Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Phone Reef

1280px The dive site ☎ Reef is an offshore, rocky reef in the Castle Rocks Restricted Zone on the Cape Peninsula, near Simon's Town in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Phone Reef Halal Travel Guide

File:☎ Reef Map - Map of ☎ Reef

This site is moderately deep, but shallow enough for a fairly long dive on nitrox. It is deep enough to avoid much of the surge if there is a moderate swell running, and makes a convenient alternative for days when the surge is a bit strong at the shallower sites. It is quite a nice site and worth a visit at some time.

Position

S34°14.225’ E018°29.202’ ☎ Reef GPS -34.237083,18.4867 (Eastern pinnacle)

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

Name

The name "☎ Reef" describes the appearance of the side-scan sonar image of the reef, which looks a bit like the profile of a landline telephone handset.

Depth

Maximum depth is about 24 m. and the top of the pinnacle is about 14 m. (Average depth of a dive is likely to be about 18 m.)

Topography

There is a wall sided pinnacle at the far east end of the reef which drops from a narrow top at about 14 m to the sand at about 24 m, and a cluster of fairly high boulders and outcrops adjacent to it to the West and north. Most of the rest of the reef is relatively low profile bedrock and boulders extending over 100m to the east. The full extent of the reef to the east and south have not yet been surveyed, and there may be more high profile areas not yet reported.

Geology: Granite corestone boulders and outcrops of the pre-Cambrian Peninsula pluton.

Conditions

The site is exposed to wind ans wavws from the south-east, so should be dived in flat seas or westerly swells. It is reasonably protected from westerly and south-westerly swells.

The site will usually be at it's best in winter but there will also be occasional opportunities in other seasons.

Muslim Friendly Travel TO Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Phone Reef

GPS -34.237083,18.4867|width=|align= ☎ Reef and nearby dive sites}} Thit is exclusively a boat dives: It is too far (roughly 1 km) offshore for most people to swim and is in a high boat-traffic zone as it is on the way from the nearby slipway at Miller's Point to most of the local fishing areas.

The site is roughly 1.8 km from Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Miller's Point slipway|Miller's Point slipway and 9.1km from Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Simon's Town jetty|Simon's Town jetty.

What to See

Marine life

The upper part of the pinnacle is covered by a dense colony of strawberry anemones Corynactis annulata, and the deeper reef has large numbers of the local gorgonian sea fans.

Corynactis annulata at ☎ Reef, False Bay P6250008 - Strawberry anemones cover the top of the pinnacle
Roman seabream at ☎ Reef, False Bay P6250010 - Roman seabream are territorial, this one owns the pinnacle top
Kreef at ☎ Reef P6250018 - West Coast Rock Lobster
Multicolour sea fan at ☎ Reef P6250039 - Multicolour sea fan
Flagellar sea fan at ☎ Reef P6250048 - Flagellar sea fan
Sinuous sea fan at ☎ Reef P6250140 - Sinuous sea fan

Features

The main topographical feature is the steep and pointed pinnacle

Photography

As is the case with most of the local reefs, macro photography is likely to deliver the most consistent results. Artificial light will be necessary for macro, and useful for any reasonably close subjects.

Suggested routes

There are no special routes recommended. Start deep near the pinnacle and work your way up as available no-stop time decreases. It is feasible to do a no-stop dive for an hour on a single cylinder on nitrox.

Stay Safe

Hazards

No site-specific hazards other than moderate to fairly heavy boat traffic in the vicinity.

Skills

The site is too deep for entry level divers. There is very little reef above 18m. The ability to deploy a DSMB is strongly recommended in case you need to surface away from the shotline.

Equipment

A DSMB and reel or spool is recommended to warn boats of your presence while ascending, and to help your skipper find you after the dive. Nitrox can extend your dive time significantly in this depth range.

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/Murphy's|Murphy's GPS -34.232600,18.483100
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/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 ,

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Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Phone Reef

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