Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Die Josie

The dive site Die Josie is an inshore rocky reef in the Hout Bay area on the Atlantic seaboard of the Cape Peninsula, near Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

Understand


A reef which is close to Hout Bay harbour and is suitable for night dives. It can be dived in very strong south easterly winds as it is in the lee of a high cliff, and the diveable wind strength in a south-easter is limited mainly by the boat ride to and from the site. It can be an option when the wind is too strong for a boat trip around to the Duiker Point sites.

Position

 * S34°04.504’ E018°21.271’

The reefs are at the base of the cliffs below Chapman's Peak

This site is in the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area since 2004. A permit is required.

Name
The name "Die Josie" is given to this area on the SAN charts. It is vernacular Afrikaans, meaning "The Devil".

Depth
Maximum depth at the sand is about 17 m, top of main part of the reef at about 7 m. The reef extends to the shoreline.

Topography
Fairly flat fine sand bottom at about 17 m. Above that, granite reef. Some of the reef is not extensively weathered, like the cliffs above the site. There is considerable jointing more or less vertically, parallel to and perpendicular to the cliff face. This pattern is similar on the reef, the blocky formations are more reminiscent of the sandstone reefs in other parts of the peninsula, but with almost no overhangs, undercuts, caves etc. There are plenty of almost vertical faces and flattish tops, with fairly angular corners and edges, and the characteristic rounded shapes of the corestone reefs are absent excepting for wave rounded boulders. In the area further offshore it is more typical of the usual rounded corestone reefs of the Cape Peninsula. Geology: Basically outcrops of the late Pre-Cambrian granite of the Peninsula pluton, with loose boulders of granite and Table Mountain Sandstones from the overlying strata.

Probably one of the best views available of the unconformity between Cape Granite and Graafwater sandstone is clearly visible from the surface of the water, but quite high up on the cliff.

Conditions
Best after south easterly winds. Exposed to south westerly swells. The site is exposed to westerly winds and swell, so should be dived in low swell, 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.

Get in
This site is only accessible by boat, though in principle an entry could be made by base-jumping the cliffs from the Chapman's Peak drive.

The site is about 3.4 km from Hout Bay harbour slipway.

Marine life
Kelp on top of the reef, with a variety of invertebrates on the top and sides of the rocks.

Routes
No special route recommended.

Hazards
Cold water.

Skills
No special skills required. This site is suitable for boat dives at night, and is conveniently close to Hout Bay harbour.

Equipment
No special equipment recommended.

Nearby


Back to the Alphabetical list of sites, or list of dive sites in the Hout Bay area

Other regional dive sites:
 * Dive sites of Table Bay and approaches


 * Dive sites of the Cape Peninsula east coast
 * Dive sites of False Bay offshore and approaches
 * Dive sites of False Bay east coast
 * Fresh water dive sites of the Cape Town Metropolitan Area