Dive Conditions in Cape Town
Forecasting good dive conditions in Cape Town can feel like a lucky dip.
But is it really?
What if there was a method to understanding the madness that is the ever-changing dive conditions around the Cape Peninsula and east across to Gordons Bay?
However, it's not just the wind on any given day. It really matters what the wind has been doing for 2-3 days prior to that day.
Sustained wind from a particular direction is what forms the basis of decent dive conditions.
Sustained SouthEaster: most common in summer, the SE wind generally churns up False Bay and forces us to look at "the Atlantic side" by which we mean Hout Bay and Oudekraal. 2-3 days of sustained, hard SE wind usually brings an upwelling out of the Southern Ocean which delivers crystal blue but icy waters to dive sites such as Justin's Caves, Antipolis and Sandy Bay. That cold water is plankton-rich, so if the wind dies (which is what we want for calm surface conditions for diving), a few hours of hot sunshine are enough to get the algae blooming and the viz starting to go milky and then green.
Sustained NorthWester: this is usually our winter wind, but it does blow from time to time in summer, too. The NW wind blows False Bay clean and once it drops and the swell flattens, all the Simonstown shore dive sites as well as many of the False Bay boat dives become very appealing.
What about swell size? Swell size determines the level of surge you are likely to encounter. This is particularly important when shore diving, as surge is more pronounced in shallower waters.
How do you find ut what's happening out there? That's where weather apps come in! Bit not just any old app - you really need one that gives you wind direction dn swell size. Two of our favourites are Windy and Windfinder... as shown below:
👆🏼👆🏼 Windy.com and Windfinder.com: both good phone apps for tracking wind direction 👆🏼👆🏼
