Reef Diving at Protea Banks
There are 2 Types of Dives to do in Protea Banks. One being Reef Dives in a natural environment looking for sharks and the other a baited drift dive.
Reef Dives
The Northern Pinnacles
Depth: 33-40m
This is an ideal area for nitrox diving and has a magnificant topography. This part of the reef is only dived in winter during our Raggie season, and only very few divemasters know how to dive the Northern Pinnacles properly. Because most people don't even find this location, the reef is virtually untouched and undamaged. It has two large cave systems which are used by the Ragged Tooth Sharks as resting zones on their annual migration and congregation route. On a good day, the diver can encounter up to 200 sharks in an area smaller than half a rugby field.
The Dive starts at the large cave, looking in from the top and observing Raggies interacting peacefully with each other. Often the caves are so full of sharks that you will hardly see the bottom. Divers must respect their resting zone by merely observing and not disturbing them. Then you will pass the tunnel which is a swim-through if it is not occupied by sharks and swim past the coral garden to get to the second cave. The second cave is also open on top and features several chambers, each one with a wide opening at the top ceiling. If there are no Raggies in the caves, it is fun to explore around in the chambers and look for sharks' teeth which are generally plentiful. This is the only souvenir that divers are allowed to remove from the reef. As spring goes into summer, large shoals of Hammerhead Sharks frequent this part of the reef. The best months to dive the Northern Pinnacles are June to November. It can truly be the best dive on earth but only suitable for advanced and comfortable divers.
The Southern Pinnacles
Depth: 26-40m
This area is home to the Zambezi Shark (Bull Shark) which is what Protea Banks became famous for. From Oct to May, some very large Bull Sharks can be encountered here. In the beginning of the Zambezi season, they tend to keep a safe distance from the divers. This does change throughout the season once the sharks become used to the divers. Towards Easter, Zambies often get so inquisitive and used to encounter divers underwater, that they can come really close up which can be fantastic for Photos. Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks are also seen shoaling at this time. They can come past in as many as several hundreds on a good dive. Hunting packs of Great Hammerheads can be curious and check out divers as well as Blacktip Sharks which are harmless playful beautiful sharks.
The dive starts at the Southern Cave which is buzzing with all sorts of game and reef fish, often so thick that it is hard to see one's buddy. Following this you will reach Kingfish Gully which is an overhanging rock, home to large shoals of Kingfish, Yellowtail, Kaakap, Sea Pike Tunny, Potato Bass and many more species. The current then normally will take you to a large sandy patch named as Sand Shark Gully. This lies at exactly 40m depth and is home of the Giant Guitar Shark. At times they can be seen lined up like planes at an airport in numbers of 50 to 60.
The best months to see Tiger Sharks are April and May, although Tiger Sharks are seen through the year. The really lucky diver may even encounter the odd Great White which is an absolute privilege.
Protea Banks has been rated by many divers from around the world as the best shark dive. Many divers are scared of sharks due to horror stories and myths created by the movie world, but their fears are totally unfounded. Sharks are intelligent animals, do not recognise us as a food source and generally tend to be shy and respectful towards the divers. Roland the guide quotes "I have done over 2500 dives at Protea Banks and never have once felt threatened by any shark or groups of sharks."
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