Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Deep South Whittle Reef
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Deep South Whittle Reef
The dive site Deep South Whittle Reef is an offshore rocky reef in False Bay, near Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
Understand
See also: Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay#Understand
One of the closest 50 m+ reef dives to Simon's Town.
Position
Deep South Whittle Reef 📍 S34°16.414' E018°34.009' (shallowest known point)
Reef dive. Boat access only. Depth 40 m to about 55 m. This site is not in a Marine Protected Area. A permit is not required.
Name
The site is deep reef, and south of Whittle Rock.
Depth
Maximum depth is about 55 m at the sand to the north and the top of the pinnacle is at about 40.5 m. Average depth of a dive is likely to be about 45 to 50 m, excluding ascent. Expect decompression stops.
Visibility
Visibility can be very good, but probably not that often. Nobody knows yet.
Topography
The reef is a fairly large expanse of Peninsula granite corestone surrounded by sand. The central area around the high point is a large, moderate profile outcrop, split into ridges and gullies, some with sand bottoms up to 45 m depth. Depth at the surrounding sand is reported as 55 m to the north, and 53 m at a sand tongue to the south, with more reef on the other side.
Geology: Granite corestone outcrop of the Pre-Cambrian Peninsula pluton.
Conditions
Get in
See also: Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay#Boat dives
Boat access only. The site is about 16.9 km from Simon's Town Jetty, or 10 km from Miller's Point slipway
See
Marine life
See also: Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay#The marine ecology
<gallery mode=packed> File:Horse fish.jpg|Smooth horsefish File:Orange noble corals at Deep South Whittle Reef P5230170.jpg|Orange noble corals File:Sponge at Deep South Whittle Reef P5230198.jpg|Sponge File:Grey and orange sponges at Deep South Whittle Reef P5230201.jpg|Grey and orange sponges File:Deepwater sea urchin at Deep South Whittle Reef P5230237.jpg|Deepwater sea urchin File:Reef life at Deep South Whittle Reef P5230241.jpg|Benthic invertebrate reef life File:Sponge at Deep South Whittle Reef P5230244.jpg|Sponge File:Barbed wire siphonophore at Deep South Whiittle Reef P5230255.jpg|Barbed wire siphonophore File:Yellow zoanthids at Deep South Whittle Reef P5230262.jpg|Yellow zoanthids File:A rather pale noble coral at Deep South Whittle Reef P5230267.jpg|A rather pale noble coral File:Large numbers of small noble corals at Deep South Whittle Reef P5230274.jpg|Large numbers of small noble corals </gallery>Photography
Suggested routes
Stay safe
See also: Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay#Stay safe
Hazards
Just the depth.
Skills
The ability to deploy a decompression buoy, and follow a decompression schedule appropriate to the dive profile, and this is a site where trimix is recommended for the deeper parts.
Equipment
See also: Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay#Equipment
This is a relatively deep dive. Carry enough of appropriate gases to allow safe decompression. A DSMB is strongly recommended, as is a suitable trimix for breathing gas.
Nearby
Other offshore dive sites of False Bay:
Back to the Alphabetical list of sites, or list of reef dive sites in the Whittle Rock and surrounds offshore area
Other regional dive sites: