The Wild Coast and the Sardine Run

The Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape earns its name between June and August each year, when the huge migrating sardine shoals arrive, bringing with them the predatory sharks and dolphins. This coincides with the migration of the humpback whales, which are moving north to their breeding grounds. The waters between Port Elizabeth and Durban are alive with activity, with the everyday drama of survival played out between the whales, sharks, sardines and sea birds providing visitors with great opportunities for sightseeing, scuba diving and photography.

The Reef

The Aliwal Shoal, around five kilometres out from Umkomaas, is renowned as one of the best diving locations in the world. It is also something of an anomaly. Unlike most reefs, it is not made out of coral but is formed from an ancient fossilised range of coastal dunes, which survives as a rocky reef rising from the sea bed up to around 11 metres below the surface of the ocean. The reef supports a variety of hard and soft corals, which provide shelter for a great many species of tropical and subtropical fish, not least the many species of sharks, including a huge population of ragged-toothed sharks, which are often seen in groups of up to fifty or sixty strong between July and December after the sardine run is over. This is one of the mysteries of the area—why they congregate at this time in particular—but it means that these waters provide a year round and ever changing spectacle for visitors.

Dive with the Sharks

Durban is one of the most popular city destinations for travellers to South Africa, and is a stop-over port on most Africa and Indian Ocean cruises. Umkomaas is only a half hour’s drive away, making it the ideal spot for a shore excursion to soak up the atmosphere of the beautiful Eastern Cape coastline, its beaches, open spaces and opportunities for witnessing the drama of the wildlife out in the ocean. When the wind is up and the huge waves are crashing upon the shore, the sight of surfing dolphins flying through the spray is one you’ll never forget. The months of the sardine run are comparatively busy along this coast, with many tourists coming for the organised diving vacations to explore the reef and its shipwrecks and to dive with the sharks. Day trips for inexperienced casual divers are also available, providing a memorable experience for anyone brave enough to face these fearsome fish in their natural habitat.

The Ragged Tooth Shark is not aggressive, although it looks pretty fearsome. This makes it a popular aquarium exhibit as well as one of the safest species of shark to meet on a dive. The greatest populations of Ragged Toothed Sharks are found either on the Aliwal Shoal, on the reefs further south—in the dive sites of Chunnel, Cathedral and Raggies caves—or just north of the shoal on the wreck of the Nebo, a 200 ton steamship that has laid on the shoal since 1884. All that remains is a steel skeleton that supports many colourful sponges and soft corals, home to large schools of fish that attract the sharks.

Different Species of Shark require different diving methods. These can be caged or free dives, baited or un-baited. Caged diving is for the brave, although it is perfectly safe. If you want to come face to face with the truly awesome Great White Shark, this is for you. However, some of the other species of sharks are much more docile and you can safely swim with them. Tiger Sharks are shy, inquisitive and intelligent, and are attracted to an area by baiting the water. This is done by working with the currents to create an odour corridor that attracts the sharks to the boat. Once they have arrived, the divers slip carefully and quietly into the water to swim among them. This is not risk-free and only a few countries around the world allow free diving with Tiger Sharks, but safety divers are always there to accompany the group and intervene if any shark comes too close.

Whale Watching

Whales have long been associated with the town of Unkomaas. The name of the river, Mkhomzi, can be translated as ‘the place of cow whales’, so called because of the whales that used to swim into the estuary to shelter and give birth. These days you may be lucky enough to see one in the area during the winter, but the large schools of cow whales have gone. You need to go out onto the ocean to see them.

For those who like to keep their feet dry and stay onboard the boat, just getting out among the whales, dolphins and sea birds during the sardine run is as exciting as any encounter with sharks. You can witness a feeding frenzy without the fear of becoming a part of it. Anyone who has witnessed the magnificent grace of a huge humpback whale at close quarters comes away somehow change by the experience, by this contact with the mysterious intelligence of these giants of the ocean.



"contributed by Susie Fellowes" 

Mini Breaks Make You Live a Longer Healthier Life -Ocean Park Guest House - Accommodation Umkomaas

Photo credit: 11th

According to leading psychologists, people who take short mini breaks throughout the year maintain an overall better state of contentment and happiness than those who save up for one big holiday per year.

Romantic get-aways and mini breaks make for many more happy memories than extended holidays. According to Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist, Professor at Duke University North Carolina and author of "The Upside of Irrationality" suggests that holidaymakers rather break up the big holiday time by doing work in between; this allows them to have a better appreciation of the time off.

It also comes down to the ebb and flow of holiday enjoyment apparently. As a person becomes accustomed to being on holiday and the lifestyle that comes with it, the less they tend to enjoy it. Professor Ariely says:"On a long vacation, day seven is less good than day one because it's not as exciting. That's why in general, going away four times [a year] provides more benefit than you would expect, and going away for one week provides less benefit than you would expect." So you'll enjoy more of your mini break than you would of an extended holiday, overall.

Short trips and mini breaks also have some wonderful health benefits such as:

Improving your overall cardio health. According to research, people who took only one vacation once every six years or less were almost 8 times as likely to develop heart disease as those who took at least 2 holidays annually. The Framingham Heart Study followed 12,000 men listed as "at risk" for heart disease over nine years and those who took more vacations lived longer.

It will improve your mental health: In a study published by medicalnewstoday.com people who took frequent mini breaks were less likely to become depressed, tired, or tense. The same study showed that those who took holidays less frequently tended to have more insomnia and general stress at home.

Holidays tend to increase your energy levels and improve relaxation. Getting in some extra sleep on a mini break helps jumpstart good habits and may lead to maintaining higher energy levels and general fitness even after the break.

The benefits of short breaks don’t stop there. Taking mini breaks throughout the year provide excellent opportunities for family gatherings and activities. Going away as a family two or three times a year allows you to spread the quality time you spend together over a longer period of time. According to http://www.noholidaynolife.com: "Booking holidays in this way also means that some members of the family who may not be able to make it to one vacation through work or study commitments might be able to go to another and therefore don’t miss out."

Low season is upon us, and Ocean Park Guest House is inviting you to take advantage of our very special Mini Break offer.

(Valid until 5 December 2012)

Monday to Thursday 20% discount

Friday – Sunday 15% discount

Normal rates between R 370 – R 400 per person sharing & R 440 – R 470 per person single.  Rates are inclusive of a delicious continental and cooked breakfast.

Contact Lana on info@oceanpark.co.za  or +27 (0) 39 973 2657