• Duration

    Thursday – Sunday

    22-25 July 2021

  • Location

    Protea Banks- Shelly Beach , South Coast

  • Available Tickets

    Maximum 8 guests

  • Price
    R5350.00: 3 Nights accommodation with 4 Reef Dives including cylinder and air fills.
    R6400.00: 3 Nights accommodation with  (3 Reef dives 1 Baited shark Dive) including cylinder and air fills.
    R2150.00: 3 Nights accommodation for non divers.
  • Deposit

    NON REFUNDABLE deposit of R800

If you always want to see the bigger things that the ocean has to offer, this site is for you. Protea Banks is situated 7,5km straight out to sea off Shelly Beach and is a fossilised sand dune reef that lies in an east to west direction along the coast between 27m and 40m. It is approximately 6km long and 800m in width.

There are two distinct areas on which all the dive charters focus – Southern and Northern Pinnacles. Ranked amongst the top shark and game fish dives in the world, Protea Banks offers you a variety of sharks and pelagic fish on almost every dive.

R5,350.00

The Diving

During the summer months, the Zambezi shark makes Protea Banks its home along with not one or two, but hundreds of Hammer head sharks. Guitar sharks, coppers, black tips and sometimes even the Tiger shark frequent the reefs. In the winter months the Ragged-tooth Sharks congregate on Protea to mate. This makes Protea banks a one of a kind dive site in South Africa

Aside from the sharks, a large number of game fish such as Barracuda, Snappers, Tuna, Yellow tail, Kingfish, and Potato bass can be spotted on your dives. You may even encounter the Humpback wale, Spotted Eagle Ray, Manta Ray, Devil ray and the Whale Shark

Additional Activities

Clearwater Hiking Trails – located on the boundary of the Umtamvuna River Gorge & eZemvelo Nature Reserve. The trails have varied technicality along a moderate gradient.  Natural and built obstacles are encountered throughout the routes. The routes make their way through macadamia nut orchards and banana plantations with small forested areas, open grasslands, dams and stream crossings along the way. Views of the Umtamvuna River Gorge and the Indian Ocean are observed while enjoying the trails.
The trails are suitable for all age groups and abilities.

The Red Dessert  –The world’s smallest desert. This lies some 10 kilometres west of the town and is only 200 m in diameter and 11 hectares in its entirety. Best described as a miniature version of the Arizona Desert, the man high hills and valleys of naked red soil bare stark contrast to to the surrounding lush and tropical vegetation. Archeological artefacts going back millions of years can be found and the locals are pleased this is now an internationally protected heritage site. This peculiar phenomenon is surrounded by myth and legend including stories that this is the site of an alien landing. Truth be told the origins of this desert are found in the location of a Zulu tribe in the 1800’s, with vast cattle herds stolen from the Pondo’s. The terrain became severely over grazed and subsequently eroded by wind leading to the desertification and an opportunity to study the unique desert ecology.. 

Qualifications

Protea banks is not for the feint at heart! Clients need to be comfortable and confident divers to dive at Protea Bank. Not only with the diver need to be able to manage hard launches and strong currents, but the diver needs to be comfortable around sharks and not panic and return to the surface. 

In order to get the most out of your dives and be able to get below the schools of sharks, divers will need to have their advanced qualification with their deep diver specialty certification.