shoreline dive site south of Gordon's Bay on the False Bay east coast

The dive site Phil's Bay is a shoreline rocky reef in the Gordon's Bay area on the east side of False Bay, near Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.


Understand

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

Position

edit
  • S34°11.199’ E018°49.133’ 1 Phil's Bay (anchorage)

This site is not in a Marine Protected Area. A permit is not required.

Name

edit

The name "Phil's Bay" is of unknown origin.

Depth

edit

Maximum depth is about 14 m.

Visibility

edit

Visibility on a good day is likely to be 5 to 6 m, and is quite likely to be less. On a very good day it may be as much as 10 m.

Topography

edit

Sand bottom at about 14 m, then moderate relief reef of sandstone rocks and ridges with sandy gaps running more or less parallel to shoreline. Gets more rugged closer to shore, and remains deep quite close inshore.

Geology: Ordovician sandstones of the Table Mountain formation, and a sand bottom.

Conditions

edit

Best after south-easter, but swell must be low.

The site is exposed to swell and wind from the south west and to a lesser extent north west, so should be dived when the sout west component of the swell is low, and is likely to be good in or after south easterly winds. The site is usually at it's best in summer but there are also occasional opportunities in other seasons.

Get in

edit
See also: Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay#Boat dives

Boat dive. The site is about 5.0 km from Gordon's Bay harbour or 5.4 km Harbour Island.

Marine life

edit
See also: Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay#The marine ecology

Rocks overgrown with the usual red bait in the shallower areas and feather stars in deeper places. Sponges and sea fans brighten up the scene, and a variety of smaller critters are there to be found.

Photography

edit

Macro photography is most likely to produce good results.

Routes

edit

No particular route recommended. There may be a slight current, so plan your dive to surface where you can get back to the boat.

Stay safe

edit
See also: Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay#Stay safe

Hazards

edit

No site specific hazards reported.

Skills

edit

No special skills required. Suitable for night dives if conditions are appropriate.

Equipment

edit
See also: Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay#Equipment

No special equipment recommended.

Nearby

edit
Map
Phil's Bay and nearby dive sites

Back to the Alphabetical list of sites, or list of dive sites in the Gordon's Bay area

Other regional dive sites:

This dive guide to Phil's Bay is a usable article. It has information on location and equipment as well as some complete entries on what to see. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.