gurtvh
03-17-2005, 05:00 PM
South Africa is, among other things, known for its wild coast, cold water and Great White sharks. Not really a place to go diving, you might say, but the coastline of South Africa offers a wide variety of marine environments and the northern parts of the east coast contain the southernmost coral reefs in the world. It is here, just below the Mozambique border, where the St. Lucia Marine Reserve is located.
After driving through the bustling little town of Mbazwana (last chance to get cash from an ATM, if you need some) into the heart of the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Area (a World Heritage Site!) and passing the few buildings that represent the small community of Sodwana Bay, we arrived at the gates of Sodwana Bay National park. This part of the reserve stretches from 1 mile inland to 5 miles offshore and is the home of the world renowned 2, 5, 7 and 9 mile reefs. It's also the home of Coral Divers, who are one of the two only dive operators to have a concession to operate from within the marine park. We were not really sure know what to expect, so when we arrived we were surprised by the scale of the operation. Coral Divers offers all the facilities to go diving, but also offers four types of accommodation, ranging from tents to stilted huts with en-suite bathrooms (open air, nice touch! Especially the Vervet monkeys seem to like the easy access to your toilet bag!). If you expect a small divecenter with a few bungalows, which on hindsight we probably did, then walking up here can be a bit unsettling. Coral Divers can cater to up to 170 guests and even more divers in the high season when people are staying elsewhere but want to go diving with them. This has its effect on the operation, in the sense that it can seem a bit impersonal at first. This is due to the fact that everything needs to be very well organized and highly efficient, which it is, to make sure all runs smooth with so many guests. So there are procedures that you get acquainted with when you arrive, for the transport to the beach, the rental of the equipment, the house rules and the planning/booking of the dives. Especially that last part is important to quickly get familiar with because dive boats are filled on a first-come-first-serve basis. But no worries, because there is good information in print available on the divesites at the different reefs that you can read on when you arrive. Furthermore at the daily booking session at 19.00 pm, the dive masters are there to help you make your choice, based on your experience and wishes. If you know on beforehand where it is you want to go, you can make preliminary bookings during the day, to avoid the rush at 7 pm.
(message truncated)
Read more <a href="http://www.divestart.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Divestart&file=detailrv&cat=31&de=22"><b>here</b></a>
Geerten van Hooff
www.divestart.com
(Geerten van Hooff is co-founder and co-owner of Divestart.com, a website dedicated to searching dive locations by selecting marine life species.)
After driving through the bustling little town of Mbazwana (last chance to get cash from an ATM, if you need some) into the heart of the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Area (a World Heritage Site!) and passing the few buildings that represent the small community of Sodwana Bay, we arrived at the gates of Sodwana Bay National park. This part of the reserve stretches from 1 mile inland to 5 miles offshore and is the home of the world renowned 2, 5, 7 and 9 mile reefs. It's also the home of Coral Divers, who are one of the two only dive operators to have a concession to operate from within the marine park. We were not really sure know what to expect, so when we arrived we were surprised by the scale of the operation. Coral Divers offers all the facilities to go diving, but also offers four types of accommodation, ranging from tents to stilted huts with en-suite bathrooms (open air, nice touch! Especially the Vervet monkeys seem to like the easy access to your toilet bag!). If you expect a small divecenter with a few bungalows, which on hindsight we probably did, then walking up here can be a bit unsettling. Coral Divers can cater to up to 170 guests and even more divers in the high season when people are staying elsewhere but want to go diving with them. This has its effect on the operation, in the sense that it can seem a bit impersonal at first. This is due to the fact that everything needs to be very well organized and highly efficient, which it is, to make sure all runs smooth with so many guests. So there are procedures that you get acquainted with when you arrive, for the transport to the beach, the rental of the equipment, the house rules and the planning/booking of the dives. Especially that last part is important to quickly get familiar with because dive boats are filled on a first-come-first-serve basis. But no worries, because there is good information in print available on the divesites at the different reefs that you can read on when you arrive. Furthermore at the daily booking session at 19.00 pm, the dive masters are there to help you make your choice, based on your experience and wishes. If you know on beforehand where it is you want to go, you can make preliminary bookings during the day, to avoid the rush at 7 pm.
(message truncated)
Read more <a href="http://www.divestart.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Divestart&file=detailrv&cat=31&de=22"><b>here</b></a>
Geerten van Hooff
www.divestart.com
(Geerten van Hooff is co-founder and co-owner of Divestart.com, a website dedicated to searching dive locations by selecting marine life species.)