Scuba Diving in Cape Town
Dive Cape Town
“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.”
–
Looking for the best Scuba Diving in Cape Town?
Dive Cape Town with Oceans Africa!
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Dive Cape Town with Oceans Africa for private dive charters on the Southern Peninsula. Oceans Africa is a dive tour and charter company. We are based in Cape Town where we we run scuba diving and freediving tours our boat Sea Otter. Depending on the season we may launch from Simonstown or Hout Bay where we are able to access the best of Cape Town’s dive sites. Our dive charters in Cape Town are created exclusively for you, with personalised service and attention to detail.
Dive Cape Town and the Table Mountain National Park MPA
Scuba and Freediving in Cape Town
Cape Town is a unique and popular scuba diving destination. The coastal waters of the Cape are influenced by both the Agulhas and the Benguela currents, offering the adventurous diver a wide variety of scuba diving options to explore.
The Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) is a world heritage site surrounded by 1000 Km2 of Marine Protected Area (MPA) with 5 no take zones where fishing activities are strictly prohibited.
Our boat Sea Otter is SAMSA certified for commercial operations up to 15NM offshore with day and night rating. We also carry a permit issued by SAN Parks to conduct scuba dives in the TMNP MPAs
No need to worry if you don’t do scuba. Many of the dive sites can be enjoyed freediving or snorkeling.
Enjoy the best Dive Sites in Cape Town
Which dive sites to dive and when ?
Cape Town’s southern peninsula forms a natural divide between False Bay and the Atlantic, giving divers access to two distinct marine environments.
More than a hundred recognised dive sites are spread around the Cape Peninsula and Atlantic seaboard, with new locations still being added to the list of local favourites each year.
The Atlantic side is dived more often in summer, when winter swells have abated and prevailing southeasterly winds push surface water offshore, creating cold, clean upwellings along this spectacular stretch of coastline.
Boat access to the Atlantic is from Granger Bay and Hout Bay, with well-known sites such as the wrecks of Maori Bay, Justin’s Caves and Oudekraal among local favourites. Cold water is however the biggest challenge on these sites. Divers using standard wetsuits often keep dives shallow and short to minimise heat loss, while the deeper sites are better suited to experienced divers equipped with drysuits.
The dive sites of False Bay offer a softer option, with warmer water and a more forgiving climate. The influence of the Agulhas Current supports an abundance of fish and rich inverebrate life among the pretected reefs and sheltered coves, ideal for year-round diving. When boat access to the bay is limited due weather, it is often possible to find a sheltered shore entry option at A-Frame, Windmill or Longbeach.
Most of the dive sites around Cape Town are relativley shallow, ranging from 5 to 25 metres, making them accessible yet full of variety. Sites such as Pyramid Rock, Castle Rocks and the Smitswinkel Bay wrecks reveal colourful invertebrates, reef fish, shysharks and occasional visiting seals or cowsharks.
With such diversity packed into a compact coastline, diving in Cape Town offers both easy access and an exceptional range of marine habitats to explore.
Exclusive Cape Town Dive Charter
Private Dive Charter Cape Town
Join Oceans Africa in Cape Town for a one of a kind dive charter experience. Enjoy personalised, intimate dive charters with us on our boat Sea Otter
Dive Kelp Forests in Cape Town
Diving in the Great African Sea Forest
Kelp forests line much of the Cape shoreline and provide a magical environment to explore.
Widely regarded as the signature Cape Town diving experience. These expansive underwater forests host a huge variety of marine life and collectively form a vast habitat, now know as the Great African Sea Forest, extending almost 1000km north into Namibia.
The kelp forest plays a vital role in providing shelter and nursery habitat for many species.
Many of the kelp forests around the cape peninsula fall within MPA (marine protected areas) restricted zones, where fishing is prohibited. Exploring these magnificent underwater jungles enables a direct interaction with a mature and complex marine ecosystem. Scuba diving in the kelp forests of Cape Town will leave you in awe of just how much life there is to discover in these rich and temperate waters.
