Cape Peninsula Kelp Forests · South Africa · Reef
Photographer's Reef
Marked as Photographer's reef on the SAN charts
Photo: Peter Southwood · CC BY-SA 3.0
Photographer's Reef, also called JJM Reef, is an inshore rocky reef on the False Bay side of the Cape Peninsula, listed among the dive sites of the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area. Depths run from 3 to 14 m, and both boat and shore access are published for it. Beyond the position, the depths and the access, published detail on this reef is thin.
Also known as JJM Reef.
Where it is and how deep
34.1973° S, 18.4572° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The reef is dived from 3 to 14 m, which puts all of it inside an ordinary single-tank profile and leaves the shape of the dive to the skipper, or to how far you are willing to swim, since sources give both boat and shore access. It is marked as Photographer's reef on the SAN charts, and the position published for it puts the reef close inshore on the False Bay side of the peninsula, within the stretch of coast that carries the Simon's Town dive sites.
Beyond that, this is one of the peninsula's thinly documented sites. No source gives visibility, current or water temperature for the reef itself, and none names the species found on it, so the area figures are the only guide and a local operator is the better source on the morning. The reef appears in the dive-site list published for the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area, which is worth checking for the permit rules that apply along this coast.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good |
Season follows Cape Peninsula Kelp Forests: The Atlantic side is mainly a summer dive, the western shore of False Bay a winter one, when the South-Easter drops; shifting spring winds (Sep-Oct) can blow out both coasts.
Photos from Photographer's Reef
Peter Southwood · CC BY-SA 3.0
Peter Southwood · CC BY-SA 3.0
Peter Southwood · CC BY-SA 3.0
Dive videos
Photographer's Reef swim through (1) · Tony Lindeque (Learn to Dive Today) on YouTube
Swimming off the edge of Outer Photographer's Reef in False Bay, South Africa · Tony Lindeque (Learn to Dive Today) on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Can you dive Photographer's Reef from the shore?+
Sources give both boat and shore access, and the reef lies between 3 and 14 m. There is no published detail on conditions at the site itself, so check with an operator before committing to a shore swim.
Sources
- Dive sites of the Cape Peninsula east coast — Wikivoyage
- Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area — Wikipedia
- Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Dive sites — Wikivoyage
Photo credits
- Orange soft coral, crinoids and a pale nudibranch crowd a colourful patch of reef by Peter Southwood, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Granite boulders and a rocky tidal pool at the shore entry for Photographer's Reef by Peter Southwood, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- A purple sea pen standing upright on the sandy bottom by Peter Southwood, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Red-chested sea cucumbers clustered on encrusting reef growth by Peter Southwood, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In The Logbook
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