Mar 03 2020
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Beware the Sandy sea life – Be cautious when walking in underwater Sand @ Sodwana Bay ~ South Africa

By Sodwana Bay

Sodwana Bay – Sea Life We all love swimming in the ocean when going to any beach. It’s a fundamental part of having vacation by the beach. As tourists, we never really take a step back and realise we are about to swim in the worlds largest marine aquarium… We all respect dams, lakes and rivers, knowing there is things that could ultimately kill us, such as Crocodiles, alligators, hippos even piranhas… We often just stay clear from these water spaces as much as possible and if need be enter the waters with extreme caution and eyes opened at all time. But yet when we go swim in the worlds largest Sea Aquarium – especially been close to the edge (Rock pools) we tend to forget we are in a wild underwater nature reserve… You will never climb out your car in a nature reserve, especially not knowing what might be lurking in the bushes, but for some reason we have made excuses for ourselves about why we can swim in water that we have know idea what might be underneath us at all times. Trust me we are no exception to this delusion, that swimming in a wild space like this is still safe, to list a few close call killer animals we have encountered so far under the water: The lion fish: Ok we haven’t actually swam with one yet, if we wanted to we would have to be it’s size cause all the ones we found swim in tiny holes. These fish are reported to be highly poisonous and dangerous… Will write a post in the future about their venom and impact on our sea life.   The sea Urchin: in rough seas the waves could bash you into these spiny creatures and their spines do break off, all though they are not poisonous, their spines are extremely brittle, if you miss a few pieces they can become septic and if not treated poison your blood stream and lead to death. See article to learn more: Thorns of the Sea – Sea Urchins    The Moray Eel: We encountered a honeycomb moray, one of the more prettier eel species, they can be friendly, but rather don’t take any chances… Usually these sea snakes will try hide out in holes and under coral ledges, So not easily seen, if they feel threatened they might try bite you, that is bad for both you and the Eel, because the moray eel has a lock jaw that only releases after what ever is in its mouth is consumed or it is dead, meaning if it bites you, the only way you get this poor creature off you is buy killing it. So please be careful of this sea serpents for their sake and yours.   The Blue spotted ribbon Tail ray: A gorgeously bright colorful ray. We found one of these beauties in Sodwana Bay’s rock pools once. They seem to be very scarce as I have looked everywhere to find one of these again with no luck… They are reported to be one the more poisonous and dangerous rays in the ocean. Although they will rather try flee than attack when threatened, their 2 barbs on their tails can still be deadly if the ray feels there’s no other way of escape. They are beautiful to look at, but if you ever have the privilege of finding one don’t make it feel uncomfortable, remember you are in it’s world now not other way round respect that it allows you to admire its home… Also always be aware when walking on sea sand in the water all rays tend to try bury themselves under the sand as a way to hunt and hide from predators. See Article to learn more: The Spotty Ghost – Blue-spotted Ribbontail Ray    Puffer fish: We have encountered a few different puffer fish while swimming in the rock pools of Sodwana Bay. These fish are most probably the most venomous fish in the sea, small, super cute – whether they blow up or just normal… their venom is more than 1000 times more venomous than cyanide. So stay clear of these cutey pies they are super dangerous… Avoid any contact with them, there are no known antidotes for their poison and you could be dead in 24 hours…   The Electric marbled ray: This was our very first ray we have ever encountered in Sodwana Bay Rock pools. We were so excited finding this awesome ray in January 2019, especially finding one in such shallow waters. Of course we did not know it was electric and dangerous, but like most creatures of Sodwana it was not aggressive and rather swam away once it realized it was spotted. If you find one of these proceed with caution allow it to swim away and get out its way, they can pack a punch without you even touching them… See article and checkout our YouTube video of our encounter with a Marbled Electric Ray: An Exotic find- Marbled Electric Ray (Article) and Marbled Electric Ray (YouTube Video). So these are a few creatures that are highly dangerous that are definitely swimming around in Sodwana bay rock pools. Always be careful when swimming in any unknown water especially the open ocean nature reserve… Never extend your hand out to an unknown fish or other sea animal, you never know if they are poisonous, keep your eye out for any potential predator and if encountered by an aggressive animal or fish, try get away as quick as possible, but be calm about it… Try keep your snorkel gear on and rather swim with your head underwater so you can see what is going on around you underwater as much as possible, most fish will try avoid you, but there’s always that unfortunate accident waiting to happen… Hope you guys found this article interesting and enjoy the extra content. Please go checkout our  Patreon Page Below… We wanna start giving…

