Drop Zone

城市概覽

This site has a comfortable range of depths for recreational diving, and is reasonably close to the slipways at Gordon's Bay, while being far enough offshore to have a fair chance of better visibility when visibility is poor at the shoreline sites of eastern False Bay. Biodiversity is fairly high and the site is large.

Position S34°08.561' E18°45.829' 1 Drop Zone About 8.6 km west (276°true) of Harbour Island. This site is not in a Marine Protected Area. A permit is not required.

Name The name "Drop Zone" was given to the site by Indigo Divers of Gordons Bay.

Depth Maximum depth is about 26 m, and the top of the reef is about 12 m according to the official charts. Average depth is likely to be about 18 m.

Visibility Visibility on the east side of False Bay is generally worse than on the Cape Peninsula, but Drop Zone is sufficiently offshore to be unaffected by most rain runoff and deep enough to be relatively unaffected by swell, particularly as it is quite a large area without much sand or silt. On the other hand, it will not have the advantage of upwelling clear water in an offshore wind. Plankton blooms may reduce visibility in the upper layers while visibility at depth remains relatively good, though fairly dark. This can only be determined by diving. Visibility has been recorded at about 10 m, but may often be less.

Topography Moderate and low profile high rugosity rocky reef. The very steep dip results in many ridges and gullies, mostly not very deep. There are few landmarks of note. Geology: Hard, resistant, sedimentary rock, possibly of the Precambrian Tygerberg formation. Strike NW-SE, Dip nearly vertical.

Conditions The site is exposed to wind from all directions and swell from most, so should be dived in low swell and light winds. The site is reasonably protected from south easterly swell, but if strong south easterly winds develop then the ride back to Gordon's Bay will be wet and bumpy There is no preferred season for diving this sit

如何抵達

Boat access only, The site is a considerable distance offshore. The site is about 8.6 km from Harbour Island slipway, or 9.2 km from Gordon's Bay Old Harbour

必看景點

Marine life

Large numbers of gorgonian sea fans, shoals of juvenile fish, and the usual variety of echinoderms, sponges and anemones. Not much seaweed, which suggests that the reef is not exposed to much light, which means that the visibility is not often very good. In 2014, it was free of the massive brittlestar populations common on the Cape Peninsula sites.

Photography As a general rule, visibility is unlikely to be great, with fairly large particulates, natural light will be relatively poor, and there are no major features, so macro photography and close-up wide angle with external flash are likely to produce the best results.

Suggested routes The site is very large, and no one area is greatly different from the others. Explore if it suits you, but there is no particular reason to go very far from the shotline.