30.6. 2022 Sardine Run Day 11
Things in the ocean are heating up. This is to say that the action is increasing big time now and the real sardine run is about to happen.
As always whales, dolphins, gannets and cards. So far we just don’t seem to get the real bait balls yet. But by the looks of it, this could be imminent.
Protea Banks :
200 + raggies on the Northern Pinnacle. What a sight !!!
On the bait we saw 2 bulls and 7 black tips. Divers are ecstatic. Watertemp on the bottom has really cooled down to 19˚ which explains the huge amount of sharks.
29.6. 2022 Sardine Run Day 10
Very good day today. The guests have seen 40 – 50 humpback whales at all possible distances far and near and even nearer yet. This is so typical for sardine run. Dolphins, Commons and Bottlenose. Sometimes pods of dolphins a few thousand strong !!! One cannot imagine the sight and the feeling if one is not in this situation. It is completely overwhelming. Unforgettable.
Gannets were literally raining out of the sky and down into the water to catch a sardine. These little guys have no chance. The whole world hates them…
Protea Banks :
We had 17 raggies in the first cave , 2 bullsharks circling and 4 black tips on the ascent. Vis still low at 5m – 10m and water is getting cooler now.
28.6. 2022 Sardine Run Day 9
Another good day on the sardine run with all-round happy guests. They saw whales, dolphins, gannets diving out sardines, lots of sardines running for their lives away from predators.
The day was glorious with not a cloud in the sky, no breath of wind, flat sea. Pure magic.
Same conditions on Protea Banks.
First dive on Playground we had a couple of bull sharks, 2 raggies and 1 tiger shark. Second dive on the northern cave with 3 bulls and 17 raggies.
Vis was 10m water temp 22˚
27.6. 2022 Sardine Run Day 8
So, we are back on the run and Spike and the guests had a really good day. Karen is telling me the water temp was 20˚ and the visibility about 6m.
They saw a Southern Right Whale with calf, Humpback Whales, Common and Bottlenose Dolphins and lots of Gannets diving for Sardines.
It is pretty difficult to write what happens this year as Karen is not sending me the same detailed infos as Beulah used to . Also not getting any photos is making things difficult. I will need to talk to them to be more precise.
Protea Banks was very nice today. The sea was flat, the air crispy and the dives were really good. We had two boats going out today and all divers particularly enjoyed today’s diving. The water temp was 22˚ but most of them were freezing. Visibility 10m
26.6. 2022 Sardine Run Day 7
So last day of chilling for the sardine crew. Today we will get quite a few arrivals of guests. Also Marco, Samira, Brian and Jenny left for Coffee Bay this morning at 4am. Now it is all about getting ready for the serious times. From tomorrow until 10.7. there will be no more breaks.
Protea Banks had a Tigershark, 3 Bullsharks on the bait and lots of Raggies in the cave. On the way up Renier saw a school of hammerheads about 20 strong.
25.6. 2022 Sardine Run Day 6
Gap Day on the Sardine Run. I hear no news at all from the crew down in Coffee Bay. I also don’t want to bother them for nothing. I am busy here in Shelly Beach diving Protea Banks .
The sea is pretty rough here which makes me glad that we don’t have any bookings at the moment for the sardine run. It would not have been very pleasant to drive around looking for action all day in conditions like this. It was bad enough for us here . We were advised by the harbour master to take 2 cylinders per diver and stay out as the big South Wester was on its way. Having a full boat plus 11 extra cylinders is quite hectic. But we managed well and were done by 13h00 before the wind got too bad.
24.6. 2022 Sardine Run Day 5
We have a gap in our bookings so Spike and Karen are taking things a little easy and get it all ready for the 27th when we go out to sea again.
Here in Protea Banks we are having amazing dives further. We did a Baited Dive and had a Tiger Shark and 4 Bullsharks. On the Northern Pinnacle of Protea Banks we had about 12 Raggies in the First Cave. Watertemp is 22˚ and vis 15 – 20m
23.6. 2022 Sardine Run Day 4
So, our guests have departed today. According to Karen and Spike they were very happy with everything they experienced in Coffee Bay.
What more do we want ?!!!
Now we have a 4 day gap in our bookings. On 26.6. our new guests are arriving and will be on the water from Monday 27.6.
This time we will have real serious Sardine Run hunters.
We are getting 2 Hollanders, 2 Austrians, one American and 2 Russians. When i did the booking for the Russians it seemed like Madam is really difficult and not easy to please. I am on edge waiting to see what will happen with her.
Oh dear….
On Protea Banks we did not get out today. The harbour was closed but most of us thought it could have been open as the conditions were really not that bad. Previously this kind of scenario drove me crazy and probably contributed to my Diabetes and high blood pressure. Now i seem to be able to take this sort of thing a lot easier. Well at least it did not rip my heart out today. I had enough to do to keep myself busy. Ready for a long day tomorrow.
22.6. 2022 Sardine Run Day 3
They really did it…My guests which came to see the Sardine Run and paid Sardine Run packages actually spent the day fishing !!!! I don’t get it but after all we are here to please all our guests. Apparently the 2 ladies took the day off and the guys went our on a fishing boat for most of the day.
Why not…
Spike and Karen had a day to clean up and re-organise.
On Protea Banks we fought against the waves. Really bad launch conditions prevented us from launching at our normal time and so we waited for the water to settle and went out a bit later. Our Polish divers saw a Marlin but the rest of the divers did not see any sharks.
When we came back the harbour was closed again due to strong winds.
Vis was still 20m and water temp 23˚
21.6. 2022 Sardine Run Day 2
First half of today was really good with plenty of sardine run action like whales, dolphins, gannets and fast moving bait balls.
Our guests are not too keen to go in the 21˚C water and rather prefer watching the activities from the comfort of the boat.
What can we say ? We are here to make everybody happy, whatever it takes.
Protea Banks was very windy and rough today. But therefore we had amazing shark sightings.
In the first cave we had lots of Raggies. Then a Tiger came past, followed by a Bull Shark. In midwater the divers had 30+ Hammerheads mixed with Bottlenose Dolphins.
Everything went smooth in both locations, Protea Banks as well as Coffee Bay.
20.6. 2022 Sardine Run Day 1
Spike launched after breakfast for the first time in 2022. Karen was the guide and we are having a group of Russians and Romanians.
The action at sea is really good. Spike is excited which does not happen too often. They had tons of Humpback Whales, at one stage over 10 around the boat. They had Common Dolphins and Bottlenose Dolphins , huge schools. They had Gannets diving and small Sardine Baut Balls everywhere.
Watertemperature is 22˚. We don’t like it that ‘warm ‘ but our guests reckon it is too cold…
Spike said, he never had such a good first day. That is definitely a good start.
19.6. 2022 Sardine Run Day 0
We are in Coffee Bay doing the final set up for our Sardine Run 2022.
Karen, Spike, Kerstin and i are getting ready for our first guests to arrive . We got here to Coffee Bay on 16.6. Our two boats were brought down by our transport company which have taken the stress of towing boats off our back.
Spike and Karen are busy putting every detail in its place while Kerstin and i are finalising some admin stuff like equipment needs, transfers, arrival times etc.
Today Kerstin and i are going back to Shelly Beach . Tomorrow i have to launch for Protea Banks while Spike and Karen are launching for sardine run day 1.
