Worlds Best Dive Sites - Protea Banks

Located on the Kwazulu Natal coast in South Africa, the Protea Banks offer some of the best scuba diving in South Africa, and arguably the worlds finest shark diving location. Here, on the large reef located approximately 8 kilometres off the shore at Margate, this impressive reef is home to a wide selection of sharks and other marine life such as Manta Rays, Spotted Eagle Rays and a large number of Moray eels.

The diving at the Protea Banks is split into the Northern and Southern Pinnacles, and tends to follow a seasonal cycle around the movement of the famous ragged tooth sharks or "raggies." During the cooler winter months, the majority of the diving on the Protea Banks tends to on the Northern Pinnacles, where you are likely to encounter huge numbers of these ragged tooth sharks as they visit the Banks as a part of their breeding cycle.

For the rest of the year, the diving on the Protea Banks tends to be located on the Southern Pinnacles, where it is possible to encounter a huge variety of sharks including Bull sharks (Zambesi sharks), Tiger sharks, Mako sharks, Thresher sharks and even the occasional Great White shark passing through.

During the months of June and July, the Protea Banks is also a part of one of natures greatest annual spectacles, the Sardine Run. Every year, huge shoals of millions of Sardines pass through this part of the South African coastline, bringing with them large numbers of sharks, dolphins and even whales who all come to feast on the sardines.

The Protea Banks genuinely deserve to be mentioned amongst the worlds best dive sites, and for fans of sharks and shark diving, the dives will certainly live up to their almost legendary status amongst scuba divers.