Scuba Diving in Cape Town

Diving in Cape Town is cold-water diving at its most dramatic, golden kelp forests, granite swim-throughs, historic wrecks, and some of the most reliable shark and seal encounters on Earth, all in the shadow of Table Mountain. The Cape Peninsula has two very different coastlines, and that's the key to diving here. On the Atlantic Seaboard the water is cold and clear, running around 10 to 13 °C (50 to 55 °F) and sometimes dropping to 8 °C (46 °F), while on the False Bay side it's warmer, roughly 14 to 20 °C (57 to 68 °F). A 5 mm to 7 mm wetsuit is the minimum, and many locals dive dry.

The two sides also peak in opposite seasons, which means Cape Town has diveable water somewhere almost year-round. The Atlantic clears up in summer after southeasterly winds push cold, clean water inshore, while False Bay comes into its own in winter when northwesterly conditions calm and clear it. That's why locals watch the wind more than the calendar. Visibility ranges widely, from 5 m on an off day to 20 m or more on the Atlantic after a good upwelling, and the kelp forests, dominated by towering sea bamboo (Ecklonia maxima), give every dive a cathedral-like feel as light filters through the fronds.

The marine life is the payoff for the cold. False Bay is the best place in the world to dive with sevengill cow sharks, prehistoric-looking sharks that gather in the Millers Point kelp, and the peninsula is dotted with Cape fur seal colonies that will loop and somersault around you. Add octopus, pyjama and shy sharks, nudibranchs, and a scattering of wrecks like the D-Day veteran SAS Pietermaritzburg, and you've got a genuinely world-class temperate dive destination. Diving is a mix of shore and boat dives, with launch sites around Simon's Town on the False Bay side and Hout Bay and Oudekraal on the Atlantic.

Best dive sites in Cape Town

The best dive sites in Cape Town split between the two coasts of the Cape Peninsula, so which side you dive comes down to the wind on the day.

Millers Point Kelp Forest (False Bay)

Millers Point is Cape Town's signature dive and the best place on Earth to meet the sevengill cow shark. This marine protected kelp forest off the False Bay coast tops out around 12 m (39 ft), and the broad-headed, seven-gilled sharks gather here in numbers, sometimes up to 18 at once, cruising calmly through the kelp. Look into the nooks and you'll also find pyjama sharks, leopard catsharks, shysharks, and gully sharks. It's diveable from shore or boat and utterly unique.

Depth: 6–12 m (20–39 ft) | Level: All Levels

SAS Pietermaritzburg Wreck (False Bay)

The SAS Pietermaritzburg is one of Cape Town's most storied dives, a 70 m Algerine-class minesweeper that served as one of the lead minesweepers clearing the way for the D-Day invasion of Normandy as HMS Pelorus, before the South African Navy scuttled her in False Bay in 1994. The deck sits around 16 to 17 m with the sand at about 22 m (52 to 72 ft), and the moderate depth and short run from Millers Point make her a favourite for introductory wreck dives and night dives. The wreck is now an artificial reef thick with fish and invertebrates.

Depth: 16–22 m (52–72 ft) | Level: Intermediate

Justin's Caves (Atlantic Seaboard)

Justin's Caves at Oudekraal is the Atlantic Seaboard's classic dive, a jumble of huge granite boulders forming swim-throughs, overhangs, caves, and narrow gaps, all wrapped in kelp. Max depth is around 15 m (49 ft), averaging 8 to 13 m, and the clear, cold Atlantic water makes the granite and kelp glow. There's even a historic anchor here from the wreck of the Dutch East Indiaman Het Huis te Kraaiestein. It's best dived in summer after a southeasterly blow clears the water.

Depth: 8–15 m (26–49 ft) | Level: All Levels

Partridge Point (False Bay)

Partridge Point is Cape Town's seal playground, a cluster of rocky reefs and kelp off the False Bay coast where a colony of Cape fur seals will pile into the water to inspect divers. The diving is easy, topping out around 9 to 10 m (30 to 33 ft), so most of your attention goes to the seals looping and darting around you. Sharks and rays turn up here too, making it a lively, low-stress dive.

