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Scuba Centre Sodwana Bay Lodge

Are you diving today? We are.

Every
day of the year we dive. From summer’s water temperatures of 28
degrees to winter’s 20 degrees, week in week out we visit our reefs
every day.

Little
changes throughout the year, we see the yearly cycle of the reef, the
seasonal species come and go but one thing remains constant. We dive
every day.


Whilst
we run the most experienced dive school in Southern Africa, the bulk
of our day to day business is in taking people diving. Whether you
have just finished your entry level course in the UK and you just
want some warm water, or you’re looking to photograph whalesharks,
we cater to every level
of diver.

Our
dive staff are equally comfortable guiding a new diver on our shallow
reefs of taking Deep Divers to 40 metres to look for hammerheads.

Your
dive is our occupation; we want to share our experience with you.

Complementing our experience and passion are the reefs of Sodwana. From the massive teeming two mile reef to the hard to reach nine mile reef, every site in Sodwana is wonderful, we can find something here to wow any diver.

Sodwana
Bay’s Dive Sites

With
dive sites in Sodwana ranging from twelve to over forty meters there
are sites and sights for divers of all qualifications and experience
levels. Whether you are completing your entry level course with us or
are a Master Instructor who has taught all over the world Sodwana is
an impressive place to dive.

The
majority of the reefs are named after their distance from the launch
area. In terms of proximity these reefs are:

Quarter
Mile Reef
Fourteen
meters, very close inshore and only dived in calm conditions. In the
summer time Quarter Mile Reef is home to gestating Ragged
Tooth/Grey Nurse/Sand Tiger sharks which will approach within
centimetres of the divers.

These
sharks, completely harmless (you can see the algae on their teeth as
they don’t feed whilst pregnant) provide a thrilling experience and
a wonderful photographic opportunity.

When
the Raggies move off the reef is a rocky, rubbly area with many large
rays, juvenile morays and a common area for turtle sightings. There
are several resident schools of Kingfish/Jacks/Trevallies as well as
passing Barracuda.

When
the sharks are resident we consider this an advanced dive.

Stringer
Many
clients favourite reef, only slightly further than Quarter Mile
another shallow reef (max depth fourteen meters). One small island of
reef surrounded by sand ripples and a short cross over to Big
Stringer where the dive shallows up to about nine metres. Home to
schools of Snapper and Goatfish, Potato Bass (both young and the old
white Potato Bass) Longnosed Emperors, cleaner shrimp, Variegated
Paperfish, Durban Dancing Shrimps who will clean your fingernails
given half a chance and most impressive a Ray cleaning station.

Expect
to see massive rays moving slowly in circles through clouds of
Goldies and Dominos.

In
summer watch the Sergeant Majors aggressively protecting their eggs
from thieving Wrasse .

Stringer is
a dive site perfect for divers of all levels.

The
Bikini Reef System
Interconnecting
three reefs, Hopscotch, Bikini and Mellow Yellow, The Bikini
Reef system ranges from twenty four to eighteen meters in depth.
These dive sites are home to some of Sodwana’s best macro life;
Frogfish, Paperfish, Scorpionfish, many varieties of cleaner, partner
and anemone shrimp, Garden Eels, Starry Morays, Dragon Morays, Ghost
Pipefish. If it’s macro and worth a photo, you’ll find it on The
Bikini Reef System. But on the other hand, before you rush to
fit your macro lenses, remember The Bikini Reef System is
the best area to sight Mantas….

Long,
thin and adjacent to sand this whole system is a photographers’
dream and is the site most commonly requested as “can we dive there
again it was awesome….”
If you want to hang back and
photograph the macro life, ask the beach manager to provide you with
your own divemaster.

We
normally consider most parts of The Bikini Reef System as
an advanced dive and is perfect for
nitrox.

Two
Mile Reef
It’s
hard to describe Two Mile Reef. It’s difficult to get across
the size, variation and wonder of this site.

If
the other reefs we dive are villages, Two Mile Reef is
London.  About two kilometres long and one kilometre wide, there
are more than thirty dive sites on Two Mile Reef. Each dive site
has a number of routes and each of your dive guides will have his own
variation of these routes. You could dive Two Mile Reef twice
a day for a month and never see the same spot twice.

Ranging
in depth from twelve to thirty metres Two Mile Reef can
show you everything that Sodwana has to offer. The Anton’s massif,
the gullies at Wayne’s World (filled with Raggies in
summer), the shark caves on Whitetip, sharks teeth littering the
sand at Caves and Overhangs, Trumpetfish hiding amongst Snappers
waiting for the unwary by Four Buoy, a Seahorse on Roonies,
the Old Woman Angelfish that twists and turns through your bubbles
during your ascent and follows you all the way to your safety stop.

