Expedition 'Cockney Zulu Dive' - South Africa - April 2003

London and Exeter University Officer Training Corps

EXERCISE COCKNEY ZULU DIVE was the first joint diving expedition between London and Exeter University Officer Training Corps. A team of 15, led by our team leader WO2 Bill Mclaren and our dive leader Maj Dom Robinson, travelled out to South Africa to dive three separate dive sites along the East coast of Natal Province.

The group met at Heathrow - our first problem was one of the younger members of the group turned up with twice his (yes it was a male) allocated weight and a possible £250 excess baggage cost. A consolidated effort with all team members removed all unwanted items and the trip to Johannesburg was on its way. Team work had been established.

A quick change at Johannesburg and an hour later we arrived at Durban. We were met by our tour guide Sonja from Aliwal Dive Charters and shown to our air condition tour bus for the 5 hour journey to Sodwana Bay. Things were looking good.

Sodwana Bay is a marine park close to the Mozambique boarder. This was an excellent starting point as it offered shallow and easy diving in an idyllic setting. There are a few coral reefs there, and in our two days, we dived four different sites. There was a great assortment of wildlife, including Rays, Turtles and all sorts of small reef fish. The visibility was fantastic, ranging from 25 to 40 metres. The accommodation was beach huts, beer was cheap and the food good - ideal conditions for students.

The second site we visited was Aliwal Shoals, near Umkomass, which was to be our base for the rest of the expedition. The first dive here took us all by surprise, as the conditions were very different to those we had experienced in Sodwana. The visibility was quite poor (never-the-less, better that most UK diving), around 10m at best, and there was a strong current, above 4 knots. Once we got used to the conditions, we began to enjoy the dive, and saw moray eels, and Rays. The second dive that day was much better. The current had dropped to around 2-3 knots, and the visibility had improved. We saw a vast array of fish, including Angel, Trigger and Goldie fish.

The fourth day started with a Wreck dive - the 'Produce'. The current was back up to strength, and with the large depths involved (32m +) this was a fairly mixed dive. The 'Produce' is a huge transporter ship that went down with its cargo of molasses. There was, again, a large variety of marine life, including Lionfish. The second dive that afternoon was a return to the reef, and was a nice relaxing dive.

The fifth day began with a return to the 'Produce', and the diving conditions had much improved from the previous day, and a school of dolphins were spotted on the decompression stop. The afternoon dive was to a site called Cathedral, which as the name suggests, was a spectacular site of coral architecture.

On our last day at Aliwal day, we carried out three dives. The first dive of the day was a return to Cathedral. The second was a shark baiting dive. We all descended to a natural amphitheatre underwater, and the staff placed some fish as bait to hopefully attract some Tiger sharks. While we were slightly disappointed by the lack of sharks, the amount of marine life the bait attracted made the dive worthwhile. Our final dive of the day was a night dive, and provided a new experience for most of the party.

The accommodation in Umkomass was superb and Sonja and her husband Sweeney, who were the owners of Aliwal Dive Charters, not only looked after our diving needs but also invited us to there home for a BBQ. There hospitality was second to none and the trip would not have been as successful if it was not for their efforts.

Our final dive site was Protea Banks which is an hour drive from Umkomass. Here we were able to see a vast array of sharks. Buoyancy control was the key, as all dives here were mid-water due to the depth. We did four dives here over two days, and saw Sand, Tiger, Hammerhead and Zambezi sharks, along with schools of Barracuda and Dolphins. Our last dive was on North reef Caves whish was best described as "awesome", this area not only has sharks but also has some great swim through caves.

The expedition was a great success, and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. It provided us with some challenging and hugely rewarding diving, and was an unmatchable experience for all.