May 28 2019
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Activities – Skippers License Training Courses @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

Our recommendation: Indian Ocean Skippers www.skipperstraining.co.za Tel: 012-3612617/012-3489078 or info@skipperstraining.co.za Get your Skippers License now!  Everybody who owns a boat or is interested in buying a boat sometime in the near future needs a Skippers License. Unfortunately just like getting your drivers License for a car, you will also need a license to drive your boat on the open waters (no matter where you go!). Luckily these days Skippers Licensing Courses are not so hard to come by. But that is easy if you live near a lake, dam, or the Sea. But for most this can become a tricky and expensive course if you can’t find the right trainers. Here are a few things you should do to start and complete your course: The first thing you have to do when getting your license is applying for a course that will suite your budget and needs. Remember to make sure the course you choose suits your needs. E.g Inland Skippers Course or Coastal Skippers course. Whats the difference you ask? The difference is that Inland courses will restrict you from venturing into the open seas, whilst Coastal Skippers License Training will  allow you to drive on the open oceans and allow you to go for a day out fishing on the dam or lake! Although the Coastal Skippers Courses are a bit more expensive than the normal Inland Courses it is worth the while, sort of like  getting a manual car License instead of  going for an automatic license. Its easier to pass but can screw you around in the future. So once you have established which course you want to or are willing to  take the next logical thing will be to decide which Skippers inland or Coastal Skippers training course you would like to apply  for and  which Skipper Licensing training company you would like to train with. Try if possible go for a company that will allow you to do your theory in your home town, there is unfortunately not much you can do if you live far away from a water bed that will suite your courses needs. Next step is to pay attention in class! If you are done with school this can be an annoying process (Unless you liked tests and exams in School). You have applied for your course and now have to attend the theory part of your License. This includes attending classes (most times over weekends to accommodate those who can’t make it during the week). You should really try pay attention during these courses and take as many notes as you possibly can, or maybe even take voice notes from the instructor while he is giving his lesson. Theory like most other tests are really important to getting your License, it shows your instructor that you truly understand the course and what  you should do practically. Once you pass your Theory test you will be able to move onto your Practical test.  Practical is where you will either make it or break it? Your actual Practical Skippers Licensing test is where your instructor takes you out on the water bed to see if you can actually put your Theory that you have learned so far into the practical world. Of course you will have a few days of Practical Training before doing your actual test. So make sure to pay as much attention as possible  to your instructor to achieve the maximum results on your final test. Sodwana Bay is a great place to do your Coastal Skippers License as you will have to learn to do a surf launch instead of just a normal dock launch, which will give you a great advantage all over the world. Check out our listings to find out which lodges and Trainers are available to get  your Coastal Skippers License from!

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.

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 20 2019
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YouTube Video: Monty Halls, Curse of the Blue Hole @ Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

Check out this interesting International Scuba Diving Documentary! This is a documentary about the supposed “Curse of the Blue Hole”! A superstition dating back centuries about a princess committing suicide to escape an arranged marriage, that now lures divers to their death! In this video the crew dives down the Blue Hole to investigate what truly happens to divers who have died diving down this truly remarkable, but dangerous tourist attraction!

May 20 2019
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Five Bad Scuba Diving Habits @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

