Join Our 1st Exploratory Dive Trip to Bassas da India. Join David and Elna Caravias, our owners, and Johan Boshoff, our dive guide, (see profile below) for the dive trip of your life! Yes, you can now dive Bassas da India. We are proud to launch its first dive expedition to Bassas da India 27 May 2010. This live-aboard trip is for 11 on sea of which 7 days minimum are spent diving Bassas da India. Being the first of many trips, this 27 May excursion will be an exploratory trip where our hand selected dive master, Johan Boshoff (see profile below), will for the first time dive these unexplored reefs alongside a seasoned Bassas diver.
We have all heard stories about the fantastic diving at Bassas. These stories are from dive clubs or groups of friends that charter yachts and just go dive. We however will be the first company to bring you guided live-aboard’s on luxury yachts to Bassas da India With Dive Permits. This means that there will be no chance that the French navy will chase us away 20 minutes after anchoring. The yachts used are very exclusive and the divers are kept to a maximum of 6 per boat. The excursions are done 2 or 3 boats together at a time. The French guard this atoll so heavily that a member of the French Government will accompany the trip. This is to make sure that no reefs are damaged and that no treasure get stolen off undiscovered shipwrecks.
The Marine Rich Waters of Bassas Da India: As the conditions are as near pristine as one can get the fish life around the atoll is prolific and all species are of noteworthy size. Expect the BIG five, big sharks - oceanic white tips, silver tips and grey reef sharks, hammerheads, shoals of large tuna, barracuda, kingfish and many other large reef fish - of all species. Explore gently sloping reefs passing giant table corals until you reach the edge of the drop off that plunges from 20 metres down into the abyss - watch out for the vertigo! Schools of rainbow runners and kingfish occupy this deep blue along with yellowfin tuna, silver tip shark and hammerhead.
In the shallower water you can explore coral outcrops spread across a sandy bottom where large schools of parrotfish, fusiliers, anthias and solitary groupers mix with moray eels, wrasse, butterfly fish and angelfish. Because of the depths of the wall dives, time is spent snorkelling or fishing in between dives. Swim through huge schools of yellowtop fusiliers and have close encounters with giant kingfish (up to 50kg) and watch parrotfish feeding at low tide along the exposed coral with their fins out of the water.
Though the atoll is fairly well charted, and has been so for centuries, it is a most treacherous reef simply because it cannot be seen at high tide. For this reason it is a graveyard of ships. Nobody seems to know exactly how many _ but the place is littered with wrecks, perhaps as many as a hundred. Some of these wreck are centuries old, others more recent. The most famous of these is the Santiago, a Portuguese East Indiaman that ran aground here en route to Goa in 1585, the remains of which are still is visible on the reef. Salvage divers have recovered around 10,000 Spanish pieces of eight emeralds, jewellery, 20 bronze canons and a rare Portuguese nautical astrolabe from this wreck site. The 4.5m long anchor lying on the reef-top visibly identifies this wreck.
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1, 27 May: Boat departs Vilanculos harbour. Arrive Bazaruto Island. Two dives on Two Mile Reef. Lunch. After lunch depart Bazaruto on route to Bassas Da India.
Day 2: Late afternoon half way to Bassas Da India.
Day 3: Late afternoon arrive at Bassas. Dive.
Days 4 - 8: Two dives per day.
Day 9: Dive, Dive. Late afternoon Depart Bassas on route to Vilanculos.
Day 10: Late afternoon half way to Vilanculos.
Day 11, 6 June: If time permits we do one last dive at Bazaruto Island before entering the Vilanculos harbour late afternoon.
The diving: The depth of the dives will be determined on site. The dive group is usually dropped at 10 meters. Most dives are done between 18 and 40 meters. You do not need to dive deep to experience the awe of Bassas. Diving takes place on the North East side of the island where the reef slopes down very gradually. It is a relatively long swim before you reach the drop off or rather wall. Should the group of divers all be very experienced deep divers then it is their choice as a group whether they are going to dive the wall or not. The drop off is bottomless so the danger factor here is high indeed. We strongly recommends shallow dives only. The dives that you choose to do is entirely your choice and you need to take responsibly for your own safety. You can definitely spend many days diving the shallows of Bassas venturing to some of the many shipwrecks that plague the North East side of the atoll. This wreck graveyard is host to the most incredible ecosystem and marine life waters that you will probable ever experience.
