Scuba Diving Destinations:

Aliwal Shoal - A great top ten diving site

Destination: Indian Ocean, South Africa, Aliwal Shoal

Aliwal Shoal is among the top ten best diving sites of the world and this is due to many reasons among which we can name its amazing water temperatures and visibility, the beautiful sea life it contains and the great different diving spots. This diving site contains several areas with specific characteristics that allow visitors to choose among different water related sports and diving activities.

This area wasn't discovered by divers until the 1950's and it didn't become world wide known as a diving destination until the 1080's when diving operators explored and discovered the amazing qualities this place had for it, specially coming from the area of Umkomaas. Umkomaas is the area located at the sea side which is taken by divers as the staring point of their diving tours towards Aliwal Shoal.

Aliwal Shoal is an area located about 4 kms from the Umkomaas shore. The Aliwal Shoal diving area is next to currents, allowing experienced divers to practice current diving as well as they can choose diving into Aliwal Shoal's calm and warm waters enjoying of a relaxing and peaceful dive.

The visibility which divers can enjoy into the Aliwal Shoal's waters is great due to the amount and power of the currents that surround it. Aliwal shoal's length is of about 5 kms and contains many different diving spots full of marine life and beautiful views. Besides this, these waters also contain very attractive wrecks which those who enjoy wreck diving would find very interesting to meet. The two main wrecks of the area are the Produce which was sunk in 1974, and the Nebo sunk in 1884 while going through its first voyage.

Divers are not only attracted to Aliwal Shoal due to its waters' characteristics but also to the sea life they contain. This area is full of turtles, rays, a wide variety of fish, and in some areas even sharks, whales and dolphins can be seen as well. Besides this, divers can also see corals and sponges which provide a beautiful framing to the surrounding sea life.





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