Unpredictable Shark Cage Diving

The main issue with the current autumn weather conditions is it makes planning shark cage diving extremely difficult. For instance, this week so far has yielded a perfect summers day, fog, an overcast day that varied from hot to cold to hot again, and an average overcast day. Autumn and spring are difficult seasons, worse than winter since in winter you expect rain with relative frequency.

Last year, during the month of September, White Shark Projects spent more days off sea than they did on. The weather not only prevents our guests of the Roundhouse Guesthouse from going out on a specific day, but makes it difficult to actually say when they can. Over Easter weekend, clients came to Gansbaai specifically to do shark cage diving, and they had to leave disappointed as three days of the four day weekend was completely unsuited for cage diving.

Winter is going to be a welcome change, since we actually expect rough seas and rain when a cold front comes through.

Quiet Gansbaai Guesthouses

The week after Easter and the Kreef Derby is always a particularly quiet period, similarly to the time after Christmas and New Years. The torrent of tourists, more often than not local, leave after the holiday period and Gansbaai returns to its usual sleepy self. The Roundhouse Guesthouse is dead quiet this weekend, and it was completely booked up last weekend, comparatively.

Easter is the last big event for the town and the Great White Shark cage diving industry before the start of the high season in June. The high season is when shark viewing is at is at its peak, and the Southern Right and Humpback whales grace our shores. If the weather plays along (June is the beginning of the South African winter, and is the Western Cape's rainy season), cage diving will be outstanding. We spoke to Great White Shark Tours earlier this afternoon, and their trips are cancelled for the next few days due to sea conditions. Lets hope that isn't an omen for winter.

The End of Easter Weekend

Easter weekend is drawing to a close, and poor weather has halted all shark cage diving boats for two days straight. A telephone call to Great White Shark Tours confirmed the cancellation today. The weather has been really unfortunate as Easter is one of the busiest times of the year here in Gansbaai, with a lot of people coming here to the see the sharks. A Mozambique holiday is beginning to sound really good now doesn't it?

On the other hand, the Kreef Derby appeared to be a rousing success. We could hear the music from the Adventure Centre! Despite the rain for most of Saturday, it seems people were still really keen to attend the annual festival.

Bizarre Weather and The Kreef Derby

The weather of Gansbaai has continued its strange streak of varying between wonderfully warm and chilling cold, usually within a few hours of each other. It hasn't done the town much good, as one of our staff members who got pneumonia can attest to. We hear the weather in Mozambique is still great, with temperatures ranging from 24 to 34 degrees Celsius. Sounds like a great time for a Mozambique diving holiday.

Tomorrow, April 3rd, is Gansbaai's annual Kreef Derby, one of the biggest highlights of the year for the region. Aside from the fishing connotations, its an excellent day for families and friends to see live bands, browse through a flea market and gorge on delicious food! The Roundhouse Guesthouse is, predictably, mostly fully booked up for the event, with some of the performers staying with us.

Despite the bizarre weather, Gansbaai is still moving full steam ahead with its festivities, and the official beginning of the shark cage diving season in June.