Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Murphy's

The dive site Murphy's or Outer Miller's Point is an offshore, rocky reef, in the Miller's Point area on the Cape Peninsula, near Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Murphy's Halal Travel Guide

Thit is an alternative site in the Millers Point area, just outside the Castle Rocks restricted zone of the Marine Protected Area

Position

S34°13.958 E018°28.988 Murphy's GPS -34.23263,18.48313

Roughly north of Boat Rock and south-east of the furthest offshore rock of Miller's Point.

This site is in a Marine Protected Area (2004). A permit is required.

Name

The name "Murphy's" is derived from Murphy's Law, as the dive was nearly cancelled due to battery problems on the boat and the survey float GPS battery ran down and no map track was recorded, and one of the divers had the wrong settings on his camera. Other than that it was a great dive.

Depth

Maximum depth is about 21 m. and the top of the pinnacle is about 14.5 m. Average depth is likely to be about 18 to 20 m.

Visibility

Visibility will be much like elsewhere in the Miller's point area, and is likely to be between 6 and 10 m on a good day.

Topography

The pinnacle is very small, but there are several large outcrops nearby, rising to above 18m, and a lot of low broken reef around that, with sand patches. The reef is separated from the adjacent reefs at Boat Rock and Miller's Point by sandy gaps.

Geology: Pre-Cambrian granite corestone of the Peninsula pluton.

Conditions

The site is exposed to south easterly wind and swell, so should be dived when the swell is from the south to north-west. The site is reasonably protected from southerly swells, but if a strong south easterly wind develops then the surface will get unpleasant quite quickly

The site is at it's best in winter but there are also occasional opportunities in other seasons.

Muslim Friendly Travel TO Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Murphy's

Usually dived from a boat, though shore dives are feasible and have been done. The route to the site from Millers Point crosses a heavily used ski-boat traffic lane, as it is on the shortest path from the public slipway at Miller's Point to the fishing grounds near Cape Point, so it is an area of relatively high risk of being run down by a boat.

The site is about 1km from Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Miller's Point slipway|Miller's Point slipway, or 8.2 km from Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Simon's Town jetty|Simon's Town jetty.

What to See

Marine life

Marine life is typical for the area and depth range. The usual echinoderms, anemones, sponges and bryozoans cover the rocks, and a reasonable variety of local reef fish swim around them. Nudibranchs and crustaceans are fairly common, including the hotlips spider crab.

Achaeopsis spinulosa P6130095 - Hotlips spider crab
Eunicella albicans P6130184 - Flagellar sea fan
Callopatiria formosa P6130168 - Grey star
Ophiothrix fragilis P6130202 - Hairy brittlestars
Skate egg case P6130164 - Large skate egg-case
Atrina squamifera P6130231 - Horse mussel
Bonisa nakaza P6130172 - Gasflame nudibranchs

Photography

Fairly good macro site, not much in the way of spectacular scenery, but lots of small, colourful critters.

Suggested routes

Start at the pinnacle, and just swim around looking for small, interesting animals. They could be anywhere, but concentrate on crevices, overhangs and near-vertical surfaces.

Stay Safe

Hazards

Boat traffic can be heavy when the snoek or yellowtail are running. Ascend at the shotline or send up an SMB to make your position visible to you dive boat and all the other boats which may be passing.

Skills

No special skills required. Entry-level divers can dive the site if reasonably competent and able to use a DSMB.

Equipment

DSMB highly recommended, so you can alert passing boats of your position when surfacing and while on the surface waiting to be picked up by the boat.

Nearby

Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Miller’s Point|Miller's Point slipway GPS -34.230483,18.473897
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Miller’s Point|Miller's Point tidal swimmingpool GPS -34.231319,18.475978
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Miller’s Point|Miller's Point - Rumbly Bay GPS -34.234314,18.474908
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Boat Rock|Boat Rock GPS -34.234500,18.483333
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Boat Rock|Festival Pinnacle GPS -34.235667,18.483583
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Fan Reef|Fan Reef GPS -34.236083,18.487667
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Shark Alley|Shark Alley GPS -34.236833,18.476667
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Pyramid|Pyramid Rock GPS -34.237083,18.478300
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/☎ Reef|☎ reef GPS -34.237100,18.486700
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Outer Castle|Outer Castle GPS -34.238683,18.483233
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Castle Rocks|Castle Rocks North Side GPS -34.2387,18.4775
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Pyramid|Pyramid Reef - Castle Pinnacles GPS -34.239267,18.480433
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Giant's Castle|Giant's Castle GPS -34.239300,18.487100
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Pyramid|Pyramid Reef - Sansui Reef GPS ,
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Pie Rock|North Pie Rock Reef GPS -34.239583,18.484583
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Castle Rocks|Castle Rocks Point Reefs GPS -34.24,18.48
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Pie Rock|South Pie Rock Pinnacles GPS -34.240750,18.483083
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Castle Rocks|Inner Castle GPS -34.241,18.4779
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Pie Rock|West Pie Rock Reef GPS ,

Back to Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay#Miller's Point

Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Murphy's

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