Dive leader profile: Johan Boshoff
Johan Boshoff is one of the first registered Underwater Marine and Shark Guides in South Africa. Obtaining this qualification was aided by the years of experience in diving and being a Dive Master and Instructor as well as being the Chief Editor of the Divestyle magazine from 2005. The Magazine is the leading scuba diving magazine in Southern Africa. He is also an underwater videographer, photographer and a presenter for a Local TV Production on South Africa’s local television. Johan developed the Marine Life Educational CD for household use. It is a user-friendly computer programme with more than 4 000 full colour photographs of Marine Life that will help divers and non-divers identify and learn more about the life in and around the ocean.
‘The Dive spots of Southern Africa’ is an indispensable guide book for all levels of divers, developed by Johan and his wife Amilda. Through extensive travel and diving, Johan and Amilda brings you their view of dive sites in Southern Africa with important info, full colour photo’s of dive destinations, accommodation, facilities and descriptions of different reefs and fresh water sites to be dived locally as well as in neighbouring Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Individual dive sites are star rated and include conditions, access, depth, marine life, accommodation, facilities and travel tips. Detailed full colour illustrated maps provide the reader with dive site locations and reef information.
Johan was involved in a number of television productions for 50/50, a wildlife program. He also produced a documentary with Johann Botha called ‘Beyond 50m’ that was broadcasted in 2007 on South African television. Some of his other footage for documentaries was used by National Geographic, French and German television. With all of the above mentioned experience in television productions, being editor of Divestyle, marine education and diving itself, Johan rates as one of the most experienced divers on the South African coast.
Requirements / Must know. To join Johan Boshoff, our dive master, we invite 14 divers to discover and dive these rarely chartered waters with us for the first time:
- All divers must be able to dive on a self lead basis as this will be the first time that our dive master will dive at Bassas da India
- All divers must have 50 minimum dives logged
- All divers must have done some technical or deep diving. Reefs at Bassas start at around 18 meters but the wall dives are bottomless.
- All divers must have extremely good insurance, travel and medical, as the remoteness of this location increases the danger factor drastically.
Bassas da India lays 48 hours boat ride from the mainland of Mozambique. There is not a decompression chamber anywhere close by and rescue is almost not possible at all. The owner and skipper of one of the yachts, John, has on some occasions dived Bassas and he will be onboard as kipper assisting and advising Johan. Only diving on computer will be allowed. We do not guarantee weather to and at Bassas da India and it is the skippers’ prerogative to turn around if weather conditions are unsafe. Client will have no claim against the yacht owner, yacht agencies or Daledna CC, if trip is interrupted by weather conditions.
Tour Notes:
- Rates: R48 420-00 per person. This for everything from the minute you step onto the boat on 27 May until you step off it on 6 June.
- We working with the French Government to obtain permits to dive Bassas and permission should be obtained before departure.
- Includes 11 days/10 nights on yacht. Three meals per day and non-alcoholic drinks included. Dive gear included. Preferably you should bring as much of your own gear as possible. All dives included.
- Please keep in mind that the most African boats are not as luxurious as some of the Red Sea boats for example. Please read the yacht info or request it for more details on the yachts itself.
- We advise that you fly in to Vilanculos on 26 May and spend the night there before boarding the yacht early morning on 27 May. The same goes for coming back. We advise that you spend the night of 6 June at Vilanculos and fly out on 7 June. We can book your flight (even international) as well as this 2 nights land based accommodation for you if needed. Alternatively we can look at extending your holiday with a Big 5 safari.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Price Includes:
- 11 days/10 nights on yacht
- Three meals per day and non-alcoholic drinks included
- Dive gear included. Preferably you should bring as much of your own gear as possible
- All dives included.
Also see tour packages in:
Africa
Mozambique
Outdoor: Water Drifter
Scuba Diving
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