Depth: 6–10 m (20–33 ft) | Level: All Levels

Duiker Island (Atlantic Seaboard)

Duiker Island, tucked into Hout Bay under the Karbonkelberg, is home to one of Cape Town's most famous seal colonies, around 5,000 Cape fur seals. The dive is shallow, about 6 m (20 ft) in the sheltered inshore anchorage, and it's all about the seals, which swim, spin, and buzz snorkelers and divers in the shallows. It's one of the best seal encounters on the Atlantic side and a favourite for underwater photography.

Depth: Surface–6 m (surface–20 ft) | Level: All Levels

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Best time to dive Cape Town

The best time to dive Cape Town depends on which coast you want, because the Atlantic and False Bay sides peak in opposite seasons.

Cape Town diving is dictated by wind, not season, so locals dive whichever side is clean on the day. As a rule of thumb, the Atlantic Seaboard is best in summer, when southeasterly winds drive cold, clear water inshore, while False Bay shines in winter, when northwesterly conditions calm and clear it and the sevengill sharks are reliable. Southern right whales visit False Bay from roughly June to November. Whenever you come, check the wind forecast and stay flexible about which coast you'll dive.

Diving conditions

Marine life in Cape Town

Marine life in Cape Town is classic cold-water Cape diving, defined by kelp forests of towering sea bamboo and a cast of sharks, seals, and invertebrates you won't find on warm tropical reefs. The nutrient-rich water that keeps things chilly also makes it teem with life.

• Sevengill cow sharks (Notorynchus cepedianus): year-round, especially at Millers Point — Cape Town's False Bay is the most reliable place on Earth to dive with them.
• Cape fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus): year-round, especially at Partridge Point and Duiker Island — playful, curious, and all over the peninsula's reefs.
• Pyjama sharks (Poroderma africanum): year-round — a small, striped, endemic catshark tucked into the kelp.
• Common octopus (Octopus vulgaris): year-round — the star of the kelp forest, made famous by Cape Town's own underwater filmmakers.
• Short-tail stingray (Bathytoshia brevicaudata): year-round — large rays that cruise the sandy patches between reefs.
• Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis): June to November — winter visitors to False Bay and the Cape coast.

Discover more marine life on Divearoo's global heatmap.

Marine conservation

Cape Town's kelp forests are part of the Great African Sea Forest, a globally significant ecosystem that has drawn worldwide attention through local underwater filmmakers and citizen-science projects tracking its life. Much of the peninsula's best diving sits within the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area, which safeguards the kelp, reefs, and their sharks and seals. The region has also seen big ecological shifts, from the collapse of great white sightings in False Bay after orcas moved in, to pressure on the West Coast rock lobster. As a diver you can help by staying inside no-take rules where they apply, never collecting from the reefs, keeping a respectful distance from the seals and sharks, and supporting the kelp-forest monitoring projects that call this coast home. Read more about Divearoo's Conservation First policies

Practical information

Dive prices

• Fun dives: roughly R500–800 per dive (about $28–45), usually sold as two-dive packages (confirm current rates with local operators)
• Guided shark and seal dives: priced as specialist trips, often including gear
• Gear rental: R350–550 per day, including the thicker wetsuit or drysuit you'll want here

Getting there

Fly into Cape Town International Airport, which connects worldwide, then it's a short drive to the dive hubs. False Bay diving launches mainly from Simon's Town, around 45 minutes from the city, while the Atlantic dives run out of Hout Bay and the shore sites at Oudekraal along the coastal road. Cape Town is a major city, so dive shops, gear rental, and accommodation are all easy to sort, and there's a recompression chamber in the city. Most operators run both coasts and simply choose the diveable side based on the day's wind.