Sodwana Bay - December 2011

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Created on Tuesday, 13 December 2011 07:07

Written by Annelle Geldenhuys

Hey ho hi, we are back from Sodwana Bay.

Not everyone is back yet, but here's some feedback anyway.

The camp is being revamped. Many of the cabins are getting a fresh new look, with new sliding double glass doors as well as new windows. This not only makes the cabins look comfy, but keeps the monkeys out.

The new Divemasters know the reefs well. We were accompanied to 7 mile, 5 mile and all over 2 mile. Some times we were only accompanied to the dining room table where the milktarts were lined up, but they looked after us well nevertheless!

Feedback on our dives: the weather played along brilliantly, and were truly blessed with good visibility, good dives, good sightings, good photographs. On the first launch Bryan's group saw a Whaleshark. What nicer way to start the day?

The reefs are in a very healthy condition. Although we did not see the numbers of Devil Firefish we were used to, there are many juvenile fish in general, dolphins, turtles and eels. We saw many larger fish too, adults of the smaller species as well as larger species (Potato Bass, Parrot fish etc). I am convinced statistics that prove divers cause less than 1% of global damage to reefs, are correct.

Perfect Buoyancy assists us as divers to not damage the reef and a heartfelt thanks is extended to all our divers. You are truly a special group of people, each one unique yet proving respect for our oceans on every dive.

The divers who have a passion for Environment and Fish identification, had a feast for the eyes. The marine life identification went well, we identified Bill, Bob and Jack, and the other poor fish had to go by their general names. Moorish idols, Electric Marble Rays, Blue Spotted Rays, Yellow Banded Snappers, Pipefish, Parrot Fish, Turtles, Honeycomb eels, Ribbon eel, Coachmen, Nudibranchs, Potato Bass, Soldiers, Spanish Dancers, Sea Stars, Octopus, Emipror Angelfish, Dominoes, Chocolate Dip, Dolphins, Common Eels, Devilfish, Two Bar Anemonies, Sea Cucumbers, Whaleshark, Hammerhead Shark, White Tip Reef Shark, crabs, shoh... I can't remember everything!!  The guys who had done the Shark Specialty recently must have enjoyed that!

The night dive was to Simon's cave. Well done to those who did their first ocean night dives. It was such a pleasure to have Albert, Hannelie, Dejy, Heidi, Schalk, Christo, Irene, Ame, Daan and Ijan there. Well done to Heidi who did her first night dive immediately after qualifying Open Water Diver. It takes guts and you have it! Welcome to East Rand SCUBA!

Caves and Overhangs, Stringer, Antons, Pinnacles, 4 Buoy, Simon's Cave, Ribbon Reef, North Wall, Bikini... All sites added to logbooks with a smile!

Those who opted, got some Nitrox on some of the dives which assisted a bit in longer dive times allowed. A 70-minute dive doesn't happen every day, neither do Deep Dives. Paul, Heidi, Schalk, Dejy, Dylan, Ilze and Danie all enjoyed the slightish deeper dive, along with some Buoyancy, Navigation, Photography, Shark and Night, got a lot closer to Advanced Adventurer ratings. Well done guys.

Albert enthusiastically completed his last dives towards Master Diver. We are just as chuffed as you are!

Troepie gets a special thanks for entertainment, along with Bubbles, our Cape Town mascott.  Check out the "Troepie" clip on the ERS YouTube account!

We wish you all a blessed festive season. Please travel safe wherever you go. Our guys going to Malongane: we hope you have excellent dives. Those who are already on holiday, enjoy every moment!