BOOT Show Duesseldorf 21.1. – 29.1. 2017
We are getting ready for the famous BOOT Show in Germany soon.
This year we will be situated at the far back wall of Hall 3, right behind TaucherNet.
We will have a larger stand than usual with all new banners and unbelievable pictures.
Our stand is shared with our friends Louis from ProDive, Port Elizabeth, Mike from Pisces Divers, Cape Town and of course old brother Guentie from Reisebuero Mauz in Sigmaringen.
Guenter Mauz is a South Africa Expert. He sources the best and cheapest flights, books accommodation and car rentals for you and puts together your whole South Africa trip and experience.
Louis offers Dive Trips throughout South Africa from Cape Town up to Sodwana. Naturally he stops over on Protea Banks !!!
Louis has his own bus and expert guides who know all the best dive spots along our entire coast line. Such a trip is an unforgettable experience.
Mike owns Pisces Dive Centre in Simonstown, near Cape Town. His place is highly sophisticated and professionally run. He offers dives through kelp forests, diving with Seals and Sevengill Cowsharks and does off shore trips to dive with Blue Sharks and Mako Sharks.
We are very proud and privileged to be associated with our partners. Our stand will be most capable to offer BEST OF SOUTH AFRICA – above and beyond.
30.12. 2016
A completely unexpected day turned into one of those top ten dive days of the year.
As we got out to Protea Banks we saw that the water was blue. No, not just blue, really blue, man !! 30m vis blue !!!
Before we even reached our diving depth of about 27m we already had a huge school of hammerheads on all sides of us. Even a diver with closed eyes couldn’t miss them.
And so it carried on and on and on. In my logbook i put down plus/minus 2000 hammers. It was most probably more…
Besides hammerheads we had about 10 zams, 30+ guitarsharks and 3 black tips.
Those who were with us will never forget this dive !!!
28.12. 2016
So here is the new rule :
In bed you dream
In the office you think
In the sea you look !!!
Its always the same this time of the year. Everyday we have new people and nobody is used to spotting stuff under water.
Yesterday was a difficult day. We had current pulling straight inshore. As we got to diving depth we were already off the inside edge and floating above 50-60m of water. Pretty bleak dive until suddenly we came accross a school of hammerheads. When i looked back to get the attention of my divers i found most of them dreaming about the gren grass in England and others we clearly involved in complicated train of thoughts. But nobody is looking !!!!!
Today was a great day. By rights we were supposed to loose the day to strong winds, but we were lucky and got our diving done.
I went to the Northern Pinnacle of Protea Banks and found five Raggies in the First Cave, a Zambezi cruising high above us and a large school of Hammerheads on our way up. We loved this dive .
Holger went to the Southern Pinnacle of Protea Banks. He decided to hang around the Southern Cave where the most fish activity took place. Every now and then they saw schools of Hammerheads passing overhead. So nice.
On their way home they spotted two sunfish at the surface. All divers got in the water and snorkelled with the unusual looking animals.. nobody had a camera…..
26.12. 2016
Christmas is come and gone.
Last Friday was one of our top dive day for the season. Absolutely out of this world.
When we got out to The Southern Pinnacle of Protea Banks we could see by the deep purple colour of the water that we will be in for a brilliant day.
We had Hammerheads whe ever we looked, Zambezies coming right up and close to us, we had Eaglerays and Guitarsharks. Unreal.
Visibility was 25m and watertemp 25 C. Paradise !!!
The next day, Saturday we were blown out by a huge SW’ly. This was forecasted and expected. Sunday was Christmas. Magic to have a full weekend off !!!
Today we are back in business. Our divers got bashed around a bit in the NE wind and opted for one dive only.. Most Christmas Divers are not really fanatical about diving. After all, they are here with their families and can’t be gone for too long….otherwise…..ja.
So, i am going to sit in the shop for a few more moments and then its pool time, braai time,dog time at home.
25.12. 2016 Merry Christmas
19.12. 2016
Christmas is done !!! Today after a good dive it was shopping time.
At first i was walking around in the overpopulated shopping centre. I had no plan and the stress was mounting big time. I literally had to fight dizziness.
Walked and walked and looked and looked at a thousand useless things…ou man !!!
Eventually i found a really good present. Took it and my stress went to 50%. Then the next item stared me in the face. The third and fourth came easy. In the end i had my Pick Up Truck full of Christmas presents. Done.
All this for Beulah. Thankfully i don’t have any more people to worry about…. In fact, i have so many presents now i should keep some for next year. And the following year….will see….depends on what i get under the Christmas tree….
18.12. 2016
Diving came right just in time for the Christmas Season. After a long time without any current we now have current like hell on Protea Banks. But it is all good and all fun.
My friend Supp is here and the two of us enjoy some serious rebreather diving. Lately we hammered the dives out of the old machine.
45 minutes bottom time provided dives I never experienced before. I am still stunned by the amazing fun we had in the silent world.
We started at the first cave where about 12 Raggies still reside so late in their season.
From there we carried on with our underwater flight across the northern part of Protea Banks, past the centre and all across the shark rich southern pinnacle of Protea Banks. We saw so many sharks which came to look at us from close up , it was amazing.
But this is not the only fun there is on Protea Banks. Our friends and clients on SCUBA are having just as good a time as we do on Rebreather.
Visibility is a happy 20m, water temp 24C and the weather is hot and sunny. The mood in Margate/Shelly Beach is 110% holiday.
Today we saw a Manta Ray, a Tiger Shark, a Bull Shark, a Dusky Shark, lots of Guitar Sharks, hundreds of Hammerheads – all in one single dive.
All my friends from JoBurg and Pretoria are here, Iddo, Theuns, Tony and Mike, Dirk, Jan…people who have dived with me for 10 years and 20 years.
7.12. 2016
Finally everything is right again on Protea Banks. I looked in my diary and saw that we had no current since 11.11. This is an unusually long time. Normally we get a couple of days or maybe a week without current, but a month ??
With the lack of current we had hardly any hammerhead sightings on the Southern Pinnacle of Protea Banks. This has been particularly frustrating for all of us. Most of our divers specially came this time of the year to see all the hundreds and thousands of hammerheads. Wasn’t meant to be…
Luckily we still have our little paradise, the Northern Pinnacle of Protea Banks. Here we can still see about 20-30 Raggies although normally they should have left by now.
They have saved many a divers day lately.
Yesterday though, everything was back to normal. 2.5knots current, 25m-30m visibility, lovely 24C water and hundreds of hammers. 20 dolphins, zams, black tips and even a devil ray was seen.
Everyone’s happy again…
2.12. 2016
December already…….!!!
Generally, December wouldn’t be so bad for us. If it only was in the middle of the year…
It marks the beginning of our long awaited summer. As i am sitting in my loft room looking over the sea at 6am the sun is hammering down. The sea is nice and blue, completely calm.
TRhe water temperature is rising slowly into a very pleasant range. At the moment it stands on 23C-24C. Just now we won’t feel any more discomfort at all.
Diving on Protea Banks has been difficult lately. For almost 2 weeks now we don’t have current. The fishermen hardly catch any fish, we hardly see sharks. No food, no sharks…Even on a Baited Dive yesterday we had zero sighting. This is indeed unusual and most frustrating for us and our guests.
Therefore we still have more than usual rages on the Northern Pinnacle of Protea Banks. This is a sure recipe for a successful, happy dive.
Unfortunately everyone wants to see the hammerheads. And they will only be back when the current starts up again. This could be anytime….no-one knows when.
So today we are off, tomorrow we dive and sunday we have a heavy wind forecast.
Next week the last big group for the year and then it is Christmas business as usual…