Eastern Cape dive sites

Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve is located on the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape, approximately 280 kilometres northeast of East London. Access requires a four-wheel-drive vehicle along unpaved roads. The nearest town with services is Coffee Bay or Elliotdale. Dive operations are extremely limited; most visitors arrange trips through specialist operators in East London or Port St Johns who run expedition-style trips with inflatable boats launched from the beach.

Yes. Dwesa-Cwebe is a no-take marine protected area managed by South African National Parks. Diving requires a SANParks permit obtained in advance. The number of divers permitted is strictly limited to protect the reef system. Conservation levies apply, and all activities within the reserve are subject to regulations including no collection of any marine organisms and mandatory dive briefings from reserve staff.

Dwesa sits at the southern limit of subtropical coral growth in the western Indian Ocean. The Agulhas Current brings warm tropical water from Mozambique south along the coast, allowing hard corals to establish at latitudes where they would normally be absent. The reef here supports over 100 species of hard coral, a figure that surprises many divers who associate South African waters exclusively with kelp forests and temperate reefs.