Dive report from Agulhas House Aliwal Shoal, March 30 – April 02, 2017
Helmut had an amazing time during his stay with us.
30th March, Thursday - Checked in and enjoyed a Braid night.
31st March, Friday: Two reef dives, Trip to Tala Nature reserve.
Awesome Diving with lots to see, rays and eels, turtles, etc.
1st April, Saturday: Two Reef Dives
Dolphins on scuba, round ribbon tail rays, dragon stingray, honeycomb stingray, bull ray, sharp-nosed sting, Leopard ray, spotted eagle ray, devil ray, manta ray, guitar sharks, blacktip shark, prodigal son, honeycomb eel, yellow mouth moray, salt and pepper moray, brindle bass, potato bass, giant frogfish, 236 pick handle barracudas and of course TURTLES, just to name a few of our sighting all was done in a moderate north-south current and 23 degrees. Visibility has improved to an easy 20m.
2nd April, Sunday: Reef Dive and Shark Dive
Flat sea driving out and a bit bumpy coming back. But that didn't matter. Four different sharks, Black Tips, Tiger, Guitar and White Tip reef shark, rays everywhere, honeycomb, leopard, round ribbon tail, blue spotted, sharp nose, potato bass etc. Really insane dives. 24 degrees, slight north-south current, and easy 15m viz.
Helmut failed to keep his end of a bargain, he requested a Tiger Shark - that I did deliver - however he could not find me a turtle 🙂
We just got back from South Africa and wanted to thank you for another "trip of a lifetime". As always you exceeded our expectations!! Notten's Bush Camp is fantastic! Dale and the entire staff were very accommodating and made sure we had everything we needed. The drives were fantastic, the food was amazing and the room and entire camp surroundings are wonderful. Tim made sure we got to where we need to be and checked on us frequently. Our driver/guide in Cape Town, Ralph was knowledgeable, hilarious and entertaining. He really made Cape Town special. One highlight was the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens which is huge and is just beautiful. Thanks again for making our 10th anniversary so special!!
Marcel & Alexia’s Southern African holiday with Dive the Big 5
“After traveling and sight-seeing with Dive the Big 5 for a month, we have no problem recommending their tours to all our friends and family!
For the preparation of our trip, we exchanged emails with our wishes of what we’d like to experience during our stay in Mozambique, as well as in South Africa. Everything was organized through Dive the Big 5, with our specifications and approval of the final itinerary, of course. The planning was well thought out and the hotels were top notch!
A big thank you to everyone at Dive the Big 5 and their professionalism, as well as checking in on a regular basis via phone calls, emails, and visits during our trip!
Here is a summary as well as some pictures of the wonderful things we got to see on our Southern African holiday:
• We started with 7 days in Mozambique, diving in some of the most wonderful dive spots we’ve ever experienced. We booked and paid for several, but due to bad weather we could not do it all… Carefree, Dive the Big 5 reimbursed us for all the dives we missed out on.
• We went on a 5-day safari (2 days in a Jeep and 3 days on foot!) to Kruger Park and stayed at the Rhino Post. It was a magical and extraordinary experience that we would gladly do again tomorrow!
• Dive the Big 5 had arranged for us to rent a car, with which we drove to Protea Banks, Aliwal Shoal and Mossel Bay on our shark conquest. We drove along the "Garden Route" with several stops as at "Tsitsikama National Park" and the city of Cape Town.
• In the big city, we went in the cable car to the top of "Table Mountain", we went shopping, had an amazing wine tasting and visited the Cape of Good Hope. We had a great vacation and will most definitely choose Dive the Big 5 to create the perfect itinerary for us again.
Thank you all, and see you next time when we come back to South Africa.
Specialist Tours
As well as Dive/Safari Tours, we offer Specialist Tours - to suit your special preferences. Combine your African Tour with your favourite hobby! Our most recent guests had this to say: We went, in March 2012, for a golf trip in South Africa. The organization by Dive The Big 5 has been amazing. It was actually the best I had in 10 years of golf trips with my friends. Tim is a warm and efficient man and his knowledge of the country and of the golf courses is amazing. Every transport, guide, hotel reservation has been right on the money. In summary, it is the perfect partner for your vacations in South Africa.
Compliments of the season and everything of the best for 2016. Please accept my apologies for the delay in reply. The season has been overwhelming and I am still catching up on emails. Thank you for the feedback on the Patel Family. I did speak to them and they told me that they had a fantastic time on the game drive. The family who saw all BIG 5 where over the moon. J Thank you once again for making it all work out so well and for taking care of my clients. I look forward to working with you in 2016.
Im writing you to say how dissapointed I am about the shark cagé diving experince that I booked with you. I was looking in internet for a diferent company and the fact that you were divers brought me to think that you were the correct one. But I was wrong. You told me that we were at maximum 20 people on the boat and we were 22 (27 with the crew). You told me that in the cage we will be 5 people and we were 8 each time. I only could stay ONCE in the cage. We went back very early due to the weather but others boats stayed for longer... You lied to me and I not At all happy with the service you offer, specially when in one of our first emails you told me: "Being a dive tour operator we have an advantage over the “operator”, in that we have used most of them, and we know who offers the best service. Some operators have huge bots that accommodate 30 plus divers/people, others have smaller, more personal boats." So I hope you will recognize you didnt accomplish what you promise me and a sort of compensation in form of descount over what you charged me.
1 Day Great White Encounter out of Simon’s Town
The Great White trip out of Simon’s Town was great! We did not get to see a shark breaching for our fake seal, but we had a couple around the cage for a few hours. I got some photos and video… My son loved it, but we were extremely cold all morning long. On this point, I would like to make a recommendation: consider advising your clients on specific clothing for the trip, dependent on the time of year. I wish we would have worn more layers, but it was still a great experience. Thanks for everything! We will refer you when someone asks about Shark Cage Diving or other events in South Africa.
Tailor-made Tour: Kruger Park Safari at Rhino Post & Dive Safari at Aliwal Shoal & Protea Banks
I want to thank you. Our travel was an amazing experience, and if everything was good the responsibility was yours. In Cape Town we dived with white sharks, but the sharks was sleeping because we didn't see him... just 2 or 3... but i loved this dive. Your contact in Cape Town (Morné) - I think was this - was a great guy, solved our problems and did everything that he could to be our operation the best possible. I really want to say - Thank you, and I really wish that we can do a partineer and others trips.... I will make a new schedule & will send to you, after that we could to talk to your dial. Thank -you (again), for everything, include per try to understand my BAD English. Um abraço e até a próxima.
South Africa / Mozambique / Zambia and Botswana Adventure 14 June – 14 July 2014
This was a dream vacation, where almost everything we dreamed about happened , and we saw much more than we expected. I am sure that you have received many of these pictures, but these attached photos are also there to give you an impression what we saw and of course how proud we are about the photos.
Great White Encounter: Gansbaai, April 2013
I have no words to say thanks for you..... all the trips were great!!! All the people, the dives, the Lodge, the program.. all the little things.... Yes, i saw the game in a traditional Pub with Dave (from Lodge.... an incredible person....) and Morne is an incredible person too..... I´ll buy a shirt from Stormers to bring to Brazil..... I´ll help you supporting the Stormers!