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A shark glides in full profile through blue water at Protea Banks

Protea Banks · South Africa · Sand slope · Drift

Sand Shark Gully

Giant guitar sharks on the sand at 40 m

Area photo: Brendan Herbert (I've Got It On Film!) · CC BY 2.0

A sandy gully at 40 m alongside the Protea Banks pinnacles, also called Sand Shark Valley, and the bank's known ground for giant guitar sharks. Divers working past it also encounter ragged-tooth sharks. At that depth on a current-swept reef it is a short, deliberate stop rather than somewhere to spend a dive.

Also known as Sand Shark Valley.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Sand Shark Gully: typical dive to 40 m (to 130 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit40 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 50 m (164 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

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

The dive

The gully lies at 40 m, below the reef tops of both pinnacles, and the sources describe it as ground divers pass on a dive along the bank rather than a dive of its own. Boats run 6 to 7.5 km offshore from Shelly Beach; you descend onto the reef and work it with the current, which sets medium to strong from either the north or the south.

Just past Sand Shark Valley divers sometimes encounter giant guitar sharks, the animal the gully is named for, as well as ragged-tooth sharks. Nothing is guaranteed: you arrive at your maximum depth with little time in hand, look over the sand, and move on. At 40 m this is the deepest published ground on Protea Banks.

Marine life and season

  • Sand tiger sharks
Month-by-month season rating for Sand Shark Gully
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
GoodPrimePrimePrimeGoodGoodPrimePrimePrimeGoodFairFair

Season follows Protea Banks: Scalloped hammerheads school October-March, with great hammerheads most likely around March-April; bull (Zambezi) sharks aggregate June-September; ragged-tooth sharks pass through in winter.

Know before you go

  • At 40 m no-decompression time is measured in minutes, so fix a bottom time and turn pressure in the briefing and treat the gully as a single pass, not a search.
  • The current sets north or south and runs medium to strong, so the gully is passed as a one-way drift; there is no working back upcurrent for a second look.

Sources

  1. Protea banks — Wikipedia
  2. Protea Banks dive site — PADI
  3. Protea Banks Shark Diving — African Dive Adventures
  4. Protea Banks Dive Conditions — African Dive Adventures

In The Logbook

More dive sites in Protea Banks

Pinnacle

Northern Pinnacle

Two caves that ragged-tooth sharks use, marked as a winter feature

32–40 madvanced

Pinnacle

Southern Pinnacle

Zambezi sharks over open ground, October to May

26–30 madvanced

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Shark Point, Selayar

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Selayar's shark dive, with current that can run either way

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An offshore sand bank from 24 to 42 m

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