Protea Banks

Every dive starts with a surf launch from Shelly Beach, a run of roughly 7 km offshore and a briefing that is mostly procedure: how the group descends together, where the boat will sit, when to leave the reef. Entries are negative, everyone rolling back and going straight down, because a slow descent in this water means missing the reef altogether. There is nothing to tie into once you arrive; you work along the rock as the current carries you, then let go and finish in open blue.

Nothing on the bank is shallow. It is a ridge lying parallel to the coast whose top is already deeper than most recreational dives finish, so bottom times are short and the profile does not forgive dawdling, and the sand off the deep side bottoms out near 40 m. The northern and southern ends behave like separate destinations, each with its own caves and undercut gullies, and which one you get is set by the direction the current is running rather than by request.

The last part of a dive is usually a blue-water hang with a marker up, and that is often when sharks appear: mid-water, unhurried, coming in for a look at a group with nothing behind it. Some operators also run baited dives, with bait hung below the boat and divers holding station around it. That changes both the odds and the atmosphere, so it is worth establishing which kind of dive you have paid for before the boat leaves the launch.

This is a narrow trip and it makes no apology for it. There are no shallow coral gardens to fall back on, little for a macro lens, and days get written off by swell. It rewards divers who are current-comfortable, disciplined about gas and ascent, practised with a delayed marker and content to log a short dive that sometimes delivers nothing but blue water. Nitrox is worth arranging before you arrive rather than deciding on it once you are there.