Deep Dives in Cape Town
Diving the Deep Reef Systems
The deeper reef surrounding the Cape peninsular can be breathtakingly beautiful. As you descend between giant boulders and granite slabs the wealth of invertebrate life soon becomes apparent.
Every inch of reef is bejeweled with hard and soft, cold water corals in shades of red, blue, pink, orange and purple, providing a wealth of fine detail to explore and photograph.
Only a few dive sites in False Bay extend past the 30m mark however the topography on many sites is spectacular.
Huge granite boulders stack upon each other to form caves, swim-throughs and pinnacles that drop from just below the surface to the depths below. These dive sites will impress even the most seasoned divers.
Wreck Diving Cape Town
Explore the wreck dives of Cape Town
A wreck seekers paradise, the Cape of Storms has claimed many names from the past.
Early East Indiamen, split their sides and spilled their cargoes some 400 years before the Korean bulk carrier Daeyang Family ran aground in Table Bay in 1986.
In 1911 the Portuguese passenger liner SS Lusitania stuck Bellows Rock off Cape Point and sank in 40m of water. Now affectionately known as The Luci , she is considered by many to be the top wreck dive in the Cape although her location only allows access on the calmest of days.
Many ships have also been scuttled to create artificial reefs. The wrecks of Smitswinkel Bay are a favorite with the locals and along with those on the Atlantic seaboard, offer a wide selection of wreck dives to suit all levels of training.
Dive Charters Cape Town
Private Dive charters in Cape Town
At Oceans Africa we believe you deserve the best possible dive experience we can deliver. We like to take our time on our trips to enjoy the bay to it’s fullest. We always try to stay flexible and adapt our charters to our clients interests, the conditions on the day and the sightings.
Unlike many dive centres in Cape Town, we offer exclusivle private charters, to deliever a high degree of personal service. While our scuba diving Cape Town prices are not the cheapest they are still the best value and are priced to competitivley match many group dive experience rates.
As a dive charter operator, Oceans Africa works with numerous dive shops in Cape Town as well as independent dive instructors and divemasters, to offer you a wide range of diving services and dive training. Ask about our instructor led experiences and have your dive package with us count towards your advanced course or specialty certifications.
Exclusive Cape Town Dive Package
Cape Town Dive Package
Book an amazing four night scuba diving package with Oceans Africa in Cape Town. Includes three days exclusive dive charters with us on our boat Sea Otter
Shark Diving Cape Town
Shark Diving and Cage Diving Cape Town
For shark diving enthusiasts there are many different species of shark to be found around Cape Town.
Sevengill cow sharks, gully sharks and numerous species of smaller cat sharks can be encountered on the reef and in the kelp fringes.
Divers prepared to adventure offshore can encounter pelagic shark species during the Summer months. Blue sharks and mako sharks may be found some 10-20Nm off Cape Point in the months from November to May – see baited dives.
There are of course also the cage diving Cape Town options in False Bay as well as in nearby Gansbaai. With the absence of great white sharks in recent years these shark diving experiences now focus on giving divers and snorkelers the chance to view bronze whaler sharks for the safety of a cage.
Freediving in Cape Town
Freedive & snorkeling in Cape Town
Don’t worry if you don’t scuba dive, there is still a huge amount to explore in Cape Town.
Many Cape Town dive sites offer a broad range of depth, with shallow kelp forests and beautiful reef on the same site, making them ideal for freediving and snorkeling charters.
The kelp forests in particular provide some of the most accessible and rewarding encounters, with plenty to see even at a few metres.
Much of the Cape Town kelp forest can be accessed directly from the shore, while a boat charter with Oceans Africa gives access to quieter reefs and less-visited spots along the Atlantic and False Bay coastlines. Whether you freedive, or just snorkel, Cape Town has a wide range of sites suited to all experience levels.
Night Diving Cape Town
Discover the creatures that come out at night!
