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 20 2019
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Isimangiliso Game Park entrance fee and Rhino Card fees @ Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

Entrance Fees If you enter the park gate you will be charged a daily rate. There is a new day visitor car park just outside the gate – you can now park there and walk into the beach for free.​ The entrance fees were hugely reduced by the new park management on 1 Dec 2018. The current gates fees are as follows: Adults – R23 Child- R19 Vehicle (1-5 seater) – R32 Vehicle (6-12 seater) – R47 The park fee is waived with a RHINO card but you still have to pay the R5 levy per person. ​ Your basic Rhino Card costs you R250 per person (under 60 yrs of age) or R230 per person (over 60 yrs of age) for a year’s membership. There is no juvenile rate. Eg. In order to receive the benefits, two people will pay R 500 ie. you will be buying two memberships @R250 each = R500 and ONLY THOSE 2 PEOPLE enter for free. However, as long as ONE of the cardholders is present, any second person can enter with you for free because you have paid for two memberships. Rhino Club Your Rhino Card will have your ID and name on it, plus your partner’s ID, plus the number of memberships you have paid for eg. No. 1 will be printed onto the card where there is only 1 membership purchased; eg. No. 2 will be printed on the Couple card; eg. No. 4 on a Family Card where 4 memberships have been purchased, etc Park campsite – please confirm the current fees with the operator at the establishment where you will be staying

May 13 2019
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How Deep Can We Dive @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

This is real interesting must read article on how deep the human body can dive… We provided an image to illustrate but you welcome to read the full article here>>> Ocean depths are amazing, mysterious, and intimidating. We know so little about them, yet they are literally at our doorstep. We have explored a larger surface area of Moon and Mars, than of the ocean floor, but luckily we are making strides in understand our own planet more. Ever since we started conquering our seas and oceans, they have been a symbol of human thirst for exploration, and our indomitable spirit. One can only wonder, what wondrous discoveries await us down there. Who knows what awaits us down there? How Deep Can We Dive – An infographic by the team at The Daily Research

Apr 24 2019
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Snorkeling Gear @ Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

Just like having the right Scuba gear when Scuba diving, it is also very important to have the right snorkeling gear to have a great time. What do I mean by the right gear? We were snorkeling in Sodwana Bay in January 2019. Our very time Snorkeling in the sea with our new gear. The first problem we came across was our masks: The stuff was cheap and Universal. We thought we struck a bargain buying the Mask and Snorkel for the same price as what you would buy the mask separate for. Not long after we went Snorkeling for the very first time with our new masks we found that the things were leaking and also kept readjusting themselves after each swimming session. This is really annoying when you chasing a really cool fish or just enjoying the underwater world and all of a sudden you start getting drops of water dripping in you’re mask or like my fiancé’s mask it just completely floods if you just move your head from side to side. This can be extremely annoying. You have to come up every few seconds/minutes (depending on how bad the leak is) to clear your mask and go back under again. Solution: Don’t try be cheap like we were… Rather go to a proper dive shop where they can allow you to test out each mask and find which mask fits your face the best. Once you have established that you will never have problems with your mask, unless of course the strap breaks or something else goes wrong. But you at least you don’t have to worry about water getting in your eyes and nose. Another alternative that is newish to the Snorkeling market is a full faced mask. We have not tried this mask yet. But basically it has it’s snorkel on top of the mask and it covers your whole face instead of only your nose and eyes. If you have experienced sea water you know it burns worse than an over chlorinated swimming pool! Just remember nobodies Face is exactly the same, so not all masks will be work for you. Second thing that I had a problem with was my Snorkel: The problem I had with my snorkel (hence been a cheapy) was that I kept getting water in my snorkel, whether it be me blowing to hard on the snorkel or just moving to vigorously around. Very frequently I got a mouth full of sea water which is really unpleasant. Another problem that I encountered was I found a piece of plastic I assumed was part of the packaging of my snorkel by the mouth piece that lets out the air you breath out. That was a big mistake. That little piece of plastic was actually there to prevent water from getting into the snorkel. Although it didn’t do a very good job of it, it still helped a little. When I broke that plastic off my whole Snorkel was buggered and I could no longer use it. I ended up having to buy another more expensive snorkel that actually worked so much better than my old one. I still got a mouth full of water every now and than but much less than the previous one. Always test your snorkel that it doesn’t take in water before going in for a full on swimming session. That’s all for today. Don’t forget to check out our YouTube channel. Please Like and Subscribe!

