Diving in Sodwana Bay KwaZulu Natal

Dive Sodwana Bay

“We saw some pink eyes reflecting back at us, as bright as a car’s reflectors, so we swam over to investigate. They were coelacanths!” – Peter Timm

Want to dive Sodwana Bay in KwaZulu Natal?

Book a Sodwana Bay Dive Tour with Oceans Africa

Sodwana Bay, is a beach paradise nestled among the forested dunes of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Sodwana Bay’s close proximity to the many Game Reserves and parks of KwaZulu Natal makes it the ideal dive destination for those looking for a 360 degree African wildlife experience. Oceans Africa is a dive tour and charter company. We run scuba diving tours from Durban to Sodwana Bay. Our dive tours can be customised to suit your schedule and interests.

 5/5

"... We can highly recommend Oceans Africa. My boyfriend and I went on a diving trip with Graeme and Carel and both of them are super friendly and professional. They went all the way to give us the best possible experience and we surely had! ... Again, we cannot recommend them enough and we will without a doubt book a trip with them again, next time we visit SA."

Diving Sodwana Bay

Scuba Diving at Sodwana Bay

Sodwana Bay is located at the centre of a vast marine reserve and is widely regarded as the scuba diving capital of South Africa.

The major oceanographic influence on Sodwana Bay is from the Agulhas Current. The the area can be characterized by hard coral reef established on a sandstone foundation – as such the dive sites of Sodwana Bay represent the most southerly hard coral reef systems in the world.

The coral formations on Sodwana Bays reefs are beautiful and varied, with intricate structures providing shelter to countless marine creatures.

These coral structures, overhangs and swim-throughs host a myriad of tropical fish which in turn attract the larger pelagics. Potato bass, turtles and large moray eels are not uncommon and look out for bottlenose dolphins or the unforgettable presence of a whale shark either on, to, or from, the dive site.

Custom Sodwana Bay Dive Tour

Sodwana Bay Dive Tour

Design your own dive package and book an amazing dive tour to Sodwana Bay with Oceans Africa. Simply complete the custom tour fields for an instant on-line quotation.

Sodwana Bay Dive Sites

The Dive Sites of Sodwana Bay

Sodwana Bay offers a wide variety of dive sites suitable for all levels of experience. For beginners, Two-Mile Reef is a perfect starting point. Its shallow depths and gentle currents provide a safe environment to learn and explore.

For more experienced divers there are many deeper drop-offs and dive sites to explore such as the Five-Mile Reef, Seven-Mile Reef, and Nine-Mile Reef, each offering their own unique reef structures and marine life to look out for.

The main dive sites of Sodwana Bay are named in accordance to their distance from the launch area – from Quarter Mile to Nine Mile Reef. Most of these sites are lage reef systems that boast a number of separate dive options on the same site.

The majority of dive sites at Sodwana are relatively shallow, with an average depth of around 15m although several deeper sites are available for those with experience. Visibility is seldom below 15m and often exceeds 20m in the winter months. Temperature ranges from 20 – 28 degrees Celsius.

Marine life at Sodwana Bay

What makes Sodwana Bay special?

Sodwana Bay is a haven for sea turtles, with four different species commonly encountered, including the loggerhead and leatherback turtles.

These gentle creatures are often seen gliding gracefully over the reef or resting in the reef. During the nesting season, female turtles leave the water to lay their eggs on the beaches at night.

Macro photographers and Nudi-hunters will delight in the smaller, often overlooked creatures and eagle-eyed divers can spot a variety of shrimps, crabs, and other small invertebrates hiding among the corals and sponges.

For those seeking encounters with larger marine life, Sodwana Bay seldom disappoints. Manta rays, with their impressive wingspans, are not uncommon and may often be seen feeding on plankton near the surface.

Sodwana bay is also a hotspot for whale shark sightings, particularly during the summer months and these filter feeding giants, provide a thrilling experience for divers lucky enough to encounter them. Humpback whales are also seasonal visitors as they migrate along the coast between June and November they may often be heard singing a magical soundtrack to your dive. Sodwana Bay’s diverse and abundant marine life ensures that every dive is a unique and memorable experience.

Tech Diving Sodwana Bay

Extended Range and Tech Dive options

For technical divers seeking deeper and more challenging dives, Sodwana Bay offers some unparalleled dive options from extended range dive sites of 40-60m to hypoxic trimix sites from 60m to over 150m+

The continental shelf is extremely narrow near Sodwana Bay, and a series of deep canyons plunge from the shelf edge at to depths way beyond recreational diving limits. The best known being Jesser Canyon and Diep Gat Canyon both famous for the recent discovery of living Coelacanths – a prehistoric fish once thought to be extinct.

As a prime location or technical diving and extended range exploration, Sodwana Bay is the only place in the world where divers have ever encountered the coelacanth. Found at depths from 54m (world’s shallowest recording) finding a coelacanth is the holy grail for many technical divers. These ancient fish, with their lobed fins and distinctive appearance, offer a glimpse into a bygone age of marine life.

Shark Diving Sodwana Bay

Dive with sharks at Sodwana Bay

For shark diving enthusiasts Sodwana Bay can be highly rewarding. With wide variety of species to be found.

Two Mile Reef becomes the seasonal resting area for female ragged-tooth sharks during the first months of their gestation period until around the end of February

During the summer months there can also be sightings of bull sharks, hammerheads and silvertips, as well as being the best time for a chance encounter with a whale shark.

Sodwana Bay is located approximately 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Durban. The nearest major airport is King Shaka International Airport in Durban. From there, it is a scenic drive to Sodwana Bay. Oceans Africa can arrange transfere services from Durban to Sodwana Bay, making it easy and safe for travelers to reach this South African diving paradise.

Sodwana Bay Dive Packages

Most popular Sodwana Bay Diving Tours:

With it’s scenic beauty and close proximity to Hluhluwe and Umfolozi game reserves, Sodwana Bay is an ideal destination for divers who’d like to experience the wilder side of South Africa. View our dive tour pages for packages that include Sodwana Bay or allow us to create a custom tour for you with transfers and accommodation to suit your individual requirements.