Pisces Divers

Name: The name "Long Beach" is derived from the stretch of sandy beach at the site. Great training site. Depth: The bottom shelves gradually down from the shore to a depth of 18 m at the Simon's Town Harbour mouth, 5 m is reasonably close inshore, and about 9 m at the maximum distance that the average diver is likely to swim. Marine life: There can be quite a lot to see on the barge wreck, which provides a base for seaweeds and shelter for fish. Little clumps of sessile growth are based on the pipeline, red bait, other wreckage and debris, and loose rocks, mostly less than 0.5 m diameter. There are extensive areas of sand with weed in the deeper water, some of it attached to the bottom, but a lot apparently loose. In some places, there are beds of strap Caulerpa, and where red-bait has rooted itself in the sand, little clumps of other organisms gather, including large numbers of Common feather stars. Large numbers of Warty pleurobranch and Sand slug wander around, and at times there are quite a lot of sea hares. A wide variety of fish have been seen at this site, including several not normally found in the Western Cape, which is carried down the east coast by the currents, and the eddies bring them into False Bay, and for some unknown reason, they often end up at Long Beach. Seals are fairly common, and Southern Right whales also occasionally come into the bay and have been seen during dives at Long Beach. Stingrays are occasionally seen, some of them quite large, and the very shy and elusive White Steenbras is caught nearby, but never seen by divers on open circuit Scuba. Photography: Wide-angle or macro lenses are most likely to produce good results. Natural light is usually sufficient as it is shallow, but a flash will bring back the true colours. External flash is essential for anything further than about 300 mm as there is usually significant suspended matter which will cause backscatter with internal flash. Topography: Flat sand bottom with occasional lumps of growth on loose rocks, wreckage and other artefacts. There is a pipeline perpendicular to the shoreline near the wall at the south end of the beach, which is visible in the aerial photo, and a wreck of a small steel barge just north of this pipeline. In 2009 a sports fisherman sank at moorings in the bay during a storm and drifted alongside the barge wreck, where it broke up and came to rest between the south end of the barge and the offshore end of the inshore section of pipeline. Only the bottom structure with engines, gearboxes and shafts and various smaller pieces of loose wreckage remains. Further out along the pipeline are pieces of wreckage of a small sailing yacht, including the ballast keel and the lower portion of the hull.

Due to the shape of the harbour, Long Beach is well protected from most winds and waves. This dive site has a maximum depth of about 18 meters. This dive site does not require a boat ride and is a great shore dive.

Name: "His Netherlands Majesty's Ship Bato" was a Dutch warship of 800 tons and 74 guns. The ship had been used as a floating battery in Simon’s Bay for several years. Set on fire and sunk off Long Beach, Simon's Town, on 8 January 1806, the same day that the Battle of Blaauwberg began. The Batavian Republic forces at the Cape capitulated to the British forces two days later. The wreck has been worked on and cannon from the site stood outside the Simon's Town Post Office. Depth: Maximum depth is about 4 m. The average depth is likely to be about 3 m. Marine life: The wreckage is largely overgrown with kelp and seaweeds, and has shallow water invertebrates, and often a few fish Features: Historical wooden shipwreck. The wreckage is low and heavily overgrown with seaweed and invertebrates. The wreck is protected by legislation and may not be disturbed. Photography: The water is very shallow, and natural light should allow almost any equipment to be used, but the subject matter is rather limited. Topography: The wreck lies in shallow water (about 3.5 m) The area is fine sand with some low sandstone reef to the South. The wood structure of the wreck has become very overgrown over the years and is not easily recognisable over large areas The wreck lies approximately parallel to the shoreline.

Name: Named for the wreck of the Brunswick at the site. Depth: Maximum depth is about 6 m, average about 4.5 m Marine life The wreckage is heavily overgrown by kelp and other seaweeds, and a range of invertebrates and fish can be seen. Features: Remains of a historical wooden shipwreck. The wreckage is an archaeological site protected by legislation and may not be disturbed. The keelson, part of the copper strap attaching the rudder to the boat, a number of iron knees, and one or two pieces of sandalwood are still on the wreck site. Photography Wide-angle lenses are most likely to produce useful results when photographing the wreckage. The site is shallow, so natural light is usually adequate. For close up work, a flash will restore the natural colour. Topography: The wreck lies in fairly shallow water (about 5 m) The bottom is fine sand. The wood structure of the wreck has become broken up over the years and a large part is buried under the sand. The wreck lies at about 45° to the shoreline.

This site is an interesting site as you will enter the water at the yacht club and swim under the moored boats and will navigate to a wreck from a boat that sunk while moored. The site has a max depth of 10m and, because of the boat coming in and out the turbidity is high and often viz isn’t great.

Name: The "SS Clan Stuart", a 3500-ton British turret steamer carrying a cargo of coal, ran aground after dragging its anchor in a South East gale on 21 November 1914. Several efforts were made to re-float the ship over a period of 4 months but without success. The ship’s engine block still breaks the surface. Depth: Maximum depth is about 9 m, average about 7 m Marine life Moderate variety of invertebrates and fish. The growth inside includes more corals and bryozoans than the outside, which is predominantly covered by Red bait and coralline algae, right down to the sand. Pyjama catshark, puffadder shy sharks and occasional cuttlefish can be seen. Shoals of white steenbras have occasionally been reported, and on a few occasions, great white sharks have approached divers closely enough to be seen, and even photographed. Features: Iron wreck of considerable archaeological interest, as very few ships of this type, was built. The wreckage is protected by legislation and may not be disturbed. Topography: The wreck lies in fairly shallow water (about 8 m) The area is mostly fine sand with occasional low sandstone outcrops. The iron structure of the wreck has become very broken up over the years. A section of the triple expansion steam engine framework structure extends above the water, with the low-pressure cylinder mountings to the south-west. The crankshaft, connecting rods and propeller shaft with large cast iron propeller are still in place. There appear to be the remains of a condenser on the port side of the engine. Just forward of the engine are the remains of the two coal-fired Scotch boilers. Both have been dislodged from their mountings, and are lying on their sides with the cylindrical furnaces lying one above the other. The walls have rusted through in places and the tie-rods are clearly visible The wreck lies at about 45° to the shoreline. The bow at the northeast end is about 30 m from the engine block and is the deepest part at about 9 m. The plating has largely rusted away, but a fair amount of framing is still recognisable. The stern at the south-west end is about 15 m from the engine block and is both the shallowest part and closest to the beach. Most of the wreckage is very low, but there are a few places where it is possible to get into covered areas. A long angled section of plating on the port side forms a small low tunnel many metres long, probably too small to get through in places, but you can see light from one end to other, and both ends are open.