One of those experiences includes scuba diving.
Algoa Bay has more than 15 different and unique sites to choose from across two main diving sites that include the Bay itself and one area known as the Wildside, which is west of Cape Recife.
Diving conditions in Port Elizabeth are greatly influenced by seasonal changes.
The Bay is a transition zone between the warm current that runs down the east coast and the cold current that runs from the west coast.
This creates two distinctive dive environments on each side of the coastline.
Winter is traditionally the best time to dive in Port Elizabeth, with an average visibility of 5m to 8m in the Bay and between 10m and 15m on the Wildside.
There are also a large variety of fish and soft coral species that make for a great diving experience.
Qaba said winter was traditionally the best time to dive in Port Elizabeth as the visibility was greater and water temperature ranged between 18°C and 21°C.
The Wildside is known for its thermoclines of 11°C on deeper dives.
“The diving sites in Nelson Mandela Bay are of world-class quality with beautiful reefs, shipwrecks, a variety of fish and colourful soft coral species.
“The protected warm water of Algoa Bay provides scuba divers with the most exciting and diverse range of dive sites in the country,” he said.
The Bay’s rocky reefs are covered in soft corals, sponges and sea fans.
The ragged tooth sharks make their appearance in the Bay between November and May.
Due to the nutrient-rich water that feeds the reefs of the Wildside, the growth of false and hard corals is prolific.
The noble coral that grows here in abundance is in fact the only hard coral in Southern Africa that grows in cold water.
Dive operators in the metro include Pro Dive, which offers shark and reef diving.
Pro Dive operator Louis van Aardt said Algoa Bay was on the migration route of many large mammals and dives offered sightings of the humpback whale and Southern Right whales, dolphins, seals and jackass penguins which were common.
Pro Dive also offers diving lessons.
Van Aardt described the experience as exhilarating.
“The accessibility of shore diving and the ease of boat diving, the close proximity of reefs to the launch site and the professional and personal care ensures that diving is a pleasure, an adventure and thrilling every time,” Van Aardt said.
Husband-and-wife scuba diving instructors Juan Snyman and Evania Lombard run Scuba Elite PE, as well as the Eastern Cape Diving Website.
Scuba Elite PE specialises in training small groups of aspiring scuba divers as well as rescue personnel.
Lombard described their lessons as “boutique training” with a lot of one-on-one time spent with the divers.
“This is to ensure safety standards are maintained and we get to spend one-on-one time with clients.
“We’re mostly a training school and we offer packages where students spend time diving in the pool, then we move to the ocean at all levels,” Lombard said.
Tags:scuba diving. Algoa Bay
