Capturing the Moment

How to Scuba Dive South Africa from the cold waters of Cape Town to tropical reefs at Sodwana Bay    Everyone knows about the wonderful land animals and parks of Africa. But for many travelers around the world the knowledge underwater life of South Africa is limited to a short clip of 'air jaws' or great white sharks leaping out of the water. Now I understand why this might scare some scuba divers off from thinking about planning a dive trip to South Africa but those in the know have found amazing diversity among South Africa's dive sites that are a true hidden treasure. For those of you still reading you may just have what it takes to take the plunge and find out about these hidden gems for yourself.      Planning a dive trip to South Africa could be done in several visits or in one larger trip if you have a bit of time. Luckily right now the South African Rand is the cheapest I've seen in 30 years, hovering around 13.5SAR to 1 USD. In other words it ...

 On this past trip to Cape Town we took a break from scuba diving with fur seals and rare nudibranchs to get a little exercise and do some hiking. Cape Town has a plethora of hiking options with the most famous being a day hike up the picturesque Table Mountain. This national landmark makes the covers of all the calendars and post cards but what a lot of people don't know is that most of those pictures of Table Mountain are taken from on top another nearby mountain called Lion's Head. Training for Hawaii, hiking Lion's Head in my locals    Lion's Head has an easy access parking area on a windy turnoff past the more popular table mountain. The hiking trail can take anywhere from a couple hours for the very fit to a half day for a meandering group. The view on the trail is constantly changing since the path wraps around the mountain as it gains elevation. One moment you are looking out at the ocean, the next you are looking down upon the many buildings in Ca...

Camouflaging orange sea star   Scuba Diving Cape Town: Macro Photography Diving in the cold waters around Cape Town mean reduced visibility and low light, but a lot of life. Macro photography, a kind of specialized close up photography, is wonderful for these conditions. Most point and shoot cameras can do this, it is the little flower symbol on the round dial, but to get professional quality shots some more specialized equipment is needed. I use a canon 5d mark ii, with Ikelite Housing, and a canon 100mm macro lens with the corresponding underwater lens port. I also use an Ikelite DS161 underwater strobe to bring light down into these dark places. Janolus nakaza n udibranch on the reef Tambja capensis   Working very close to your subject means that you don't have to worry about your flash hitting all the suspended sediment and bouncing back at backscatter. Plus your light reveals the hidden colors where normally these colors can't be seen this deep. Imagine l...

   Scuba Diving in Cape Town, South Africa: Wide Angle Photography   The cold water off Africa's southwestern tip near Cape Town is teeming with life. It is also teeming with wrecks of ships that didn't find the 'good hope' while navigating around the infamous Cape of Good Hope. There are dozens of colorful nudibranch species for the biological treasure hunter, and quite a few opportunities for some fabulous wide angle underwater photography.    Diving in the southern hemisphere winter will grant you a bit better visibility, but during the summer months a god day will run you 10-15ft at most spots. Now, (October) is the shoulder season so we lucked out with a good 20ft of vis on the reefs, 15 on the wreck, and about 40ft at the Cape Fur Seal rookery.    You can dive both the east and west sides of the peninsula and there are several dive operators that work mainly out of Hout Bay on the west, or Simon's Town on the east side, depending on w...