Aliwal Shoal

Named after the ship that collided with this reef in 1849, it claims to be one of the premiere dive destinations in the world!

We had pre booked into the Umkomaas Guest House with an ex-pat named Mick Clarke, a great bloke that emigrated to South Africa years ago, he met his wife to be and never returned. He welcomed us into his home, but we found it extraordinary the extent locals had to go to protect themselves from muggings and robberies. All the properties were gated and secure with electronic gates and surveillance. Mick offered to take us everywhere, even around the corner for a beer as the risk of getting mugged on the short walk was high. Not great news, but we took his advice. We had booked a total of 5 reef dives through Mick to dive Aliwal Shoal as we had heard a great deal about it, but coming from Sodwana bay our expectations were not great. However I have to say from the moment we got into the rib for the beach launch, which was in strong swell and had to be timed through the large waves, this made half the boat sick just getting over the breakers we knew we were in for something special. Our dives here were cold between 11 and 15 degrees centigrade, but absolutely full of life. The moment you entered the water you had ragged toothed sharks swimming below, these sharks with their sticky out teeth look extremely aggressive, however they are very chilled and cruised by really close to you on most dives. There were also lots to turtles and different species of rays amongst the countless types marine life we saw. The dives at Aliwal were those sort of dives that you never want to leave the water and you never notice the cold until you get back on the boat and realise its freezing. Aliwal gave us absolutely stunning dives and quite the contrast to Sodwana Bay. We are always going to be bias towards sharks however. There is also a short video at the bottom of the pictures.