Aliwal Shoal is a world-renowned, 80,000-year-old fossilized sand dune reef located 5 km off Umkomaas on South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal coast. Famous for its massive ragged-tooth shark aggregations (May–November), it is a Marine Protected Area (MPA) featuring top dive sites like Raggies Cave, Cathedral, and wrecks Nebo and Produce.
This world renowned dive site, lying 4kms off shore is a fossilized sand dune 1,5km long and 1,0km in width and includes a collection of hard and soft corals.
The reef was named after barque “Aliwal” which sailed from London in September 1849 and was nearly wrecked there, Some vessels were not that lucky and in May 1884 the steamer “Nebo” struck the shoal and sank. This was followed in 1963 by the American Cargo ship, the “Aimee Lykes” and in 1994 the Norwegian Tanker “Produce”. The wrecks of the Nebo and the Produce offer excellent diving and it is while diving these wrecks that one might encounter the menacing looking Brindle bass, now a protected species.
From late June to the end of September the migrating Ragged Tooth sharks pass over the shoal on their way to the breeding grounds. Shark-watching is not as hazardous as it may sound and on a good dive one may encounter numerous sharks, especially at “Raggie Cave” and the experience of diving with these “terrors” of the deep is a privilege. The shoal is serviced by commercial dive operators offering regular and well-organized dives to a various dive sites.
Source: < href="https://aliwalshoal.co.za/">Aliwal Dive Centre