Pretoria diving
Pretoria is located in the northern part of Gauteng Province. Although Pretoria is an inland destination you still can do some diving at its inland dive sites. Bass Lake and Miracle Waters are interesting diving spots, they even provide some wrecks. For diving at the coast Aliwal Shoal and Sodwana Bay are two of the most popular diving destinations in South Africa. Its dive sites are home to many kinds of sharks, manta rays and turtles.
Always dive according to your level of training.
Never enter the water without checking with the local dive center for safety, additional information, level required for each dive site and without being accompanied by a professional.
All the information provided is purely informative for our readers and shouldn't be used as is to plan your immersion.
Average annual temperature: From 19°C to 29 °C (66 °F to 84 °F).
Average visibility: 19 to 32 feet (6 to 10 meters)
Bass lake is an artificial lake at a depth ranging from 39 to 91 feet (12 to 28 meters). It is a former quarry that was filled with water to create a dive site. Here you can do some wreck diving as some interesting wrecks have been sunk here: a bus, mine truck, hang-glider and a helicopter. A lot of dive training is carried out here. As its name may indicate it is home to bass fish. While it is a suitable site for beginners, more advanced divers will also enjoy diving here.
Miracle Waters is a clear water lake in a beautiful setting of natural bush. It's ideally located less than an hour drive between Johannesburg and Pretoria. The water here is very clear because it is naturally filled by an underwater spring. The depth ranges from 39 to 105 feet (12 to 32 meters). There are five platforms, ideal for all levels of expertise and is a great place to start practice before diving in the Indian Ocean. Instructors use this lake to introduce their students to open water but not limited to this, training up to instructor level can be carried out here. You can see quite a number of underwater attractions here which include some yachts, a bus, a swimming pool, a plane and a Puma helicopter to name a few. The visibility can go up to about 9 meters. Marine life includes kurper and bass. It may be good to know that there is a restaurant that serves cooked meals on weekends and during the week snacks are available.
Diving centers in the area arrange regular trips to inland dive sites as well as tours to coastal dive sites. Tropical reef diving, shark diving and wreck diving trips are available in near diving destinations like KwaZulu-Natal province. Dive with the great white shark and other shark species as well as with manta rays and eagle rays, whales, whale sharks, dolphins and turtles. Sodwana Bay and Aliwal Shoal are famous for having lots of rich dive sites. Ragged-tooth shark, moray eels, blue spotted ribbon tail rays, trigger fish, ghost pipe fish and dolphins are regular visitors to these dive sites.
A wide range of PADI scuba courses are available at Pretoria diving centers from beginner level to advanced courses. The courses may be conducted in the swimming pool and then the open water dives in one of the nearby sites like Miracle Waters which clearly has ideal conditions for training. There are some dive shops where you can purchase new or second hand equipment. Something for every budget.
