In November 2010 Nomad Tours, in partnership with Lutwala Dive, operated the very first Southern African Dive Safari. On board were 18 of the most intrepid divers available to test the inaugural trip. With a broad selection of nationalities and ages the tour was tested and found to be awesome!
Southern Africa has some of the most amazing and unique diving in the world, but until now it’s been really difficult for most people to get to all these places on a single trip. Traditional dive travel has supported a week of diving in a single location with the option to add on a safari package before or after the diving. Nomad believes that if a dive-orientated traveler is coming to Africa they want to pack in as much diving as possible as well as packing in some land based highlights on the way. This combination of dive and safari has proven to be a winner and the client feedback is extremely positive to date.
The dive tour begins in Johannesburg and travels through the Kruger National Park for some game viewing before entering Mozambique and travelling to Praia do Tofo on the Indian Ocean coast. Tofo is home to the most stable population of Whale Sharks in the world and they are almost a guaranteed sighting. If that was not enough it is also home to a large number of Manta’s and both species are observed and studied by the Foundation for the protection of Marine Mega fauna. As part of the tour price one of the members of this association speaks to the group on the Whale Shark and Manta research being conducted in Mozambique.
From Tofo the tour travels through Swaziland and the Hlane Game Reserve before arriving at Sodwana. Sodwana has some beautiful reef formations as well as being the start of the shark sightings.
The really exciting diving takes place at Aliwal Shoal and Protea banks, just south of Durban, where the big sharks come out to play. On the included dives there is an excellent chance of sighting Bull, Tiger and Hammerhead Sharks. However for the really committed shark fan the optional baited shark dives are where its at. Nothing can possibly prepare you for the experience of being surrounded by these apex predators in their natural environment.
The tour ends with a flight down to Cape Town and the opportunity to enter the chilly Cape waters to see the Great White in action. Depending on the time of year there is a good chance of also spotting the Southern Right Whales that migrate to the Southern African coast every year.
A few facts, this tour is not for beginner divers, you need your advanced open water (or equivalent) PADI certificate and you need to be comfortable with beach-launching in medium to large waves. Southern Africa is not for the faint hearted, but the reward of seeing almost every large shark species in one place far outweigh any possible doubts. That you also get to see the big-5 and have a great safari holiday between dives is a serious bonus!
The only way to get any idea of this experience is to watch it, enjoy!