Staying Home Sucks, home
Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) 03
Near Shark Alley Gansbaai, 2 km away. Photo: Godot13, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Shark Alley Gansbaai

Dive site · South Africa

Open Water divers and up

Scored for Advanced divers

Is it worth the trip?

58Fair out of 100 for your dates

Usually stay home

Every day scores the same, usually

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Mon 2 · 58 out of 100

From the usual week for these dates, not the forecast.

Tue 3 · 58 out of 100

From the usual week for these dates, not the forecast.

Wed 4 · 58 out of 100

From the usual week for these dates, not the forecast.

Thu 5 · 58 out of 100

From the usual week for these dates, not the forecast.

Fri 6 · 58 out of 100

From the usual week for these dates, not the forecast.

Sat 7 · 58 out of 100

From the usual week for these dates, not the forecast.

Sun 8 · 58 out of 100

From the usual week for these dates, not the forecast.

No forecast for this spot on these dates. Usual weather for your dates

The site in six facts

  • Down to 11 mits deepest
  • From a boathow you get in
  • Open Waterand up
  • Water 18 °C7 mm wetsuit and hood
  • Faces Wswell from there reaches it
  • Best Dec–Feb7 good days in 7

Usual weather for your dates

not a forecast
Usual dive conditions at Shark Alley Gansbaai, each day of your trip
DayAir
Mon 2to 8usually19°C

No forecast for this spot on these dates. These are the usual readings for that week.

Visibility under 5 m, usual for the month.

Water about 18°C: 7 mm wetsuit and hood.

Best time to go

best Dec–Feb

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

  1. Jan7of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
  2. Feb7of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
  3. Mar6of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
  4. Apr6of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
  5. May6of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
  6. Jun4of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
  7. Jul5of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
  8. Aug4of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
  9. Sep6of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
  10. Oct6of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
  11. Nov6of 7: a trip from Mon 2 Nov
  12. Dec7of 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 how it usually is on these dates, from past years' weather: 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 Shark Alley Gansbaai

A sand dive. It goes down to 11 m. You get in from a boat. It suits Open Water divers and up, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces W: swell from the W reaches it, and wind from the E blows out to sea. 5 dive centres or shops within 10 km, the nearest 1.7 km away. The sea is about 15°C in July, its coldest month (7 mm semi-dry or a drysuit), and 20°C in January, its warmest (7 mm wetsuit and hood). For Advanced divers the best months are usually January, February and December, with about 7 good days in 7; in June and August, about 4. From the weather of past years. The town to stay in is Gansbaai. Within 5 km we also list 4 surf spots.

  • What it is Sand.
  • How deep Down to 11 m.
  • Getting in From a boat.
  • Who it suits Suits Open Water divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
  • Dive centres 5 dive centres or shops within 10 km, the nearest 1.7 km away.

Water about 18°C: 7 mm wetsuit and hood. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

Visibility under 5 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Jul (about 7 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$1,230–US$2,430 each

about US$1,230–US$2,430 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 CPT, estimated from distance and season, changing at ATL, full-service airlines, with a hold bagabout US$858–US$1,780
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$1,230–US$2,430

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: Gansbaai

Closest

Gansbaai

3 min by car · 28 places to stay

about US$60/nightcountry average

See 28 places to stay in Gansbaai · Booking.com

About Gansbaai 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 27h 50m

About 27h 50m door to door from Chicago

Fly MDW → CPT, changing at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), then 2h by road

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

In the water

Dive centres nearby

The nearest named dive centres and shops within 25 km, in a straight line; training agencies where the map states them. Listings, not a recommendation. 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 15 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.

Saved: this link opens the same trip

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The link holds the trip itself: nothing about you is kept. Check the forecast again before you book.