Known as the Friendly City, Port Elizabeth is a sleepy city located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Blessed with a climate that is wonderfully mild year-round, it attracts tourists from both inside and outside the country to visit its pleasant beaches and exciting wildlife attractions. Nelson Mandela Bay (formerly known as Algoa Bay), offers a chance for scuba divers to cross paths with a diverse mixture of sea creatures, including sharks, whales, penguins, and dolphins.
South Africa is known for long stretches of beautiful beachfront and Port Elizabeth is no exception with over 40 km of magnificent coast-line and protected beaches, varying from the sandy boardwalk at King's Beach to the quaint, rocky village of Schoenmakerskop. Nelson Mandela Bay is blessed with the highest concentration of sealife in South Africa and numerous whales and dolphins can be seen passing by during their migratory cycles (including Humpback, Southern Right and Minke). We saw multiple pods of bottle-nosed dolphin and two Minke whales in a single day on a trip out to Bell Buoy, a popular diving spot.
St Croix Marine Preserve (Bird Island), the largest breeding colony of African Penguins in the world, is close to Nelson Mandela Bay and presents opportunities for unique scuba diving experiences like diving during the annual sardine run (and watching the penguins and whale sharks gobble the sardines).
The Diving
Nelson Mandela Bay has recently emerged as a regional hotspot for scuba diving activities. The local diving community is avid and dives regularly and the diving operations are professional but friendly. Dives can be broken up into two categories; dives inside the bay and dives outside the bay (called the "Wild Side"). Dives inside the bay are easier due to there being less current, but there is limited visibility caused by winds that come in from the south and stir up the ocean bottom. Dives on the Wild Side tend to be more advanced and susceptible to strong currents, but the visibility is much better and there are some great shark and wreck dives. The water temperature is a bit cold, usually requiring a 3mm wetsuit, but because the winters are so mild, you can scuba dive year round.
The big draw to the area for diving is of course to see the king of sharks, the Great White. Although more prevalent further west around Cape Town, Great Whitesharks, along with ragged tooth and sand tiger sharks can be found near Bird Island and on the Wild Side. There are also an abundance of both hard and soft corals.
Other Things To Do
Aside from being a haven for watersports, Port Elizabeth is becoming increasingly well-known for its safari parks. Until recently, visitors to South Africa had to go up to Kruger National Park or the Transkei in order to see an abundance of big game. The South African National Park system has recently announced their goal to create two "mega preserves" close to Port Elizabeth to reintroduce game into the area and restore wild habitat. The first, Addo Elephant park, is already an established park about 70km northeast of Port Elizabeth, with over 400 elephants and other large game such as water buffalo, kudu, and black rhino. The second, the BaviaansKloof ("Baboon's Gorge"), is a rugged wilderness area northwest of Port Elizabeth. It has beautiful hikes and has access to caves where ancient Bushmen paintings can be seen.
In the center of town lies St. George's Park, a world-class park that is well worth an afternoon's visit. In addition to well-manicured lawns full of the lush fauna resident to South Africa, it boasts the St. George's cricket grounds, home to the 2003 World Cup of Cricket and the sixth oldest cricket grounds in the world.
In summary, Port Elizabeth provides an ideal scuba diving destination for those looking for a slightly different diving vacation. With so many unique attractions in a single place, any trip here will definitely be memorable. | 
