Travel Report: Diving in Sodwana Bay in South Africa
Stephanie is responsible for administration at EWDR. In addition, she is a Divemaster and loves to travel. She has dived in various places around the world and knows better than anyone how wonderful it is to discover new destinations, often solo. Recently, she traveled alone to South Africa, where she visited a friend from the diving school and, of course, explored the underwater world.
Early birds… or not
A diving day in Sodwana Bay does not start at the same time every day. The planning is heavily adjusted to the sea conditions, and especially the waves. The boats depart directly from the beach and must first pass through the surf.
As a result, it could easily happen that we had to gather as early as 5:00 AM, while on another day we didn’t start until around 8:00 AM. We usually received the briefing beforehand at the diving school. Afterward, we all headed toward the beach, where the boat and all diving equipment were already waiting.
A big advantage for me was that you hardly had to lug your own gear. I could simply leave my diving equipment behind, and it was taken to the beach for me. There, I only had to prepare my gear and squeeze myself into my wetsuit.
Diving at 2 Mile Reef
The main reefs of Sodwana Bay have quite practical names: they are named after their distance from the coast. For example, you have 2 Mile, 5 Mile, 7 Mile, and 9 Mile Reef. These reefs, in turn, contain various individual dive sites.
I mainly dived at 2 Mile Reef and saw almost all the dive sites on this reef during my stay. Fortunately, diving at 2 Mile absolutely does not mean you make the same dive every day. It is a large reef complex with different dive sites and underwater landscapes. Upon request, trips are also made to the further reefs, so there are plenty of opportunities to dive there as well.
And there is plenty of life. During my dives, I saw a shark, various rays including blue-spotted rays, many turtles, boxfish, and large quantities of smaller reef fish and schools of fish.
Sodwana Bay also has much more to offer. The reefs are known for their enormous biodiversity with hard and soft coral and more than a thousand registered fish species. You can encounter various shark species, mantas, moray eels, frogfish, nudibranchs, and potato bass, among others. Dolphins and whale sharks are also seen in the area, and in the right season, humpback whales migrate along the coast.
Surface interval with lots of dolphins
One of my favorite moments in Sodwana Bay actually didn’t happen during a dive at all.
What your surface interval looks like depends on the day’s schedule. When only two dives were planned, we stayed at sea after the first dive. We waited on the boat for about forty-five minutes to an hour and then went back into the water.
On busier days, when there were multiple groups, we went back to the beach in between. There is a covered area with chairs where you can relax while another group is diving. As soon as they return, you swap and head back out onto the water.
On a day with only one group, we were just waiting on the boat at sea during our surface interval. Until someone suddenly spotted a dolphin.
Everyone immediately looked at the water with excitement, of course. But it wasn’t just one dolphin. It turned out to be an enormous group nearby, including several baby dolphins. They swam past the boat all around us, and several dolphins jumped out of the water. We were actually just waiting at sea to make our next dive and were suddenly gifted such an experience.
Perhaps precisely because we didn’t expect it at all, this is one of the moments from Sodwana Bay that has stayed with me the most.
After diving: food and drinks in Sodwana Bay
Sodwana Bay itself is not large, but there are plenty of places to have something to eat or drink after diving.
A place where we regularly ended up for a drink was Vis-Agie. Many of the local divemasters and instructors also gather here, so you often see the same faces again after diving. It’s always nice to chat about the day’s dives over a drink.
For food, The Lighthouse Restaurant is a nice option, but my personal favorite was definitely The Tree Pub & Kitchen. A great place to settle down after a day of diving, have something to eat, and close out the day.
Life in Sodwana Bay largely revolves around the water. In the morning you are on the beach with your diving gear, during the day you are on or under the water, and afterward, you naturally run into other divers again at the restaurants and bars in the village.
Combining diving with a safari
And then there is another major advantage to diving in South Africa: you absolutely don’t have to make it a holiday that only revolves around diving.
I combined my time in Sodwana Bay with a safari, and in my opinion, that is a perfect combination. One moment you are swimming among turtles, rays, and sharks, and not much later you can be on land searching for wildlife.
Especially if you are traveling to South Africa from afar, that combination makes the destination extra interesting. You can dive for a few days in Sodwana Bay and then temporarily trade your diving equipment for a safari.
On a diving trip to Sodwana Bay?
Sodwana Bay is a destination for divers who, in addition to beautiful coral reefs, also enjoy a bit of adventure. The beach launches give the start of every diving day a slightly different character than in many other destinations.
Underwater, there is subsequently an enormous amount to see. 2 Mile Reef alone has enough different dive sites to fill several days, and those who want to discover more of the area can also head to the further reefs.
And perhaps that is what I liked so much about Sodwana Bay: you never know exactly how a day will go. Maybe your day starts at five in the morning with a rough boat ride through the surf. Maybe you’ll be swimming among turtles and rays that morning. And maybe you’ll suddenly find yourself in the middle of a huge group of dolphins with their young during your surface interval.
Combine that with the possibility of going on safari after diving, and you have a diving trip that is very typically South African.
Our colleagues Michel and Pascale also recently visited Sodwana Bay and have put together a beautiful trip to this location. This trip will be on the website soon. Curious or would you like more information already? Then feel free to contact us via info@ewdr.com.
