Dive-site story
Located directly off the sheltered shoreline of Simon's Town on the False Bay coast, Long Beach serves as Cape Town's primary training site. The topography consists of a gently shelving sandy bottom interspersed with scattered weed beds, concrete blocks, and the small wooden frames of scuttled skiffs. While sparse compared to nearby kelp forests, the open sand provides an unusually reliable habitat for several species of endemic small sharks and nocturnal bottom-dwellers.
Reliable encounters with endemic catsharks and shysharks resting on the sand
Calm, protected shore entry suitable for navigation exercises, macro photography, and night dives
Occasional sightings of Cape seahorses and small stingrays buried in the substrate
Location
Use the map to plan with your operator and confirm the exact entry point on the day.
Seasonality
Winter months typically bring offshore northwesterly winds that clean up False Bay and yield the best water clarity.
Marine life
| Species | Likelihood | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pyjama sharkPoroderma africanum | Common | ||||||||||||
| Puffadder shysharkHaploblepharus edwardsii | Common | ||||||||||||
| Cape seahorseHippocampus capensis | Rare | ||||||||||||
| Short-tail stingrayBathytoshia brevicaudata | Seasonal | ||||||||||||
| Common cuttlefishSepia vermiculata | Common |
Marine forecast