We’ve all been guilty of cutting corners when it comes to diving, especially the more experienced we become. We abbreviate or skip buddy checks; we assume the air in our tanks is sound without checking. Some of these bad scuba diving habits are just sloppy, but some can lead to true danger. Here are five bad scuba diving habits and how to break them. Skipping the buddy check The name “buddy check” makes an important series of tasks sound far too friendly, almost like it’s just suggestion rather than a potential life-saving routine. Let’s call it what it is, however — a pre-dive safety check. If you can’t remember the various acronyms from your open-water course, just visualize a diver and run through your equipment from head to toe. Does the BCD actually inflate and deflate? Are all the escape valves tightened? Is the air turned on? Are any pull-cords or dumping strings trapped? Do you know how to operate all the fasteners and clips and how to remove the jacket quickly after a dive? If you’re wearing a weight belt, is on properly? Are your integrated weight pockets snapped securely into your jacket if that’s your system? You can get five breaths from a regulator when the tank is turned off. Do you only press the purge buttons and listen to the hissing sound, or do you look at your pressure gauge and breathe from the second stage? Ensure that your air is on every time, and make the buddy check count rather than just going through the motions. Removing your mask and/or regulator upon surfacing Most of us want to talk as soon as we reach the surface, and why not? You’ve just seen a whale shark and a couple of mantas! When we arrive at the surface though, we should delay our impulse to chat until we’ve inflated our jackets, signaled OK to the boat and made sure everyone in our party is also okay. It’s all too easy to whip off your mask and take out your reg, only to get a face and mouth full of salt water. In rough conditions the boat has a limited time to approach, stop, help you and your group on board and keep the craft stable. As the minutes tick by the risk of injury from rear decks, rolling ladders and other divers increase. Keep your surface habits tight and polished by establishing positive buoyancy immediately, staying together and keeping an eye and an ear out for the guide. Approach the boat deliberately, with your mask and reg in place, and time your exit to avoid others or any hazardous pickups. Once you’re safely back on board, chat away. Going too deep During open-water training, we learn that depth amplifies nearly everything, especially the amount of air we consume. Although the dive guide has set a maximum depth of 82 feet (25 m), the group stays at 75 feet (23 m). Because you don’t yet have your buoyancy under control, you stray to 92 feet (28 m) where you swim, to the annoyance of others, for 15 minutes. Although you argue that it’s only 16 feet (5 m), you’ll be consuming more air than everyone else and cutting their dive short as well, so don’t  make it a habit to go deeper than a planned dive profile You’ll improve your buoyancy and air consumption through correct weighting and trim, and by reducing the energy you spend underwater. Not analyzing your tanks The boat is late leaving the jetty and the nitrox analyzer has a flat battery. Ahead of you is a trip to a shipwreck at 98 feet (30 m). Although you and your buddy were planning to dive on 32 percent nitrox, the guide tells you you’ll have to dive on air with everyone else, as the dive boat is in danger of missing the light. But since you’ve been diving nitrox all week, you’re sure the nitrox tank you grab will be fine. It’s been reading 32 percent every time, and the guide is probably being overly cautious. So you turn the green and yellow content sticker around and hide it under the wide strap of your BCD. You decide to use the tank without analyzing it. You’ll gain a few extra minutes of bottom time and, just in case, you can always do an extra-long safety stop. Inside the wreck at 91 feet (28 m) your vision distorts and your face muscles twitch. The taste in your mouth is sweet, slightly sugary even. Something is wrong — you turn to your buddy but he’s shaking uncontrollably with a convulsion. You have only one thought: What’s in our tanks? You quickly grab him and hoist him towards the surface, stopping half way as he returns to consciousness. You’re at 52 feet (16 m) but you want to abort the dive. The guide spots you from below; you point to your ear. He lets you go and continues with the group. Back on board, you quickly swap tanks, and grab a seat to calm down. Your buddy has a slight chest pain but nothing too much. A zodiac appears alongside the moored-up dive boat. The on board guide recognizes a friend and asks to borrow the zodiac’s nitrox analyzer. He opens one of the nitrox tanks, places the sensor over the valve, and watches in astonishment as the digital display climbs to 50 percent. The moral of the story: always check your tanks, and always watch the digital display yourself. A few extra minutes of bottom time isn’t worth the risk. Not paying attention to the rules There are four laws in scuba diving: Boyle’s, Dalton’s, Charles’s and…Murphy’s. The latter is the one most violated by scuba divers and the biggest cause of instant karma. Forget your camera and you’ll see a whale shark. Rush your pre-dive safety check, and you’ll drop your belt in the water. The list goes on. Problems arise when you ignore the little voice in…