70s. The dive masters were very helpful and knowledgeable. We were able to dive our own profiles but could join a DM in the water if we wished. From shore two different days we saw the southern right whales blowing and breaching.

If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me.

©1999-2007 DiveAtlas Web Publishing.  All Rights Reserved
This entire domain and all associated e-mail addresses are located in the State of Washington,
and sending mail to addresses at this domain is subject to the provisions of the Revised Code of Washington.