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White Cape St Blaize lighthouse with red-roofed keepers' buildings on a rocky headland — Mossel Bay

Mossel Bay · South Africa · Reef

Butterfly Wall

Long nose pipefish and shovel nose crayfish in 4 to 8 m

Area photo: Bob Adams from Amanzimtoti, South Africa · CC BY-SA 2.0

Butterfly Wall is a reef in 4 to 8 m of water, best dived from a boat so that divers get the most time on it. Large sea fans, yellow sponges and colourful anemones cover it, and it is home to the long nose pipefish, a fish once thought to be extinct.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Butterfly Wall: typical dive 4–8 m (13–26 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit4 m8 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

No published position for this site — the map shows Mossel Bay and its other sites; operators know the mooring.

The dive

Divers reach the reef by boat, which drops them straight onto it and leaves the most time for the reef itself instead of a swim out from shore. The depth runs from 4 to 8 m, so the dive stays shallow throughout. Large sea fans, yellow sponges and large, colourful anemones cover the rock across the site.

The reef is home to the long nose pipefish, a species that was thought to be extinct for many years. Shovel nose crayfish are often found around the reef, although this animal normally lives far deeper. During the summer months the warm Agulhas current brings a variety of tropical fish onto the reef, adding to the resident life.

Marine life and season

The sources we used don't single out particular species here.

Month-by-month season rating for Butterfly Wall
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Season follows Mossel Bay: Diving peaks in the mid-summer months, when game fish arrive and soft corals bloom; whales pass from June to mid-November.

Sources

  1. Scuba Diving in Mossel Bay — Avenues Guesthouse (Go Dive text)

More dive sites in Mossel Bay

Reef

Mitch's Reef

Orange sponges up to 3 m long beside banks of sea grass

to 8 mbeginner

Reef

Santos Reef

Featherworm and sea-fan garden beside the main swimming beach

2–7 mbeginner

Reef

Sponge Reef

Large sponges and red romans at 22 to 25 m off Cape St. Blaize

22–25 madvanced

Reef

Windvogel Reef

Caves, gullies and drop-offs to 33 m, with sharks and seals

3–33 madvanced

Similar dives elsewhere

Reef

A-Frame

Cape Peninsula Kelp Forests · South Africa

Ridges of medium height running out to a seaward pinnacle

5–10 mintermediate

Reef

Blowhole

Hermanus · South Africa

Big smooth boulders scattered over sand patches

to 9 mbeginner

Reef

Bread Loaf

Ponta do Ouro · Mozambique

Marbled electric rays on a 10 to 14 m reef

10–14 mintermediate

Reef

House Reef

Pemba Island · Tanzania

Coral bommies off the resort's own water entrance

to 5 mbeginner