Diving at 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

Map of the reef at the dive site Deep South Whittle Reef

Multibeam sonar survey map of Whittle rock and surrounds

An exceptionally good day on the bay

Divers gathering at the deco bar

See also: Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay#Understand

One of the closest 50 m+ reef dives to Simon's Town.

Position

1 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.

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

• 
  Smooth horsefish
• 
  Orange noble corals
• 
  Sponge
• 
  Grey and orange sponges
• 
  Deepwater sea urchin
• 
  Benthic invertebrate reef life
• 
  Sponge
• 
  Barbed wire siphonophore
• 
  Yellow zoanthids
• 
  A rather pale noble coral
• 
  Large numbers of small noble corals

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:

• 1 SATS General Botha
• 2 Off-Whittle Ridge
• 3 Whittle Rock
• 4 Bruce's Mark
• 5 Midway Ridge
• 6 Sandy-top Ridge
• 7 Southwood's Corner
• 8 Josh's Reef
• 9 Wreckless Ridge
• 10 Lonehill Reef

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:

• Dive sites of Table Bay and approaches,
• Dive sites of the Cape Peninsula west coast
• Dive sites of the Cape Peninsula east coast
• Dive sites of False Bay east coast
• Fresh water dive sites of the Cape Town Metropolitan Area