If you are diving this region then further around the east coast from Cape Town is Plettenberg Bay, which is where you will probably end up if you are not diving Cape Town. And this is for a good reason, the reason being Raggedtooth Sharks. These waters are temperate and so the sharks are present in good numbers. These are fearsome looking beasts with loads of visible teeth, but in actual fact they are fairly passive animals. Although no dive operator can guarantee a Raggedtooth Shark experience, they can be found on both Whale Rock, which is a pinnacle with its base at 40m and raising up to just 5m below the surface, and also in the Playground, which contains a variety of overhangs and gullies.

Travel northwards from Plettenberg Bay up to the Wild Coast and you will start to feel the warming effects of the Agulhas current in their summer months, merging tropical and temperate species in the water. In their winter months the Benguela current instead pushes cold water into the region, which is the start of the famous Sardine Run. This spectacle is caused by the sardines following the spread of the cold water that they inhabit and they can spread as far north as Rocky Bay. Then the warmer southbound current narrows the water space available to the sardines, forcing the fish into the huge shoals that make the sardine run so famous. This huge mass of fish acts as bait to draw in the Common Dolphin who follow the sardines in huge pods, ready to feed on an easy snack of sardines. Sharks and seabirds also join the feeding frenzy to complete the picture.

If you are not visiting the Wild Coast for the sardine run, then venture out to the 2 large reefs, which are known as Protea Banks and Aliwal Shoal. Both reefs offer a good choice of dive spots, but Aliwal Shoal is probably the more wide ranging, offering dives from between 5m and 30m plus. This area attracts the female raggedtooth sharks in their winter, who explore the overhangs and small caves. In their summer months, the fearsome Tiger sharks move in along with oceanic pelagics such as manta rays. There are also a few wrecks in the area.

Protea Banks are deeper and have stronger currents washing through them and this gives it the title of the shark capital of South Africa. The reef of fossilised sand dunes attracts hammerhead, raggedtooth, thresher and tiger sharks to name but a few. The downside is that the area is affected by river run off, but is still remains at the heart of South African diving.

Lastly, the Sodwana Bay area further north offers yet more large sharks and fish. Bull sharks, silvertip reef sharks, grey reef sharks, tiger sharks and even the occasional great white will appear in this area.