Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Rooi-els Point

The dive site Rooi-els Point is an inshore 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


The point at Rooi-els seems an obvious place for a dive site. There is a break that extends north of the point indicating an extended reef. These reefs are a northwards continuation of the reefs at Coral Gardens (Rooi-els) and are very similar in many ways.

Position
S34°17.8’ E018°48.8’ - At the point at Rooi-els, mostly to the seaward side, and extending to the north east as a ridge.

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

Name
The name "Rooi-els Point" is the simple geographical description of the location.

Depth
Maximum depth is about 20 m, but it is mostly 12 to 17 m on the bottom.

Topography
Moderate reef of ridges running roughly magnetic north-south. Rugged sandstone ridges and gullies, mostly fairly broken, and of variable height on moderately consistent bottom depth. Occasional small patch of sand in a gully, but mostly rock bottom.

Geology: Ordovician sandstone of the Table Mountain group, probably Peninsula formation.

Conditions
Exposed to south westerly swells. Long period swell will make shore exits uncomfortable even if the swell is low. Boat dives should be OK in short period swells which are a bit big for shore entry.

Facilities
Limited parking at the turning bay at the end of Rocklands road.

Get in
Boat dive from Rooi-els slipway, or shore dive.

Shore dive: Turn off the R44 into Anemone street. Drive to the T-junction and turn right into Rocklands Road. Park at the north-east end of Rocklands Road. Find a suitable spot for entry among the rocks on the shore towards the point. Depending on conditions, there may be several suitable places, but all will require a walk across the rocks. If you are planning to return to the same spot for exit, check your landmarks well once beyond the kelp.

Alternative exit: If the sea picks up another exit is around behind the point (right side in the photograph), which is sheltered unless the north-wester is blowing. This will require quite a long swim but in some circumstances may be preferable to the exposed outer shores of the point.

Marine life
Quite colourful further out (50 to 100 m probably), Lots of bryozoans, sponges and corals, colonial ascidians etc. Kelp forests very dense inshore and fairly dense on the reef north of the point.

Photography
The area is fairly good for macro photography.

Routes
Shore dive: Straight out to sea from the point about 50 to 100 m. Dive and work your way around the reefs. Save at least 50 bar for the return trip. More if the conditions are a bit rough, as you will want to cross the dense kelp forest under the canopy.

Boat dive: Drop in about 50 to 100 m offshore and go where it looks good. The site has not been mapped and there may be much to discover.

Hazards
Shore access requires a scramble over rocks and a slightly tricky entry and exit. Strong offshore winds may develop in a short time.

Skills
No special skills required. Moderate fitness and agility is needed for the entry and exit

Equipment
A flashlight will be useful for looking under overhangs, and a reel and DSMB if doing a live-boat dive. Nitrox could be useful in the deeper areas.

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