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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

Windvogel Reef

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

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

Windvogel Reef is an advanced dive off Mossel Bay with drop-offs from 3 to 20 m and a maximum depth of 33 m. Caves and gullies cut through the reef, large fish, sharks and seals visit, and a check-out bay dive is required before divers can attempt it.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Windvogel Reef: typical dive 3–33 m (10–108 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit3 m33 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

34.1900° S, 22.1670° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

Windvogel Reef is reserved for advanced divers, and a check-out bay dive is required before anyone attempts it. The reef's drop-offs run from 3 m down to 20 m, and its maximum depth is 33 m. The range is wide, so the profile depends on how far down the drop-offs a group goes and how deep the dive is planned.

Caves and gullies break up the reef, and large fish, sharks and seals are among the animals divers can meet on it. Colour abounds on the rocks and in the crevices, so a torch belongs in the kit for every dive here, to light up the cracks and the caves and show the colour on the rock close up.

Marine life and season

  • Seals & sea lions
Month-by-month season rating for Windvogel Reef
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
PrimePrimeGoodFairFairFairFairFairFairFairGoodPrime

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.

Know before you go

  • Depth reaches 33 m; a check-out bay dive is required first, and the plan should fix a maximum depth before descent.

Dive videos

Scuba Diving Windvogel Reef, Mossel Bay 1080p · The DiveVibe on YouTube

Sources

  1. Scuba Diving in Mossel Bay — Avenues Guesthouse (Go Dive text)
  2. Diving the south coast of South Africa — Wikivoyage
  3. Mossel Bay — Divebooker

More dive sites in Mossel Bay

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Mitch's Reef

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to 8 mbeginner

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Santos Reef

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2–7 mbeginner

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Sponge Reef

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

22–25 madvanced

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