Apr 24 2019
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First day of Traveling to Sodwana Bay @ Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

So the if you are traveling from Pretoria/Joburg you know that your travels could be between 8-9 hours. This is the most boring time you will have in your whole vacation period. We always consider traveling day as our first holiday day. We usually like to leave quite early in the morning to avoid adding time to our journey by getting stuck in traffic between Pretoria and Witbank. Here are a few tips on how to prepare for your trip that will get you there sooner and make life so much easier: First of all – Try make sure everything non-perishable is packed and ready to go the day/night before. What I mean by this is, if you have ever been in Sodwana you know most places are self catering, meaning you have to bring your own food water and drinks to the camp site. So stuff that can defrost and go off you would rather pack in the morning instead of letting it thaw out through the night and still have to stay in hot car or trailer all the way down to Sodwana Bay. Quick Tip: What we always like to do planning our trips to Sodwana Bay is start saving frozen foods and vegetables before going down. We always like to start buying what we call “Sodwana food” months in advanced, when ever we see a special or a cheap piece of meat we will buy it chuck it in our freezer and forget about it. Once we start preparing to go to Sodwana Bay we go through our freezer and find we never have to buy extra meat when we go down and often times end up bringing more than half of the food back. Trust me you do not wanna buy anything in Sodwana. The town spar in Mbazwane is insanely busy all day long with nobody respecting each other and very little variety of meats to choose from and the little Town heading to the beach is way to expensive with very little to offer it is better just to prepare before hand. Also never try buy Alcohol there, they will charge you nearly double to triple the amount you would pay here in the city. Try pack all clothes and snacks (non-perishable) the day or even weekend before you travel (depending on when you plan to leave). We find trying to rest the day before you leave to be the best course of action, as it is a really long journey to go down. Make what we in South Africa call Padkos (road food). You really don’t wanna go on an 8-9 hour journey without having something to eat or drink. I guess you could just stop at a restaurant or gas station and getting something to eat there, but there are two (2) reasons I would not suggest that – (1) Its less spending money for when you are in Sodwana Bay. You wanna maximize your spending in Sodwana where your actual holiday is not use it on boring restaurants along the road. Why not save a few bucks by making some great home made food that is anyway in your very own kitchen. (2) The second reason is you can save alot of time, instead of spending an hour to 2 hours in a restaurant you could rather take a 5 minute toilet break every once in a while and eat whilst driving or just stop and take 10 min to eat rather than add hours to your journey. Take a lot of Drinking water with you! Sodwana Water is not the same as city water, most camp sites use borehole water and as a result can upset your stomach if you are not use to it. Rather just bring your own water from home, whether it be bottled or tap water and also make sure to bring enough to last your whole trip until you come back. Keep cold and frozen things together. I have found if keep cold (Fridge) stuff and frozen stuff in the same container it helps keep everything cold and for the most part frozen for longer. So the last thing to do before traveling is to get a good nights rest. Before any long journey you need to be well rested up, so I would suggest the night before your big trip try get an early night in. It is the big day! You are mostly packed early in the morning just got the last few things to pack before locking up your house and off on your exciting vacation. One last check through your to do list and were off on our exciting journey. GoSodwana!!!!!!!!!!!! Once you arrive in Sodwana, you will be exhausted, but still have to pack out everything from the car, first thing is get all the food in the fridge and freezer. That’s done! Next go dump all bedding, bags etc. in the chalet/tent/house. After that jump back in the car and go claim that beach/sea once more. Maybe you don’t need to go swim that very first day but just to see the sea once more and to breath that clean air is just so amazing. Makes me wanna go back there right now! Explore this Website a little more, start at Homepage and discover some of our cool finds in Sodwana and check out our Youtube Channel (Please Like and Subscribe while you at it)

Apr 15 2019
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Coming Soon: New YouTube Video’s @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

Great news guys. Our video editing team is working on new Sodwana Bay Video’s… Links will be uploaded real soon as we publish. So stay tuned for our next exciting video… Youtube Channel Channel address: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXH0Nm5epc8gZj9WfI8qGIg     Sodwana Bay -Sibaya ~ 2019 Mashup  GOPRO HERO > https://youtu.be/fm3euK8prog     Sodwana Bay January 2019 > https://youtu.be/fI3ycfIG4OM     Green Snake – 19th December 2019  > https://youtu.be/5-z28Q0t-34     Marbled Electric Ray > https://youtu.be/czs5uaTJ6RE