Great to join all my fellow manual airbreathers

[Terry Kreef McCann]

Hi All
Just joined. I am a long-time spearo and a commercial diving supervisor, in the oil and salvage world.
I have just returned home to South Africa after a 2 year trip, equipping a yacht and sailing to the Caribbean, via St Helena, Brazil, Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada, St Vincent, Bequia, St Lucia and Antigua. Shot enough fish, collected many lobster and other subsea delights to feed Puppy the Cat and myself. A wonderful extended gap year, but the Caribbean is too warm for me and I missed the smell of kelp and the upwelling of the great Benguella current down here. Also so pro this beautiful country, where its a diving paradise second to none. Ask me, I've dive most of West Africa, Far Eastern Russia and South America. Nuttin' Beat SA!!
Now I am very keen to do an apnea course in Cape Town and to enjoy diving the cooler South Atlantic again.
Cheers
TMC

 

[Kars]

Hi TMC, sounds like a great adventurous life, when is the book coming out?
Are there some good freediving spots in SA? - low/no current, reasonable temperatures and good visibility (10+m)? swimming distance to the shore?

 

[Terry Kreef McCann]

Hi Kars
Thanks for the welcome. The book will come one day...
Yep, living in Cape Town means that you can keep your kit in the car and jump in on either side of the city, whenever you need a salt injection.
The Western Altantic side is generally a tad cooler( think champagne water, no current, 30ft + vis, water temp of +- 12 deg C in our summer, due to the offshore winds and upwelling ). You can have 3 miles of coastline to yourself and freedive amongst great sealife, including dolphins, fur seals, humpbacks. southern rights, the odd basking shark and lots of mola mola - this is the side to do.
If you want to shoot yellowfin tuna of 60 kgs + or longfin tuna of up to +-40kg, as well as seeing the occasional mako shark and lots of blue sharks, it's an hours boat run to the 400 metre canyon out in the "deep". The bird life out here is just incredible and you are almost guaranteed to have a big wandering albatross paddling around you when chumming for big yellows!
The False Bay side of the city is generally much warmer in summer and as cold as the other side in winter, when the offshore winds blow on this side. here you will get the warmer water species and may be lucky to have a 5-6 metre great white show up to take a look at you, before gliding off into the distance for something that tastes less rubbery. In season, fresh cape rock lobster and black mussel , boiled in salt water, does just the thing.
Fishing kayaks are really great for the freediver and you can launch just about anywhere.
We're a landrover loving bunch and the Western Cape has many great spots to shoot fish, light a fire, crack a cold frosty, pop up the rooftent and camp out, within a radius of 300 km from the city. Look on line at all the ridiculously low-priced backpacker lodges dotted all along our coastline, where you can stop off after a days diving and enjoy a hot shower, good food and a safe, warm bunk or room, if camping out is not your thing.
Happy Bubbles

 

[Kars]

Hi Terry, lovely read, I see you're in a lovely place with loads of potential. Does it also have a spot good for depth training/ competition?
Is backpacking a thing in SA? Has the safety situation improved? does it differ when you compare countryside and city? How is SA doing these days?

 

[BatRay]

That sounds incredible. Which species do you hunt? One of our members used to post pics of huge tuna that he shot off the coast of SA. He moved to Canada at some point, but he had some amazing stories.

 

[Terry Kreef McCann]

Hi Terry, lovely read, I see you're in a lovely place with loads of potential. Does it also have a spot good for depth training/ competition?
Is backpacking a thing in SA? Has the safety situation improved? does it differ when you compare countryside and city? How is SA doing these days?

Hi Kars
SA is just wonderful these days. Backpacking is a big thing here and we have a really good backpacker guide, as well as a really neat bus service, called the "baz bus" ( see on line for more info). SA is pretty safe and the big cities are like big cities anywhere - common sense applies if partying it up in the middle of the night.
The backpacker lodges are absolutely safe. There are lots of good spots for diving all the way up the coast.
Cheers
TMC

 

[Kars]

Sounds very promising, but I'm afraid a visit must wait for me being out of my financial reach at this moment.
You must be aware that here in Europe people are thinking SA is a very violent place, with wild game and White sharks to complete the terrror mix. I must assume you've been around in SA for a while, during apartheid, and after it's abolishment, how is the situation now in SA. Just picture us having an image of of SA just after apartheid, with the corruption chaos and violence. That image lives here. Has it changed, is the situation improving? Are people judging each other to their character? - Yes a lot of 'political shit', but how often can we relate to an insider and get some honest truth?

Backpacking SA allong the coast, caring fins and speargun sounds like like dream vacation to me.

Cheers!

What is cheers in African?

Kars

 

[Terry Kreef McCann]

Sounds very promising, but I'm afraid a visit must wait for me being out of my financial reach at this moment.
You must be aware that here in Europe people are thinking SA is a very violent place, with wild game and White sharks to complete the terrror mix. I must assume you've been around in SA for a while, during apartheid, and after it's abolishment, how is the situation now in SA. Just picture us having an image of of SA just after apartheid, with the corruption chaos and violence. That image lives here. Has it changed, is the situation improving? Are people judging each other to their character? - Yes a lot of 'political shit', but how often can we relate to an insider and get some honest truth?

Backpacking SA allong the coast, caring fins and speargun sounds like like dream vacation to me.

Cheers!

What is cheers in African?

Kars

Hi Kars
Sorry for the delay, been a bit busy on a quick diving contract.
Yeah, SA does have some challenges that the next generation has to resolve. I found that some people had negative things to say about SA when I was in Europe. It seems that only bad news sells, so news reporters love looking for problems worldwide.
I have been here for many years and own a few properties in Cape Town. I have also been blessed with a wonderful working life and have worked in Red China, far Eastern Russia, Singapore, Malaysia, West Africa and the Caribbean- which gives me a great background in understanding cultures. My view? West Africa has far more problems than SA, that's for sure ( A lot of the reporting is in French, so you don't always follow the news). SA will sort itself out and I fear less here than Sarin gas attacks, suicide bombers, aircraft hijackings, etc, in Europe and the US..
I love coming back to Cape Town where all our people mix it up and great friendships are forged. Of course, you get the radicals everywhere in the world, but the heart and soul of this city are our local people, the breathtaking scenery and outdoor life.
Absolutely love this country and looking forward to my next coastal trip, with speargun and red wine..
Chat soon

 

[Kars]

Well since and before 9/11 terrorism is popularised all over the world. I think the terrorist did and are doing a stellar efficient job of motivating goverments everywhere to take the peoples rights away.- end of rand.

I've seen a few bits and pieces of sa on youtube at the fieldsports channel and I now envision a more diverse landscape then the dustbowl townships with rioters that the tv showed. Isn't it typical that most people believe they live in the best country? It's probly the negative international news that has us fear going outside of the reservation
gosh lets get back to diving before we drown in political sorrow

Do you have any cool divework stories to share?