Diving in Western Cape
Western Cape is one of nine South African provinces and it is located on the southwest coast of the country. It is the fourth largest province by area in South Africa at 129,449 square kilometers (49,981 square miles), but with over 6.5 million people, is the third most populated. Of these six million plus people, around 4 million of them live in the metro area of the province’s largest city, Cape Town. This region has a coastline that stretches out into both the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, creating two distinctive dive experiences, from the Cape of Good Hope on the Atlantic side to False Bay in the Indian Ocean. Expect some heavy currents and amazing shark encounters, as well as wonderful wrecks providing artificial reefs in False Bay. If you’re feeling truly brave there is even the chance to take part in cage diving with great white sharks, which is certainly not for the faint-hearted. Whether you prefer rocks and reefs of perhaps sandy sea beds or kelp forests, you’ll find it all here, with some beautiful protected areas to explore as well. Diving in year-round, although temperatures are cooler in the winter months of June to August.
Dive Sites in Western Cape
Featured places to go in Western Cape
Langebaan
Cape Town
Simonstown
Gordons Bay
Aquatic Life in Western Cape
The Western Cape region has its share of normal marine life that you can find in many spots in the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans. There are all sorts of colorful reef fish, larger, deep water fish, crustaceans, invertebrates and much more. There are also seals to dive within the region and even penguins. However, the big draw here, as will be a common theme throughout South Africa is sharks. Big sharks. This area is home to so many sharks, diving to see them is very popular. The Western Cape specifically, is known for species such as the pyjama shark, the shy shark, and the rare 7-gilled cow shark.