Oceans Africa Launches Exclusive Charters to Explore Cape Town Dive Sites and Kelp Forests

Cape Town, South Africa, October 2025, Oceans Africa reveal the best Cape Town dives sites, from wreck to reefs and kelp forest.

Discover a More Personal Way to Dive Cape Town

Cape Town’s underwater world is being opened to adventurous divers through Oceans Africa’s private charters aboard their vessel Sea Otter. These Cape Town dive charters explore the reefs, kelp forests and wrecks of the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area, with launch sites in Simonstown, Kommetjie or Hout Bay depending on conditions. Each trip is tailored exclusively to small groups, combining flexibility, safety and a relaxed approach to diving.

Small Groups, Big Experiences

Oceans Africa keeps ratios low, a maximum of three scuba divers per Divemaster or Instructor, ensuring ample space and individual attention. The team’s local knowledge allows divers to choose from reef-and-wreck pairings, kelp-and-seal dives or extended coastal tours of False Bay and the Atlantic seaboard. Freedivers and snorkellers are equally welcome, with many sites offering shallow and deep options within the same area.

Exploring the Great African Sea Forest

The kelp forests surrounding the Cape Peninsula are part of the Great African Sea Forest, stretching nearly 1,000 km north into Namibia. Beneath the canopy, divers encounter fish, invertebrates and seals weaving through shafts of sunlight. Many of these habitats fall within Marine Protected Areas where fishing is restricted, creating pristine underwater environments rich in biodiversity.

Top Dive Sites in Cape Town

Cape Town’s diving reveals a blend of wild beauty, history and colour beneath the surface. With Oceans Africa as your guide, each charter explores a selection of dive sites that capture what makes the Cape Peninsula one of South Africa’s most varied underwater destinations.

• Partridge Point (False Bay): A lively seal diving site where Cape fur seals glide through the kelp, especially rewarding during winter when False Bay conditions are at their best.
• Smitswinkel Bay: A favourite among local divers, this area hosts several scuttled shipwrecks that have become vibrant artificial reefs covered in soft coral and marine life.
• Bellows Rock (Cape Point): The resting place of the Portuguese liner SS Lusitania, this deep 40-metre site offers one of the Cape’s most challenging and iconic wreck dives, accessible only on calm days.
• False Bay Reefs: Rich with hard and soft corals in shades of red, blue, pink and orange, these reefs offer calm, colourful winter diving among granite boulders and invertebrate life.
• Atlantic Seaboard Reefs: During summer, south-easterly winds bring clear upwellings that reveal dramatic reef structures, swim-throughs and coral-encrusted terrain ideal for photography.
• Kelp Forests of the Cape: Stretching along the shoreline as part of the Great African Sea Forest, these underwater jungles provide a magical diving experience filled with movement, colour and marine biodiversity.

Each of these sites highlights a different side of Cape Town’s marine landscape, from the playful energy of seal encounters to the quiet beauty of deep reefs and wrecks, creating a series of unforgettable adventures that Oceans Africa brings together through its flexible, small-group dive charters.

Plan Your Private Dive Charter

Every charter with Oceans Africa is created around client preferences and daily conditions. For the latest updates, sightings and site availability, divers are encouraged to contact the team directly via the Oceans Africa contact page.

About Oceans Africa

Oceans Africa provides exclusive dive and freedive charters from the Southern Peninsula, operating within the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area. The company’s SAMSA-certified boat Sea Otter accommodates small groups for reef, wreck and kelp forest adventures around Cape Town.