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Diving

Go out on sea and watch the whales when they migrate, swim with dolphins or go scuba diving. The reefs off the Northern Maputaland coast are nothing short of spectacular. Along just 40 square miles of reef, over 1,250 different species of fish have been identified (compared with 1,600 species along the entire 1,200 miles of Australia's Great Barrier Reef).


Dive report from Rocktail Bay, South Africa:Diving with Whale Sharks in Rocktail Bay

"It isn't every day that you get to see a Leatherback Turtle in the water, and today these lucky folks had the privilege of doing just that. They all had a good look at her massive bulk, before she dived down and disappeared into the blue. Some guests ... also came down to spend the weekend with us. This family’s first day out on the boat will go down in the Rocktail history books. They had incredible sightings of: Bottlenose Dolphins, a Blacktip Reef Shark, Humpback Dolphins, Humpback Whales, and not one, not two, but three WHALE SHARKS – all in a matter of a couple of hours. We could not believe it when they arrived back at the lodge, and told us about their unbelievable day out."

From a scuba diving perspective, Rocktail Bay is unique. Not only is the diving conducted within a Reserve and World Heritage Site along unspoiled reefs, but divers have the luxury of knowing that they alone have access to these sites and are the only underwater visitors along this stretch of the coastline.

# Scuba diving (Scuba divers must bring dive cards and/or log books.)
# PADI Scuba diving courses (A range of courses offered from beginners to more advanced.)

An Old Dive Report - Wow what a month!

Without a doubt, October has been the most interesting and exciting month by a long way.

We have had so much happening that we have to seriously sit down and get it all into perspective. Let’s give it a go then …………

1st October saw jellyfish everywhere. Without making jokes, there must have been in excess of 2000 pieces on the beach and they were washed up as far as the eye could see.

Quite an incredible sight I can assure you. The ghost crabs on the beach were so full as they had gorged themselves to a complete stand still. Beside each crab hole was a piece of jellyfish. Excess food was left lying around for the birds to feed on.

By mid-morning on 3rd October the wind had picked up once again. In-between dives we had guests that wished to go for a boat ride with the off chance that they may spot something interesting. After having warned them that the sea was rough and that they would most definitely be getting very, very wet, only one guest pulled out and the rest decided to go. It paid off! – Darryl headed north and just off Island Rock a mother southern right whale and calf were spotted. This proved to be no ordinary sighting as the calf was SNOW WHITE!!!!! The calf was so bright that it was easily visible below the surface. Its body was also covered in tiny spots. Baby was so curious and mother so protective. Darryl estimated the calf size to be around 7m. We have never ever seen a white calf before and after having consulted our books, we found out that they can remain white until they reach a larger size. The book also mentioned that this is not a common sighting. We advised Dr Vic Peddemors, a specialist scientist in whales, sharks & dolphins and he was absolutely amazed. He informed us that there have been no recorded sightings along the entire KwaZulu-Natal coast of a white calf and that this was in fact incredibly rare to see. He intended to pass the information on to the chief whale scientist in U.S.A. for record purposes. He reiterated how incredibly lucky we were to have seen this. All the guests on the boat arrived back on the beach with very satisfied grins on their faces, having braved the elements to witness such a rare treasure. We feel honoured to be the first to record a white southern right calf off our coastline.

On 6th we encountered hectic activity after just having launched. Humpback & bottlenose dolphins were sighted. We spotted game fish chasing something on the surface and discovered kingfish and eastern tuna chasing anchovies. Two blacktip sharks were amongst the feeding frenzy on the surface. They came right up to the boat, looked at everyone and then descended again. Everyone on the boat was fascinated beyond words.

On 9th, we had no sooner launched when we saw a large fin break the surface. 3 large humpback whales were traveling south. We stopped to watch them heave their enormous bodies out of the water. Wow, they are really large animals. Visibility had improved drastically and everyone was in high spirits.

By the 11th, we had been windblown too much again and the visibility had decreased. Nothing could dampen the spirit though as on our way back from the dive site a large shoal of activity was spotted on the surface. It was a bait ball of anchovies and they were being attacked by bonito & kingfish and there were about 20 blacktip reef sharks feeding on this bait ball! Some were around 2 metres in size. A sight like none other. Eventually we had the situation where the dolphins had also arrived to feed and we had the once in a lifetime visual of dolphins feeding alongside sharks and gamefish. After a short while, some of the divers decided to get in to experience the feeding frenzy linked to the bait ball. They snorkelled on the outskirts of the activity zone and found sharks everywhere. Some had sharks coming in within 1m of their fins and bodies. Talk about an adrenalin rush!! – very exciting.

On this same day we even managed to snorkel with a pod of bottlenose dolphins. What a day!

