Open Water divers and up
Scored for Advanced divers
Fresh water: lake, river or quarry
Is it worth the trip?
59Fair out of 100 for your dates
2 days tie for best
Tue 3 · 63 out of 100
- Wind
- 10 kn
- Gusts
- 20kn
- Rain
- 3.2 mm
- Air
- 27°C
Wed 4 · 62 out of 100
- Wind
- 11 kn
- Gusts
- 23kn
- Rain
- 0 mm
- Air
- 28°C
Thu 5 · 62 out of 100
- Wind
- 10 kn
- Gusts
- 21kn
- Rain
- 0 mm
- Air
- 30°C
Fri 6 · 64 out of 100
- Wind
- 3 kn
- Gusts
- 19kn
- Rain
- 0 mm
- Air
- 28°C
Sat 7 · 64 out of 100
- Wind
- 4 kn
- Gusts
- 10kn
- Rain
- 0.6 mm
- Air
- 29°C
Sun 8 · 0 out of 100
- Wind
- 13 kn
- Gusts
- 32knboats in
- Rain
- 5.7 mm
- Air
- 22°C
Mon 9 · 63 out of 100
- Wind
- 9 kn
- Gusts
- 27kn
- Rain
- 3.3 mm
- Air
- 24°C
Tap a day for wind, gusts and rain. Full forecast
Forecast: next 10 days
Full forecast- Mon 264, good
- Tue 363, good
- Wed 462, good
- Thu 562, good
- Fri 664, good
- Sat 764, good
- Sun 80, poor
- Mon 963, good
- Tue 1064, good
- Wed 1163, good
The site in four facts
- Down to 18 mits deepest
- From a boathow you get in
- Open Waterand up
- Fresh watera lake, quarry or spring
Full forecast
every day, every number
The score doesn't know currents, the visibility on the day or your certification.
Fresh water: lake, river or quarry: scored by other rules.
Fresh water has no waves to forecast, so the 39 points out of 100 that a sea site gets for a calm sea are given in full. The day turns on the wind (20 points) and the rain (6); gusts of 30 kn or more still score it nothing.
No satellite reads a lake's clarity or its water, so its day is its surface alone: 65 of 100, where a sea site also scores up to 20 for how far you see and 10 for warm water (D275).
No sea temperature is read for it: nothing forecasts a lake's water, and it is often much colder at depth than at the top. Ask a dive centre what suit to bring.
Suits Open Water divers and up, as a dive guide states it. Scored for Advanced divers.
| Day | Score | Wind | Gusts | Rain | Air |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 2Nov | 64, good | 1 kn | 7kn | 5.2 mm | 26°C |
| Tue 3Nov | 63, good | 10 kn | 20kn | 3.2 mm | 27°C |
| Wed 4Nov | 62, good | 11 kn | 23kn | 0 mm | 28°C |
| Thu 5Nov | 62, good | 10 kn | 21kn | 0 mm | 30°C |
| Fri 6Nov | 64, good | 3 kn | 19kn | 0 mm | 28°C |
| Sat 7Nov | 64, good | 4 kn | 10kn | 0.6 mm | 29°C |
| Sun 8Nov | 0, poor | 13 kn | 32knboats in | 5.7 mm | 22°C |
| Mon 9Nov | 63, good | 9 kn | 27kn | 3.3 mm | 24°C |
| Tue 10Nov | 64, good | 2 kn | 9kn | 0 mm | 25°C |
| Wed 11Nov | 63, good | 9 kn | 19kn | 1.8 mm | 24°C |
Wind and gusts are in knots, rain in mm. More
Tide
- Mon 2 NovLow 02:27 −0.4 mHigh 09:02 +0.4 mLow 15:38 −0.3 mHigh 21:54 +0.3 m
- Tue 3 NovLow 04:21 −0.4 mHigh 11:13 +0.4 mLow 17:38 −0.4 mHigh 23:54 +0.3 m
- Wed 4 NovLow 05:59 −0.5 mHigh 12:35 +0.6 mLow 18:50 −0.5 m
Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Slack water, the safest time to dive where there is current, is about half an hour either side of each high and low. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.
Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.
Map
the site and its town
Rocktail Bay on Google Maps · Directions
Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.
The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.
One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
More diving near here
5 places
- Two Mile Reef Sodwana 35.8 km away
- Pinnacles Sodwana 36.6 km away
- Cathedral Sodwana 37.6 km away
- Amoray 38.5 km away
- Caves Sodwana 39.5 km away
About
the place in full, sources, credits
About Rocktail Bay
A reef dive in fresh water: a lake, quarry or spring. It goes down to 18 m. You get in from a boat. It suits Open Water divers and up, as a dive guide states it. No dive centre within 10 km, the nearest 36 km away. The town to stay in is Sodwana Bay.
- Water Fresh water: a lake, river or quarry, not the sea. It is scored on its wind and rain only.
- What it is Reef.
- How deep Down to 18 m.
- Getting in From a boat.
- Who it suits Suits Open Water divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
- Dive centres No dive centre within 10 km, the nearest 36 km away.
The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).
Rough cost (estimate): about US$1,270–US$2,510 each
about US$1,270–US$2,510 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, hire car, stay, food.
Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.
How we worked it out
| What | How we worked it out | Each |
|---|---|---|
| Flights | return ORD to MPM, estimated from distance and season, changing at LIS, full-service airlines, with a hold bag | about US$891–US$1,860 |
| Hire car | 6 days, shared | about US$67–US$114 |
| Stay | 6 nights, a mid-range double, shared | about US$161–US$275 |
| Food | 7 days eating out | about US$147–US$268 |
| Total | about US$1,270–US$2,510 |
Guided dives are not priced yet: we have no sourced price, so it is not in it. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.
Where to stay: Sodwana Bay
Ad Links marked Ad may pay us if you book. You pay the same, and they never change a score. How we earn
about 1h 10m by car · 5 places to stay
about US$60/nightcountry average
About Sodwana Bay its beds, food and every spot near it
About US$60 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.
Getting there: about 29h 50m
About 29h 50m door to door from Chicago
Fly ORD → MPM, changing at Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS), then 2h 45m by road
Flights ORD → MPM on your dates · AviasalesAdeSIM for your phone · Search on AiraloAd
An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.
In the water
Dives and courses in Sodwana Bay · GetYourGuideDive gear hire in Sodwana Bay · GetYourGuide
Dive centres nearby
No dive centre mapped within 25 km.
Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits
What is under the water (visibility, current, life) no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.