For photographers and more adventurous divers, exploring the dive sites around Cape Town at night is highly rewarding.
Diving at night reveals many animals and behaviors not seen during there day. Squid and octopus and cuttlefish are more active at night and may be seen hunting and feeding on small fish and krill.
Bio-luminescence is a feature on most night dives and time with torches off is essential to appreciate this phenomenon. Many kinds of salp and jellyfish are also out in bigger numbers and their ethereal forms lit by your dive torches make for amazing photograph and video opportunities.
Diving with Seals
Diving and snorkeling with Cape fur seals
Cape fur seals are found all around the Cape Peninsular and its very common to be ‘buzzed’ by them during your dives.
Oceans Africa conduct guided seal snorkeling and dive charters all year round.
Partridge Point in False Bay is the preferred site during the Winter months as an alternative to the dive sites on the Atlantic seaboard which are best accessed during the Summer.
IMPORTANT UPDATE ON SEAL INTERACTIONS AND SAFETY: There has been an unfortunate development with the seals snorkeling and diving activity in Cape Town. It was discovered this May 2024 that there is rabies in the seal population. While the department of environmental affairs and tourism is not putting a halt to seal snorkeling and diving activities, and we have had no incidents with our activities, all of the Cape Town dive/snorkel operators have decided avoid the areas with high seal concentrations, until we have more information on how the disease is spreading through the population.
Atlantic SEABOARD Dive Safari
To enjoy the best summertime scuba diving Cape Town has to offer, contact us for the latest updates of conditions and sightings.
Explore the Atlantic Seaboard in all it’s a summer glory. Book a dive safari from Hout Bay, moving through cold, clear water, thriving kelp forests and granite reefs. Pelagic encounters including sunfish, passing whales and dolphins. Scuba, freediving and snorkel options available!
Diving Conditions Cape Town
Contact us for the latest updates of conditions and sightings.
The diving conditions in Cape Town can be unpredictable, however there are generally two distinct seasons; Prevailing south-east winds during the summer months cause cold, very clear up-welling on the Atlantic seaboard, while westerly winds during winter, bring clear water into False Bay on the eastern side of the Cape Peninsular. Whatever the weather, ideal conditions in the Two Oceans Aquarium means it’s always possible to find somewhere to dive Cape Town!
Water Temperature
Temperate water diving in Cape Town
Water temperature can vary considerably in the Cape, from as high as 20 degrees to below 10 degrees Celsius. Typically divers in False Bay enjoy warmer temperatures than on the Atlantic Seaboard, with an average water temperature of around 14 degrees, although thermoclines on deeper dive sites can be severe and occasionally drop several degrees. Adequate exposure protection is therefore essential to enjoy your diving in Cape waters.
Exposure protection: As a minimum to dive Cape Town, we recommend a multi-layer system with 10mm on the chest, 5mm on legs and arms, 5mm hood, boots and gloves. This is the standard rental gear in Cape Town however, many local divers choose to dive in Dry Suits, despite air temperatures in Summer being as high as 30 degrees.
Average Visibility
"If it's clear you must fear!"
Typically the cold water in Cape Town is cleaner. “If it’s clear you must fear!” is a common joke among local divers, although we are occasionally blessed with 20m visibility and 20 degrees Celsius in False Bay, the average visibility is probably around the 8-10m mark.
Plankton blooms and red tides enrich our waters and feed our colourful reef systems, so the visibility is often variable. Some dive sites may trap clean water while others have low viz and for this reason, we always try stay flexible on our dive site options on the day.
Scuba divers visiting the Cape often describe the reefs as the most colourful they’ve ever seen!
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Dive Cape Town Tours & Packages
Book a dive package in Cape Town
Cape Town with it’s scenic beauty, vibrant cultures and history, is an ideal arrival or departure point for any tour to South Africa. View our dive tour pages for packages that include Cape Town or allow us to create a custom tour for you with transfers and accommodation to suit your individual requirements.
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