Diving at Random Rocks Reefs

The dive site Random Rocks Reefs is a patch of offshore rocky reef in the Roman Rock area of Simon's Bay area in False Bay, near Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It includes at least four small reefs: Rudy's Random Reef, Reef With No Name, Random Rocks Reef, and another as yet unnamed reef to the northeast.

Understand

Map of the dive sites at Random Rocks Reefs

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

Position

• S34°11.329' E018°28.037' 1 Rudy's Random Rocks: (Pinnacle at south end)
• S34°11.365' E018°28.055' 2 Reef With No Name: (Pinnacle)

This site is in a Marine Protected Area (2004). A permit is required.

Name

The name "Rudy's Random Rocks" was given because the first known dive at the site was a substitute for the site originally chosen by Rudy, chosen from a few marks the skipper had picked up on the echo sounder while driving in the area. It is marked as a shallow area in the SAN chart at about 19 m, but that may not be the same patch of reef, as the chart may refer to the larger Random Rocks Reef.

The "Reef With No Name" was surveyed, mapped and then forgotten. Mapping of Rudy's random Reef brought it back into the light, as it is nearby on the map. It still had no name, so that is the name it gets.

The "Random Rocks Reef" is named for its proximity to Rudy's Random Rocks, which was not known at the time of initial exploration and survey.

Depth

Maximum depth at Rudy's Random Rocks is about 27 m. and the top of the southern rock is about 21 m. (Average depth of a dive at this site is likely to be about 24 m.

Visibility

Visibility is likely to be similar to that at Roman Rock reefs

Topography

Rudy's comprises two adjacent areas of reef. To the south there is a large outcrop of granite, rising from the sand bottom at about 26 m to about 21 m on top, and roughly 15m in diameter. This patch of reef is about 40 m from east to west and about 30 m from north to south, with the pinnacle at the south-east end. The north-western section is bigger, but relatively flat and very close to the southern section across a sandy gap. There is a larger reef to the north-east that has not yet been dived, and little information is available about it.

Geology: Pre-Cambrian granite of the Peninsula pluton.

Conditions

The site is exposed to south easterly winds and waves, so should be dived in westerly winds. The site is reasonably protected from swells from the south west.

It should be at it's best in autumn, winter or spring, but there will also be occasional opportunities in summer.

Get in

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

This site is only accessible by boat. It is about 3.9 km from Simon's Town jetty, or 4.6 km from Miller's Point slipway.

See

Marine life

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

The reef at Rudy's Random Rocks is relatively bare. There is no obvious reason for this. The rock is fairly smooth, with little rugosity at decimeter scale, so does not provide a lot of micro-environment, but not greatly unlike several other reefs in the vicinity with more to see. There were a few small to moderate sized sea fans, and quite a large number of elegant feather stars and mauve sea cucumbers. Hardly any seaweeds.

• 
  Grey starfish Callopatiria formosa
• 
  Nippled sea fan Eunicella papillosa
• 
  Frilled nudibranch Leminda millecra

Photography

Not very much to see, so macro is probably the best bet.

Suggested routes

Rudy's Random Rocks is a compact site, and could be comprehensively visited on a single dive. No particular route is likely to be better than others.

Stay safe

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

Hazards

No site-specific hazards known

Skills

No special skills required. Depth range is beyond that recommended for entry level divers.

Equipment

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

No special equipment required. A DSMB is recommended to alert the skipper of your position when surfacing away from the shotline. Nitrox will allow a longer no-stop dive.

Nearby

• 1 Castor Rock - Central Pinnacle
• 2 Friskies Pinnacle
• 3 Roman Rock
• 4 Tivoli Pinnacles
• 5 Rambler Rock Southern pinnacles
• 6 Dome Rock
• 7 Noah’s Ark - Eastern wreck
• 8 Anchor Reef

Back to the Alphabetical list of sites, or list of dive sites in the Roman Rock area

Other regional dive sites:

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