Staying Home Sucks, home

Sardine Run Reef

Dive site · South Africa

Experienced divers only

Is it worth the trip?

62Good out of 100 for your dates

Home sucks

Best on Sat 7: Sea 1.3 m, Visibility about 10 m, Water 23 °C

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Mon 2 · 61 out of 100

Sea
1.7 m
Wind
11 kn
Gusts
16kn
Air
21°C

Tue 3 · 54 out of 100

Sea
1.7 m
Wind
11 kn
Gusts
14kn
Air
22°C

Wed 4 · 60 out of 100

Sea
1.7 m
Wind
1 kn
Gusts
3kn
Air
23°C

Thu 5 · 57 out of 100

Sea
1.8 m
Wind
6 kn
Gusts
17kn
Air
26°C

Fri 6 · 69 out of 100

Sea
1.5 m
Wind
7 kn
Gusts
11kn
Air
22°C

Sat 7 · 71 out of 100

Sea
1.3 m
Wind
5 kn
Gusts
12kn
Air
22°C

Sun 8 · 34 out of 100

Sea
2.0 m
Wind
15 kn
Gusts
17knboats in
Air
21°C

Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast

Forecast: next 10 days

Full forecast
  1. Sun 171, good
  2. Mon 261, good
  3. Tue 354, fair
  4. Wed 460, good
  5. Thu 557, fair
  6. Fri 669, good
  7. Sat 771, good
  8. Sun 834, poor
  9. Mon 931, poor
  10. Tue 1049, fair

The site in five facts

  • Down to 18 mits deepest
  • From a boathow you get in
  • Experienced / deepexperienced divers only
  • Water 23 °C5 mm wetsuit
  • Faces SEswell from there reaches it

Full forecast

every day, every number

The score doesn't know currents, the visibility on the day or your certification.

Suits experienced divers only, as a dive guide states it. Scored for experienced divers.

Sea and wind forecast and score for each day at Sardine Run Reef
DayScoreSeaWindGustsAir
Sun 1Nov71, good1.7 m10 kn18kn23°C
Mon 2Nov61, good1.7 m11 kn16kn21°C
Tue 3Nov54, fair1.7 m11 kn14kn22°C
Wed 4Nov60, good1.7 m1 kn3kn23°C
Thu 5Nov57, fair1.8 m6 kn17kn26°C
Fri 6Nov69, good1.5 m7 kn11kn22°C
Sat 7Nov71, good1.3 m5 kn12kn22°C
Sun 8Nov34, poor2.0 m15 kn17knboats in21°C
Mon 9Nov31, poor2.5 m2 kn20kn20°C
Tue 10Nov49, fair2.0 m1 kn10kn22°C

Sea is the waves near the site, in metres; wind and gusts in knots. "Boats in": gusts that keep dive boats in. More

Tide

  • Sun 1 NovLow 01:19 −0.5 mHigh 07:51 +0.4 mLow 14:01 −0.3 mHigh 20:19 +0.3 m
  • Mon 2 NovLow 02:42 −0.4 mHigh 09:42 +0.3 mLow 16:07 −0.2 mHigh 22:22 +0.2 m
  • Tue 3 NovLow 04:39 −0.3 mHigh 11:30 +0.4 mLow 18:01 −0.3 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.

Best time to go

No month stands out

Good diving days in a typical week, each month, for experienced divers, from 2016 on (ERA5 history scored the same way).

  1. Jan5of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
  2. Feb5of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
  3. Mar5of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
  4. Apr4of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
  5. May5of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
  6. Jun5of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
  7. Jul4of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
  8. Aug4of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
  9. Sep4of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
  10. Oct4of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
  11. Nov4of 7: a trip from Mon 2 Nov
  12. Dec5of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Dec

Tap a month to see this spot for a trip then.

Typical, not a forecast: the sea and the mean wind of each day, with no gusts or rain in the history.

Map

the site and its town

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.

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About Sardine Run Reef

A reef dive. It goes down to 18 m. You get in from a boat. It suits experienced divers only, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces SE: swell from the SE reaches it, and wind from the NW blows out to sea. No dive centre within 50 km on the map: book a liveaboard or a boat from further off. The sea is about 21°C in August, its coldest month (5 mm wetsuit), and 26°C in February, its warmest (3 mm wetsuit). The town to stay in is Port Edward.

  • What it is Reef.
  • How deep Down to 18 m.
  • Getting in From a boat.
  • Who it suits Suits experienced divers only, as a dive guide states it.
  • Dive centres No dive centre within 50 km on the map: book a liveaboard or a boat from further off.

Water about 23°C: 5 mm wetsuit. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

Visibility about 10 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov and Dec (about 10 m).

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$2,530 each

about US$1,270–US$2,530 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 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn MDW to MGH, estimated from distance and season, changing at ATL and JNB, full-service airlines, with a hold bagabout US$898–US$1,870
Hire car6 days, sharedabout US$67–US$114
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$161–US$275
Food7 days eating outabout US$147–US$268
Totalabout US$1,270–US$2,530

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: Port Edward

Closest

Port Edward

87 min by car · 34 places to stay

about US$60/nightcountry average

See 34 places to stay in Port Edward · Booking.com

About Port Edward 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 32h 05m

About 32h 05m door to door from Chicago

Fly MDW → MGH, changing at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) and O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB), then 1h 35m by road

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.

In the water

Dive centres nearby

No dive centre mapped within 50 km.

Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits

What you might see

Too few open records near this site to list its animals. Ask a dive centre what you are likely to see.

This week: visibility about 20 m, clearer than usual (satellite plankton reading, 24 Oct). Estimated from the month's typical visibility and this week's satellite chlorophyll against the site's normal; heavy rain before a dive can still muddy it.

The current and the life no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.