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Africa
Dive Tours | Africa Dive Resorts
| Africa Safaris
The Dark Continent ...
AFRICA !
The best dive trips, liveaboards, resorts, tour
and dive operators in Africa are represented here in the On-line
Discovery Travel Catalog:
 Photograph
Great White Sharks in the morning and lions in the afternoon. Dive
Discovery offers a variety of dive trips in Africa. Diving can be
very exciting; dive with Great Whites, Hammerheads, Raggies (Sand
Tigers or Grey Nurse sharks), Zambezis (Bull sharks), and Tiger
Sharks. Plus other itineraries for the less brave!
Africa, the Dark Continent. The very word conjures
up an aura of mystery, romance and contrast. The plight of many
of her people is desperate, but at the same time fill with opportunity
and hope. Hundreds and thousands of wildebeest still march
to the beat of an ancient impulse as they sweep back and forth across
the vast East African plains in synchrony with the seasons. Huge-tusked
elephants still bathe in the waters of the broad Zambezi
River before it plunges into the chasm of the Victoria Falls.
And lions still break the silence of the star filled nights with
their roaring in the savanna of the south.
I cannot begin to describe to you, the reader just
what kind of an effect Africa will have on you once you visit the
'dark continent' Does the illusion start when we were children watching
Tarzan? It did for me, or perhaps Daktari, with Clarence the crossed
eyed lion? Whatever media, museum display, movie, song or vision
has enraptured our imagination Africa will always be an integral
part of you until the day you die. You cannot compare it
to any other kind of travel or dive excursion you may have done
in your past. This is the most memorable adventure you will ever
embark on. 
Our tours combine scuba diving with wildlife safaris
in the game reserves. Shark cage diving with Great White Sharks
on the Cape coast. Dive with the Big 5 Sharks. Dive with Great White
Sharks, Hammerheads, Raggies (Sand Tigers or Nurse sharks), Zambezis
(Bull sharks) and Tiger sharks on the Natal coast. We also offer
tropical diving in South Africa and Mozambique and wreck diving,
penguin diving and seal diving in the Cape Peninsula.
Africa will call to you; it will beckon your return.
It seeps into your blood slowly, it never leaves you. Africa is
our past, it remains in peril, you must travel to this magic, enchanting
continent; it fulfills our deepest needs.
We often conduct group dive tours. Check for our current
group dive trips on our Dive Discovery home page!
DIVING IN AFRICA
 Do
you want to dive with shark, shark and more shark? AFRICA is the
place. There are more species of shark in the waters off Africa
than anywhere else in the world. Don't let this little slice of
information pie detract you from everything that Africa diving has
to offer. It's not just about the shark!
From the Sharm El Sheikh in Red Sea down to the tip
of South Africa where the Atlantic and Indian oceans merge, there
are great dive spots waiting for you to discover. Pemba Island,
Zanzibar, Madagascar, Mozambique and South Africa all offer amazing
and pristine diving. A customized tour can be put together to meet
your every expectation. Combine your dive vacation with a fantastic
land safari and you'll have yourself an adventure of a lifetime.
South Africa is best known for big action, shark diving
and it's the most popular place to encounter the enormous, elusive
and intimidating Great White Shark. We recommend cage diving with
this fellow, but they have been known to make an occasional presence
here and there while free diving. Yikes!
Best Time
Great White Cage Diving is seasonal. The best time of year is from
mid-April - October.
Weather
Great White Cage Diving is done off the southern most shores of
South Africa, about 2.5 hours drive from Cape Town. The area is
known as the "Cape of Storms".
The winters are normally wet and can be quite uncomfortable,
while the summers are sunny, hot and known for the "Cape Doctor"
or south-easter, which blows pretty much daily.
The trips to get you to "Shark Alley",
the narrow strip between Dyer Island and Geyser Rock, are weather
permitting. The statistics for being able to get you out there are;
12 days out of every 30 in the winter months (April - October) and
20 days out of 30 during the summer months (November - March). So
you can see that you are taking a bit of a chance, weather wise,
if you choose to do only one day of Great White Cage Diving. This
is the reason we recommend 3-4 days for this exciting activity.
Seasons
There are definitely times of year when the Great White's are more
active; this being May - October. There are a couple of reasons
that contribute to this behavior.
First, the water temperature is actually warmer during the winter
months (approx. 16C/65F) than during the summer months (approx.
9C/48F). Sharks prefer warmer water and therefore are more active
in the winter months. Unfortunately, this coincides with the time
of year when the weather is at it's worst.
Second, November is when the Cape Fur Seals are having their pups.
The Cape Fur Seals are the Great White's main source of food. The
seals congregate in the thousands on Geyser Rock, where up to 60,000
can be found during the pupping and mating season (Nov/Dec). With
this great abundance of food around, it is extremely difficult to
attract the sharks to the boat. Even if they do, the sharks just
aren't all that interested in the bait that's put out and often
times don't hang around for very long, which hopefully is long enough
to get divers into the cage and view them in their natural surroundings.
So you see, one day of cage diving may not be enough for a good
viewing opportunity.
Dive Qualifications
Great White Cage Diving is open to all CERTIFIED sport divers. The
non-diver is welcome to experience the excitement on the top-side,
but for insurance purposes are not allowed to get into cages and
dive with the sharks.
Whale Watching
June - November is the whale watching season in the Cape Town area.
Southern Right Whales congregate off the coast near Walker Bay,
Hermanus and Gansbaai. You can view them directly from the shore.
The Garden Route coastline is home to the humpback whale and bottle
nosed dolphin year round in-shore. Bryde's whales, minke whale and
common dolphin are found just offshore.
ONE DAY GREAT WHITE SHARK DIVE
You will be collected from your hotel in Cape Town at 6:00am for
the 2 hour road transfer to Gansbaai. After a light breakfast and
dive planning you will set out for "Shark Alley" between
Dyer Island & Geyser Rock, weather permitting. Five hours will
be spent with Great White Sharks, after which you will head back
to shore for your 2 hour road transfer back to Cape Town.
Pemba
and Tanzania Trip Report
Cage
Diving with Great White Sharks Trip Report
Back to Africa August 31-September 20 2003 Trip Report
Africa
Dive Tours | Africa Dive Resorts
| Africa Safaris
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