Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Sentinel

The dive site Sentinel is a shoreline 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
This is the place on the Atlantic seaboard where the 30 m contour is closest to the shore

Position
This site is in the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area since 2004. A permit is required.
 * S34°03.54' E18°20.82' &mdash; approximate position south and east of the Sentinel (mountain peak)

Name
The name "Sentinel" is the name of the steep rocky peak on the mountainside above the site.

Depth
The maximum depth of 30 m requires a 500 m swim out and is over sand. Most of the site is shallower than 10 m.

Topography
Gradually sloping fine sand bottom at 30 m, with occasional rock outcrops as it gets shallower, sloping up to shoreline reef and boulders at about 15 m. Coarser sand in shallower parts. Reef is mostly moderately low profile, but with the occasional big rock. Surf zone is rounded boulders of about 1m size range. There are a number of sub-sites in this area. The Sentinel is considered by some to be in front of the vertical cliffs, and is an area of flat reef with lots of kelp and often box jellyfish, and some big boulders. The Pinnacles are a group of rocks just past the end of Hout Bay harbour, near the sewage works. (the outfall pipe opens much further to the south)

Geology: Late Pre-Cambrian granite corestones of the Peninsula pluton. with occasional shoreline boulders of the overlying Table Mountain sandstones.

Conditions
Best after south easterly winds (summer). Exposed to south westerly swells and to wind chop from south easterly winds.

Facilities
Adequate parking at the end of the gravel road. See Hazards.

Get in
This site can be dived from a boat or from the shore.

The site is about 2.5 km from Hout Bay harbour slipway.

Shore dive: There is a parking area at S34°03.553’ E018°20.690’ just beyond Hout Bay Sewage Works building. This is reported to be a high crime area and may not be safe for either your person, your equipment or your vehicle. It is probably not worth the risk, as the site has little to offer except the possibility of a 30 m shore dive on sand at the end of a long swim.

Marine life
Box jellyfish are common near the bottom over sand. The deep rock outcrops are covered with common feather stars. There is fairly thick kelp forest inshore. Hottentot, occasional anemones, small swimming shrimps over the rocks, West Coast rock lobster, small red and brown algae, small sponges, sea fans, starfish, hydroids, and black mussels have been seen.

Routes
30m shore dive: Entry about 50 m beyond parking place, surface swim to where the depth should be sufficient. This will be easiest if you have a submersible echo sounder, or a GPS on the surface marker, otherwise use compass bearings from the chart. Dive and swim out until depth is 30 m. To return swim a compass course of north magnetic, ascending gradually until about 6 m. and swimming in mid water to the surge zone near the shore. Entry and exit may be a bit rough in the surf and boulders. If the return is done along the bottom and the dive is on air, decompression will be required.

Hazards
This area is reported to be a high risk for assault and theft from vehicles. There is also some risk from boats as there is considerable traffic in the area of fishing boats, tourist charter boats and dive charter boats. Cold water. Strong onshore winds may develop over a short period, making exit shore tricky. Access to entry/exit points is over a boulder beach.

Skills
No special skills required. The site is suitable for snorkeling. Some fitness and agility is needed for shore access, and there is a long swim to do a 30 m dive.

Equipment
A large surface marker or an escort boat with Flag Alpha is recommended if you plan to go far from the shore, as this area is frequented by tour charter boats and fishing boats. If you plan to do a shore dive to 30 m, a compass is essential and Nitrox will allow a no-decompression dive.

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