Diving at Southwood's Corner

The dive site Southwood's Corner, or Deep Southeast Whittle Ridge, is an offshore rocky reef in the Off-Whittle sothern reefs area of the central west side of False Bay, near Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.u

Understand

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

Whittle rock and surrounds

Found during a multibeam sonar survey and first dived in July 2022 by Wreckless Divers.

Position

1 Southwood's Corner: S34°16.097' E018°34.837'

A group of granite ridges in the Off-Whittle southern reefs area south of Whittle Rock reef on the sand at 55 m, rising to 37 m on top, running roughly north to south with quite a steep slope to the west and a sharp crest. Found and surveyed by multi-beam sonar from Wreckless II, but probably previously known to fishermen, as a small anchor was found near the top of the ridge. This site is not in a Marine Protected Area. A permit is not required.

Name

The name "Southwood's Corner" refers to one of the first two divers known to dive at this site. "Deep Southeast Whittle Ridge" is a simple description of the geographic position of the granite ridge in deep water southeast of Whittle Rock.

Depth

Maximum depth is about 55 m. and the top of the ridge is about 37 m. Average depth of a dive is likely to be about 45 m.

Visibility

Visibility has been good, at over 30 m over the top of the ridge in midwinter, but the deeper water below 50 m was milky with the fine silt typical of deep False Bay water.

Topography

The site is a fairly substantial ridge of granite with the long axis roughly north-south. The south-west side is quite steep, particularly the lower part near the sand, and the ridge peak is also quite steep and narrow to the northwest. The east side is flatter on top, with a shallow gully near the north end, and a second, lower ridge east of that, then sloping down more gradually to the east.

Geology: Pre-Cambrian granite of the Peninsula pluton, surrounded by sand

Conditions

The site is exposed to wind and waves from all directions, so should be dived in low swells and light winds, and is likely to be at it's best in winter but there will also be opportunities during the rest of the year. This is an area which has a thermocline in late summer, and the visibility may be better at depth when there is an algal bloom in the surface water, caused by strong sunshine in summer, resulting in a top layer of poor visibility with clearer but dark water below.

Get in

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

The site is only accessible by boat. It is about 8.5? km from the slipway at Miller's Point, but boats may also leave from Simon's Town jetty. On a good day in a fast boat it is a bit less than a half hour run from Simon's Town Jetty, a distance of about 14.5? km. Occasionally boats may leave from Gordon's Bay Old Harbour or Harbour Island marina, which are both about 29.5? km away.

Do

Routes

No known routes. Start deep as you want to go, and ascend from the top of the reef.

See

Marine life

• 
  Hairy sponge
• 
  Small anchor
• 
  Deepwater urchin
• 
  Sponge
• 
  Hottentot seabream
• 
  Cuttlefish
• 
  Reef invertebrates
• 
  Cauliflower soft coral and strawberry anemones
• 
  Diver at Whittle Deep Southeast Ridge
• 
  Boarding dive boat Wreckless 2 at Whittle Deep Southeast Ridge

Photography

Macro with artificial lighting and wide angle with natural lighting if you are lucky with visibility and natural illumination.

Stay safe

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

Hazards

There are no known site-specific hazards other than the depth. Most of the site is below the depth range usually accepted as suitable for recreational diving, or for emergency swimming ascent. Surface currents due to wind are likely and may take the divers away from the descent area during an ascent with decompression stops.

Skills

The competence to follow suitable decompression procedures is strongly recommended. This includes carrying and using appropriate gases and deploying a decompression buoy to mark the position of the divers during ascent.

Equipment

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

Adequate and reliable alternative breathing gas supply, as the depth is beyond the range for which emergency swimming ascent is a reasonable response. A decompression buoy is strongly recommended, and may be required by the service provider. A fully redundant emergency gas supply is recommended. Use of breathing gas mixtures appropriate to the depth is recommended,

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 Josh's Reef
• 8 Wreckless Ridge
• 9 Lonehill Reef
• 10 Deep South Whittle 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