Holiday Dives

I just got back from a 2 week holiday at Plettenberg Bay.
I got in two dives with Mark in the Grootbank / Natures Valley area before new year and we eventually got flat water with viz up to 16 m - warm water of 20 -23 deg on top and a bit cooler at about 24m say about 18 deg and at 30 m it was about 16 and rather yellow from river sediment residues I guess.
Bonito were plentifull - we encountered them in shoals of up to 500 fish. Sashimi was a regular evening starter.
We had a bit of intereference from raggies but nothing serious - just prodding off a few curios specimens of about 2 -2.5 m.
Soon after new year the swell rose to about 3 -3.5 m and diving was off but I went with a neighbour and fished off the Bloukrans area just outside the reserve at Bloukrans(the bungy jump bridge) and where we had good geelbek catches - my neighbour lost his rod to a geelbek - will go look another time when the water clears up on my next outing there.

Both Mark and I share the opinion that Plett reefs are poor structure for fish and it is often barren. The best time for getting good catches there will be after a good thermocline has risen from deeper water to focus fish in the divable depths - unfortunately the water - especially the thermoclines from the deep are often yellow.

In my off time I did a fair amount of excercise - 3 x 70 min swims in the Keurbooms River and 3 x 10 km runs - this just to keep up my base fitness.

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