The 13th produced the most stunning encounter. We were halfway through gearing up on the boat when Darryl spotted humpback whales a short distance away. All activity stopped. Some guests already had their cylinders on and some were already waiting for the final countdown. Whale flukes were sticking out of the water and it turned out to be a mother lying on her back flapping her flukes around. She had 2 calves with her, last year’s calf and this year’s calf. There was no rush and the little family was basically lolling about. Baby calf jumped clean out of the water much to everyone’s delight. There was plenty of splashing about and playfulness seen. The calf breached about 3 times in the most spectacular fashion. Reluctantly, we let the family have time to themselves and continued with the gearing up process. After the dive, on the way back in, we saw another bait ball of anchovies being chased by kingfish. As we slowly approached, the predators moved off and the little bait ball huddled together, making a run for it while the going was good. Such an exciting day with unusual happenings.

On 16th, we were again privileged to see three humpback whales breaching out to sea. They continued breaching for the entire time that it took us to get to the dive site. As we dropped in on Elusive, we saw a 1.5m leopard shark below us. It just lay there and we made our acquaintance again a little further along the reef. Loggerhead turtles were spotted on the same site and Darryl spotted a blacktip shark on the surface whilst we were down under.

Back to excitement again on 19th with another bait ball of anchovies and blacktip sharks feeding frantically. This spectacle has to be seen to be appreciated. It’s almost like a mini-sardine run except the bait balls are smaller in size.

The 20th was an exceptional day. We spotted 4 separate groups of humpback whales. On one occasion, a mother and calf circled the buoy line as the divers were diving down below. Everyone on the dive stopped to look around as the song of the whales became deafening. It sounded as though they were right behind us. Darryl informed us later that the mother had dived down right to where our bubbles were. Shucks, if the visibility had been a little better we would have eyeballed her!!

Now this is becoming a regular thing and almost on a daily basis. On 21st, we had another humpback mother and calf acting near the boat. We’d no sooner launched and stopped to see a mother breaching clear out of the water. The calf would imitate her and then she would breach again. This happened about five times and the calf eventually came over to inspect the boat. It swam under the boat and had a good look. As soon as the mother started to move towards us we decided to move away, not knowing what her intentions would be. And then, wait for it …… humpback dolphins just off Island Rock. And then, just when we could not contain our excitement any longer, on 22nd one of the lodge staff was snorkelling above the dive group and had the incredible privilege of being in the water at the right time and right place, as a humpback mother and calf passed by, heading north!! Besides the emotion that goes with a sighting like this, an interesting observation was that this pair were heading north when all other whales are already heading south for the homeward journey??????

What we’re also finding interesting is that these humpback whales appear to change course and actually come in closer to the divers’ bubbles.

Staff were again privileged on 25th when they were snorkelling only metres away from humpback whales. The incredible thing about an encounter like this is that you are not permitted to get too close to these animals by boat and yet, if you are snorkelling and your paths cross, nothing in this entire world can match the feeling of euphoria linked to the encounter.

We awoke on 26th October to one of the finest days. Guests snorkelled with bottlenose dolphins, humpback whales were spotted near the dive boat and a 1.5m leopard shark was again sighted, this time on Coral Alley. An oscillated snake eel was also spotted on the dive.

27th October was a replica of 26th. Guests’ snorkelled with bottlenose dolphins and humpback whales were sighted on the horizon. Does it get much better than this??

The biggest emotional thrill came on 29th when divers on Elusive were joined underwater by a bottlenose dolphin. It didn’t appear fazed by the bubbles. Homer, the resident potato bass was visiting the dive group, soaking up some attention and as soon as the dolphin arrived he became aggressive and chased the dolphin off. This is utterly amazing behaviour. This is one of the most fantastic feelings, when a dolphin joins you and you have the air to simply watch and admire. Dolphins don’t normally join divers and this was a rare privilege indeed.

On 2 separate occasions, scalloped hammerhead sharks with an approximate size of 1.8m were spotted swimming on the surface near Elusive and Island Rock, their dorsal fins sticking clear out of the water.

In a nutshell, special things have happened down here this month. We are incredibly privileged to be doing what we are doing and are equally privileged to be involved in these encounters. There are so many people out there that don’t get to see things like this and the fact that it has been happening here and that we can share this with others, well that is the most special thing of all.

Navigate the top portal site to find information on Kosi Bay, also known as Maputaland, northern Elephant Coast, Isimangaliso Wetland Park, Manguzi, Kwangwanase, Thongaland, Tembeland, including such fabulous sites such as Kosi Lakes, Kosi Mouth, Bhanga Nek, Rocktail Bay, Black Rock, Lake Sibaya, Mabibi, in fact anything north of Sodwana and south of Ponta de Ouro, Ponta Malongane andf Ponta Mamoli in Mozambique.




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