Feb 07 2020
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Join our Patreon Group @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

 Have you heard about our exciting new Patreon Page. Become a Patron? So the story goes like this, we have been visiting Sodwana a couple times a year for the last 2 years. We fell in love with the ocean, the gorgeous live stock that can roam free and the secluded, isolated, rural, rusticness and quietness of the whole place. In these last 2 years of wanting to move to the coast we have been watching a lot of traveler Vloggers and small townies that just make normal videos about their everyday lives down by the beach. This really inspired us to start saving and preparing to make that leap of faith. Most of our friends and family know how hard we have worked on our websites and in Pretoria to get where we are today, and we thank everybody who has helped us so far on our journey. We were blessed enough to be able to watch these travel vloggers, especially been able to spend the hours of data to watch each and every video and that’s how we were able to stumble upon Patreon. I haven’t done much research into it myself yet. But I know enough that we can add special and exclusive content on our account and people that are on there are willing to help sponsor and grow the people they subscribe to. So I am asking that you guys subscribe to our Patreon group, to find exclusive galleries, articles and videos that we will not be posting on Sodwana Bay Information. We will also be adding some exclusive products that will be up for grabs. Subscribe on Youtube? Become a Patron? Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, follow our blogs and maybe even subscribe to our Patreon group to watch our journey grow into a super awesome and Exciting Adventure…

May 28 2019
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Activities – Spear Fishing @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

With the Zululand spots such as Cape Vidal and Sodwana Bay having all year round diving conditions and lots of big gamefish action, to wreck diving where large dagga salmon and big ignoblis kingfish, thrilling action is provided for everyone. The world record black marlin was also shot in this area.  Influenced by the warm Agulhas and Mozambique currents which flow southwards down this section of the coast, the waters are home to a rich diversity of fish life.  On any dive spearfishermen can expect to encounter large gamefish along with the many different types of reef fish found here – pelagic fish, black and striped marlin, yellowfin tuna, world record size kawakawa, skipjack tuna, king mackerel, queenfish, kingfish, dorado and wahoo. Kwazulu Natal enjoys a sub-tropical climate with mild winters and hot steamy summers. Summer water temperatures are around 24°C and the use of a 3mm wetsuit is more than adequate. For the winter months May-August you need a 5mm wetsuit with sea temperatures as low as 18°C.  The south coast stretches from Durban southwards to Port Edward, a distance of 160km. With lots of rivers on this section of coast, the rainy months make the inshore conditions mostly undiveable.  The south coast is characterized by short beaches bounded by rocky headlands.  The annual sardine run takes place along this section of coast during winter. Shoals of sardines move up from the south eastern cape coast accompanied by large game fish. This is an exciting time for divers with big game fish and even bigger sharks encountered right on the back line. 

May 23 2019
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Important hand signals for diving @ Sodwana Bay ~ South Africa

By Sodwana Bay

Important hand signals for Scuba Diving @ Sodwana Bay ~ South Africa. ?✋ . . . How do you communicate with other divers during a dive? Most Scuba Dive courses Like PADI and Naui do have these in their training material. You can also follow these links below…   Great read on WIKI    PADI Hand Signal VIDEO’SBelow is also a chart for reference…

May 21 2019
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Activities – Scuba Diving @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

Rated amongst the top 10 dive sites in the world, Sodwana Bay truly is a diver’s dream​…. ​Sodwana Bay boasts some of the most southern coral reefs in the world and as such offers incredible diversity – although it is only a fraction of the size of the Great Barrier Reef, it is estimated to contain more than two thirds of the fish species. This 50 km long reef complex is estimated to be more than 400 years old.​ Whether you are diving or snorkelling there is so much to see -more than 95 species of hard and soft corals, 1200 species of fish, turtles, manta rays and much more. An encounter with one of the oceans big creatures on your drive to the further dive sites is also very likely – frolick with the playful bottlenose dolphins, swim with an incredible whaleshark and observe the mighty humpback whales as they migrate past Sodwana Bay.​ Visibility varies depending on the season and conditions, this can vary anywhere from 5 to 40 meters, with a average of about 12-15 meters. The water temperature in winter generally averages around 22 degrees °C and in summer the temperature can get as high as 28 degrees °C.