Mossel Bay

Three dive centres work from the town: Electrodive, training divers since 1985, Go Dive Mossel Bay, and Garden Route Scuba, a PADI IDC centre. Shore dives run daily for Open Water divers on the reefs in and around the bay, and rubber-duck charters reach the boat sites in less than 10 minutes from the port. Every activity is weather permitting, and booking is essential.

There are more than 20 reefs to choose from. Santos Reef, beside the main swimming beach, is a garden of featherworms, sea fans and redbait at 2 to 7 m, with octopus and schools of blacktail. Mitch's Reef carries orange sponges up to 3 m long, banks of sea grass and large red romans. Deeper out, Sponge Reef sits at 22 to 25 m, and Windvogel Reef has caves and gullies with large fish, sharks and seals. Baited shore dives visit a local population of shysharks and catsharks.

The town suits divers who are happy to work around the weather for a few good days, and those who want relaxed shallow reef dives close to shore. Visibility on this coast is not often good, so anyone coming for blue water and long sight lines should plan around that. Windvogel Reef is for advanced divers and needs a check-out bay dive first.

Water runs from about 17 °C in July, the coldest month, to about 21 °C in January. The summer peak is when tropical and game fish come in and the soft corals are at their fullest colour. The Santos, a ship carrying furs and timber, ran aground in a gale-force south-easterly in 1874; its wreck now lies mostly under sand, with the mast, anchor and chain still visible.