But
don’t dive too quickly, don’t be taken in by the topography and
schooling fish.

The slower you
dive and the more you start to look the
more you notice that Life. Is. Everywhere.

Beneath
the splendour of the fish life teeming over the reef each nook and
cranny holds something amazing. Tomato Scorpionfish and Coral Crabs
living side by side, Crayfish only noticeable from their antennae. 
Motionless Rockcod, mouths agape being cleaned by Wrasse and shrimp.
The Manta Ray that only you see, the sound of nearby whales, the pod
of dolphins that played above you for the whole dive that only the
boat skipper saw.
Two Mile Reef is Life.

The
Five Mile Reef System
Made
up of four individual reefs, the Five Mile Reef System varies in
depth from forty to sixteen metres. Each site on The Five Mile reef
System is considered an advanced dive.

Ribbon
Five Mile
Ribbon is an elongate reef split into two parts,
joined by rubbly stepping stones, varying in depth from eighteen to
twenty one metres. Surrounded by sand, Ribbon is home to many Rays
and provides enough shelter for many juvenile species of Moray,
elusive Harlequin Shrimp, Garden Eels and cleaner stations. One of
two places in Sodwana to find both male
and female Ribbon Eels, hence the name. Ribbon is suitable for either
macro or wide angle photography.

Pothole
Five Mile
Whilst
home to a similar variety of life as Ribbon, Pothole is
entirely reef, with very little sand. For this reason it is an
excellent place to dive in periods of surge as there is so little
sand to degrade visibility.

The
centrepiece of this dive is the Pothole itself. A three metre deep
hole in the reef, wide enough for two divers to enter, home to Squat
Shrimp, Pineapple fish, Pipefish, Crayfish, Boxer Shrimp, Tropical
Flounder and massive Honeycomb Morays.

Zombie
Five Mile
Our
newest reef, a tenuous extension of Pothole, discovered by our Local
Divemasters during a fun dive, the name is a corruption of the Zulu
word for terraced or stepped. Zombie ranges from twenty two
to sixteen metres in depth, has four large resident schools of
various snapper and goatfish and displays some fantastic topography,
like an ancient ziggurat the reef steps down to deeper levels. The
structure is riven by crevasse like gullies, each one a pleasure to
explore. Each dive we make here we discover more and more.

Gotham
Five Mile
At
forty metres deep and further out to sea than the rest of the Five
Mile Reef System, this site is restricted to divers with the
appropriate qualification.
With such a short bottom time this dive
can be a gamble. Nothing is guaranteed but everything is possible.

Six
Mile Reef
A
steady twenty five metres deep, Six Mile Reef is a drawn
out reef. We normally dive the inshore edge, with sand on one side it
make a perfect stable position for wide angle photography of the
incredible schools of Snapper, Goatfish, Fusiliers interspersed with
groups of hunting Kingfish. Reef life is excellent, potato bass,
various other groupers and a regular site for Manta encounters. We
are the only operator to dive Six Mile Reef.

This
reef is an advanced dive and is perfect for Nitrox.

Seven
Mile Reef
Regularly featuring in top ten site lists in diving
magazines Seven Mile Reef is a microcosm of Sodwana;
stunning topography, amazing schooling fish, delectable macro
life. Seven Mile Northern Wall, Amphitheatre and Mushroom
Rocks will leave an indelible impression on any diver. Ranging from
twenty four to sixteen metres Seven Mile is the only wall
dive in Sodwana. This is a photographers dream, the clusters of fish
around the outcrops on Northern Wall cry out for wide angle.

Seven
Mile is normally considered an advanced dive.

Eight
Mile Reef
At
the deepest twenty meters, at the shallowest fourteen metres, Eight
Mile Reef is like all the best bits of Two Mile Reef condensed
into one dive. Schooling fish, gullies, overhangs, cleaning stations,
one of the few places to see Crocodile fish (Longhead Flathead) in
Sodwana. Another reef that is very seldom dived, you’re nearly
guaranteed to be the only group there. (Advanced)

Nine
Mile Reef
Our
furthest reef, seldom dived, weather conditions need to be good, but
in every way worth the effort of getting there. Twenty to twelve
metres, boulders, swim-throughs, caves, drop-offs, Frogfish,
Stonefish, Nudis, Pelagics, Giant Kingfish, Reefsharks, King
Mackerel, Wahoo. (Advanced)

As
with all of our further reefs, the longer boat journeys increase your
chance of seeing surface action, dolphins, sometimes hunting,
sometimes playful and inquisitive, Mantas, Turtles and our icon the
Whaleshark.

View Source Sodwana Diving.