Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Container Bay

The dive site Container Bay is a shoreline rocky reef in the Rooi-els area on the east side of False Bay, near Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

Understand


This is a site which you might dive if you are staying at Rooi-els or nearby, and wanted a bit of variety. The site is more suitable for snorkelling, and has been popular for collecting rock lobster in season.

Position
S34°18.75’ E018°49.05’ (approximate)

The last bay at Rooi-els that is accessible by public road.

This site is not in a Marine Protected Area. A permit is not required.

Name
The name "Container Bay" refers to a shipping container that was washed up on the rocks in the 1980s or earlier, and has since almost completely rusted away.

Depth
Maximum depth is about 14 m.

Topography
Rocky reef around the perimeter of the bay, with a sand bottom in the middle with occasional rocky outcrops.

Geology: Sandstone probably of the Peninsula formation.

Conditions
There is often quite strong surge due to the shallow water.

The site is exposed to swell from the south west, so should be dived when this component of the swell is low and weak, and is often good in south easterly winds.

The site is usually at it's best in summer but there are also occasional opportunities at other times of the year.

Facilities
None

Get in
Usually a shore dive. The shore entry is fairly easy and there is no point in taking the trouble to arrange a boat trip. Park at the side of the road. Note that this road is a narrow unpaved cul-de-sac and there are no areas suitable for turning. You may have to reverse back to the fork. There is a path from the roadside to a gully suitable for entry and exit at S34°18.674’ E018°49.162’. Alternative entry and exit points are possible, but the only one with reasonable road access is to the north of the bay, and is over a shoreline of small rounded boulders which can be seen at the top left of the aerial photo.

Marine life
Extensive kelp forests and clumps wherever there are rocks on the bottom. This was a popular site for Kreef and Perlemoen diving, but they have mostly been dived out. The reef is fairly shallow and there is quite a lot of understorey seaweed, including areas of feathery caulerpa. There are various ridges and gullies and most of the interesting and colourful reef life is under overhangs and in crevices. The point to the south has gullies which are relatively deep.

Photography
This is not a particularly good site for photography, and macro equipment is likely to produce the best results.

Routes
Enter at the gully and work your way across the sand and central outcrops to one of the points, then back along the shallower reefs to the entry gully.

Hazards
Strong surge in shallow areas and gullies, and over the top of ridges, particularly in a long period swell.

Skills
No special skills required. The site is suitable for snorkelling as most of the interesting areas are quite shallow.

Equipment
No special equipment required or recommended.

Nearby


Back to the Alphabetical list of sites, or list of dive sites in the Rooi-els area

Other regional dive sites:
 * Dive sites of Table Bay and approaches,
 * Dive sites of the Cape Peninsula west coast
 * Dive sites of the Cape Peninsula east coast
 * Dive sites of False Bay offshore and approaches


 * Fresh water dive sites of the Cape Town Metropolitan Area